See Inside Barbara Walters' Complicated Relationship With Her Daughter
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Barbara Walters wants 'to be remembered by my daughter as a good and loving mother'.
Barbara Walters, the pioneering broadcast journalist and creator of The View died Friday Dec. 30, 2022 at 93. The first woman to co-host both network morning and evening broadcasts, she interviewed every president and first lady from Richard Nixon onwards. Over her 50-year career, she became as famous as the people she talked to.
With all her accolades, one of her proudest legacies is her only daughter Jacqueline Dena Guber. Named for Walters’ older sister, Walters and then-husband Lee Guber adopted Jackie in 1968 after Walters suffered several miscarriages. “I adore my daughter,” said Walters in an episode of Oprah’s Master Class. “To know that you can have this kind of love that I feel for her. ”
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Like many parent-child relationships, especially during her teenage years, Walter’s and Guber’s was complicated. Jackie had no interest in anything to do with celebrity. She didn't fit in with classmates and struggled with her identity and the fact that she had been adopted.
“I did marijuana,” Jackie told Jane Pauley in 2008. “It was called crank then, but it’s now methamphetamines. Quaaludes were all over the place. Valium. And the drugs numbed all the other feelings. But it didn’t take away the issues that I had. They got bigger and bigger. I was more and more isolated from my mom’s world. And I thought running would solve all my problems.”
Jackie was missing for a month before Barbara Walters found her 800 miles from home. She sent an ex-Green Beret to get Jackie and take her to a treatment facility in Idaho, where she spent three years. Jackie credits the program for saving her life.
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Walters admitted that she wished that she spent more time with Jackie. “I was so busy with a career. It’s the age-old problem,” said Walters on the 2014 news special Barbara Walters: Her Story. “…on your deathbed, are you going to say, ‘I wish I spent more time in the office?’ No. You’ll say, ‘I wish I spent more time with my family,’ and I do feel that way.“
In 2014, during an interview with ABC News when Walters was asked how she wanted to be remembered she said, "I want to be remembered by my daughter as a good and loving mother.”
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Here’s what we know about Barbara Walters’ daughter Jacqueline Dena Guber.
How many children does Barbara Walters have?
Barbara Walters has one daughter, Jacqueline Dena Guber aka Jackie Danforth.
Who is Barbara Walters' daughter?
Jacqueline Dena Guber
Jacqueline Dena Guber was born on June 14, 1968. Barbara Walters and her then-husband Lee Guber adopted Jackie when she was a few months old.
Times were different for women in the 1960s. There was no mention of Jackie's birth in any press release or on any broadcast. Walters, who was focused on her career, did not take any maternity leave. She just kept on working.
Who is Jacqueline Dena Guber’s father?
Jacqueline Dena Guber’s father was Barbara Walters’ husband, Lee Guber. The producer of close to 12 shows on Broadway, including the King and I, he also owned an entertainment company that booked great artists like Sammy Davis Jr., Judy Garland and Jack Benny, into theaters across the United States. He died from brain cancer when he was 67 years old. His daughter, Jackie was 18 at the time.
Related: Oprah, Robin Roberts and More Pay Tribute to Legendary Broadcaster Barbara Walters
How many times was Barbara Walters married?
Barbara Walters was married four times to three men.
Who are Barbara Walters husbands?
Barbara Walters had three husbands in four marriages.
Robert Henry Katz
From 1955 to 1957, she was married to Robert Henry Katz, a former Navy officer and business executive.
Lee Guber
Barbara Walters was married to Lee Guber, a Broadway producer and entertainment executive from 1963-1976. Walters and Guber adopted Jackie in 1968.
Merv Adelson
Merv Adelson has the unique position of being married to Barbara Walters twice. The two were first married in 1981 and divorced in 1984. Two year later, Walters remarried Adelson. They divorced again in 1992. Walters never remarried.
What does Jacqueline Guber do for a living?
In 2001 Jacqueline Guber, then Jackie Danforth, moved to Maine and founded New Horizons for Young Women, a wilderness therapy program to help struggling teenage girls and their families. Guber had entered a similar program that she credits with helping her get her life back on track. "I never felt like I fit into her world,” said Guber in a 2002 interview with Jane Pauley about her complex relationship with her mother.
What happened to New Horizons?
Jacqueline Guber’s wilderness camp, New Horizons, closed in 2008 after helping more than 300 women. In an open letter Guber wrote, “New Horizons for Young Women cannot sustain during this economic crisis.…Many of you know me and my story. As an alumnus I have a deep attachment to this industry and the alternative choices we provide for families. As an owner I have seen this industry grow and continue to grow to a level I am very proud of.”
What is Jackie Guber doing now?
Jackie Guber is not on social media. Little is known about what is she doing right now. When she moved to Maine, Guber married Mark Danforth, a wilderness guide. It has been reported that the couple is no longer married.
In 2013, Jackie Danforth was arrested and charged with DUI in Naples, Fla. The man she was with at the time of her arrest was not Danforth—but a man believed to be her partner.
"Jackie has found it difficult, all her life, because she wants to be anonymous, she just doesn’t like to be a celebrity,” said Barbara Walters in the news special called Barbara Walters: Her Story. “She may be the only one in the world who doesn’t like to be a celebrity.”
