From The View, Today, 20/20, and ABC Evening News, the late Barbara Walters did it all! She was one of the most recognizable faces in American news. Sadly, the journalism legend died on Dec. 30, 2022, after living an impressive life for 93 years. Below is everything to know about her only daughter, Jacqueline, 54.
Barbara welcomed her daughter, Jacqueline (AKA Jackie) into her life in 1968, about three years after she married her second husband, Lee Guber. Sadly, Barbara had suffered multiple miscarriages, which led her to adopting Jackie, the legendary news reporter revealed during a 2014 interview on Oprah’s Master Class. “I had had three miscarriages and my husband and I decided that we would adopt a child,” Barbara said at the time.
Although her mom lived a life in the spotlight as a news reporter, Jackie did not pursue the same lifestyle or career. Jackie later pursued a career helping troubled youth who were runaways. Barbara revealed that after she and Lee had dinner with a couple they “rarely” saw they told them that they had a little girl they didn’t want. “We’ll take the girl,” the late TV personality added. “I named her Jackie after my sister [Jacqueline Walters].”
Jackie and her famous mom were in the public eye a lot more during her daughter’s younger years. The mother-and-daughter duo did many interviews, including a 2002 interview with NBC News. During the tell-all interview, Barbara and her mini-me shared the deepest and darkest details of their troubled private life.
“When I first found out all the things that she had done, I was so shocked. And Jackie is so open. Sometimes I think I wish I didn’t know,” Barbara said at the time. “You know, don’t tell me. I don’t have to know that, right? And I do, I do think, ‘Oh my God. I mean she could have been raped, she could have been killed.’”
Shockingly, it came to light that in 1984, when Jackie was 15 years old, she had gone missing. “I was a runaway,” Jackie told the outlet. “I loved to run. I thought running would solve all my problems.” The blonde beauty’s daughter had gone missing for an entire month, per the news outlet. “She used to say that some mothers have babies from their tummies, and some have it from their heart. And you came from my heart,” the daughter of the late trailblazer added.
As mentioned above, Barbara was married to theater producer Lee Guber when she adopted Jackie. Some of the works he was known for include Camelot, Stephanie Mills Comes “Home” to Broadway, Rags, and more. Notably, he went on to win a Tony Award nomination in 1987 for his work on the musical Rags.
Sadly, Barbara and Lee were only married from 1963 until their divorce in 1976. By the time they called it quits, Jackie was eight years old. Later, Barbara re-married and moved on with the late real estate developer Merv Adelson in 1981. Merv and the journalist divorced by 1984, however, they ended up falling back in love and got married once more 1986. It was only a matter of time until Barbara and Merv officially called it quits in 1992. The Audition author did not re-marry and died single.
© 2024 Hollywoodlife.com, LLC. All rights reserved.