Barbara Walters sets retirement date from ‘The View’

Veteran TV journalist Barbara Walters will make her last scheduled appearance on “The View� on May 16, ABC announced Monday.

The network will honor Walters’ five decades in broadcasting with a week-long celebration. “The View,� the daytime talk show she helped create back in 1997, will commemorate her departure beginning May 12. ABC also plans to air a two-hour prime-time special looking back at Walters’ career on May 16, and will name ABC News Headquarters in New York City in her honor.

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Walters, who got her start in 1961 as a reporter on “Today,� moved to ABC in 1976, where she became the first female co-anchor of a news program. Over the years, she has interviewed numerous world leaders, including Fidel Castro, Margaret Thatcher and every president and first lady since Richard Nixon. On the other end of the spectrum, she has also earned a reputation for reliably conjuring tears from celebrities in her annual, pre-Oscars special, which she wrapped in 2010, and in her “Most Intriguing People� broadcasts.

Walters announced last May she would be leaving “The View� in 2014, but did not set an exact date. Though she will no longer be making regularly scheduled appearances after May 16, she will remain involved in her capacity as an executive producer, according to ABC.

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