Wednesday she reminisced with Charlie Gibson about all of those wonderful interviews with famous people the world over. But Liz Harrison had a chance to interview Barbara Walters live by satellite recently and asked her about a few things that were not in the book. Barbara Walters is now 76 years old and but still at the top of her game. She still has her own show, the daytime talk show "The View" and continues to do "Barbara Walters Specials." But her life hasn't been all glamour. Walters has endured disappointment, heartbreak and failure in both her professional and personal life. She says it may look as if her career has been up all of the time, but it wasn't. She says the turning point in her career came when she began doing all of those one-on-one interviews for ABC. She didn't just get there by accident. She worked very hard and she said it gave her respect for herself.
Walters says she's always felt like she was auditioning, from the time she moved from writer on the today show to the "Today Show girl," to her triple jump from NBC to CBS then ABC to share the anchor desk with Harry Reasoner.
She had three failed marriages and an adopted daughter, Jackie. But even with her daughter she felt she could never get it right.
Barbara Walters says the toughest chapter in the book for her to write was the one describing her daughter's tumultuous teenage years. Walters describes those years as very frightening years. Her daughter, Jackie, now runs an adolescent treatment center for girls in crisis. She works with girls much like she was when she was growing up. Walters says her daughter is now experiencing firsthand what her daughter put her through.
Walters says her book is not a morality story, but a tale of struggle and survival. Even though she paved the way for women in the world of broadcasting, she says it wasn't on purpose. She says she was just trying to survive during those years since was the sole financial provider for her parents and her developmentally disabled sister.
But with all of the hardship in her life the 76 year old woman has come out on top in the world of broadcasting with no more wrinkles or gray hairs than your average 60 year old.
Walters says she hasn't had any plastic surgery, but does admit she's received botox injections and other fillers.
She says she finally feels comfortable with herself and unlike most of her life, she says she's now no longer auditioning.
