Barbara Walters was known to be a journalist who asked challenging questions and could be tough and resilient. When it came to her own life, particularly her relationships, she was much more secretive, choosing to separate her professional and personal life. Although, over the years, she gave a glimpse into her love life, which was complicated.
After all, she married four times, and two of those times were to the same man, Merv Adelson. But this was not her most interesting relationship — far from it, because that coupling was with a married senator.
Who Was Barbara Walters Married To?
Barbara Walters was married four times, and the first marriage occurred in 1955 when she married Robert Henry Katz. It was short-lived, though, and the couple split after two years together. It would be several years later before she would marry a second time.
Her second husband was Lee Guber. They married from 1963 to 1975, which would be her longest marriage. It is also the only man she shares a child with. The couple adopted a daughter, Jacqueline, in 1968. She was reportedly named after Barbara Walters' sister. "I knew that my sister was never going to be married and have a child, and I wanted her to have part of the joy that I had. And so, I named my daughter Jacqueline after my sister," she said (via The Sun).
"I had had three miscarriages, and my husband and I decided that we would adopt a child," Walters said on Oprah's Master Class. "We had dinner one night with a couple we rarely saw, and the woman said that she had a little girl who was blonde and blue-eyed, and they wanted to adopt a boy… who was going to be tall. They didn't want the girl. So, we said, 'We'll take the girl!'"
Walters had not given up on love even after her divorce from Guber, and she would go on to marry for the third time. This time it was with producer Merv Adelson, who she married for the first time in 1981, only to split three years later in 1984. According to Los Angeles Times, they met on a blind date. But did the pair have some unresolved feelings? They decided to give their love another shot, reuniting and remarrying in 1986. Unfortunately, they could not make it work this time either and would divorce for the second time in 1992 (they did not try again).
Like Walters, Adelson was also married four times. Although it is difficult to determine exactly what went wrong with the couple, they did remain friends. "Merv was a kind and gentle man with a great sense of humor," Barbara told The New York Times in 2015 after Adelson's passing. "We stayed friends long after our marriage." Interestingly, she also told the publication at the time that she and Adelson had only been married once, despite the largely accepted reports that they were married twice.
Marriages aside, Walters had an interesting love life, including dating several politicians. She even had a shot with Clint Eastwood. "He asked me if I wanted to have dinner, and I said, 'No, I have to work.' You know, I don't mix business with pleasure," she told Jimmy Fallon in 2008 (via Us Weekly). Although it sounds like she regretted the decision as she stated: "I could've been Mrs. Clint Eastwood!"
What Has Barbara Walters Said About Her Relationships?
Throughout her career, Barbara Walters was known to ask tough questions, and some of her interviews made audiences uncomfortable. Despite being the one to dig into the lives of other celebrities, when it came to her own romances, Walters preferred to keep them private. But she did admit in an interview with Oprah that although she has been good at many things (she is considered a trailblazer), she was not good at marriage.
"Oh, I don't know. Listen, I certainly haven't been very good at marriage," she said. She spoke about the men who she was drawn to, saying, "I've always been attracted to men who were busy and successful in their own lives. And by the way, I do want to mention the one thing that has changed others' perception of me: It's The View. People realized I could be silly and funny. I had to think about whether being on that show would interfere with my interviews with heads of state. Would I still be able to do hard news? I'd been around long enough that I had the reputation, so I could do both."
What Was Barbara Walters's Biggest Relationship Scandal?
It was not Barbara Walters's marriages that made the most headlines, though. Instead, it was her affair with Senator Edward Brooke of Massachusetts in the 70s. Barbara Walters would later mention their relationship in her memoir, Audition (which was released in 2008).
The former couple met in 1973, and the relationship continued for several years. "I certainly wasn't lacking for men in my life, or for romance. I was dating more than I ever had. Why, therefore, did I have a clandestine affair with a married man? A Black married man?" she said of her coupling with Brooke (via CheatSheet).
Walters later discussed their time together, acknowledging that their relationship could have destroyed their careers. During an interview on The Oprah Winfrey Show (via CBS News), she admitted that while the relationship was never made public at the time, a friend had told her she needed to break up with Brooks.
"He said, 'This is going to come out. This is going to ruin your career,'" she recalled the conversation. "'This is going to ruin him. You've got to break this off.'" She was not in love with Brooks; at least, she could not answer this question with certainty, but she was "infatuated."
"I was certainly involved," Walters said. "He was exciting. He was brilliant. It was exciting times in Washington."
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