Barbara Walters shares secrets of success

HOUSTON -- She's interviewed everyone who's anyone, from movie stars to killers to world leaders. In fact, she's interviewed every U.S. president since Richard Nixon.

Now after more than 50 ground-breaking years on the air, ABC's Barbara Walters is retiring this Friday. We had a chance to talk to her on the set of "The View" recently, and she revealed some surprises.

We asked her if she's ever been intimidated by someone famous. She said no, that she grew up knowing a lot of famous people.

"My father was in show business, he owned nightclubs and I met big stars when I was very young," Walters said. "Frank Sinatra was one of them, for example. And so I realized that stars, celebrities, had feelings, get hurt, pick themselves up and I see them more as people than look who I'm talking to."

Her popular daytime show, "The View" was something she dreamed up when an ABC executive asked her if she had any ideas. Walters proposed a talk show with all women from different walks of life. She expected it to last a year or two, but 17 years later, it's still going strong.

Walters will stay on as executive producer, and she already has another surprising idea.

"I could see a man doing this show, along with the women. I think that would give us kind of a boost," she said.

Walters is the first woman to host the "Today Show" in the 1960s, and the first woman to co-anchor a network newscast in the 1970s, but she still has some regrets.

"I regret everything! I second-guess interviews, I do shoulda', coulda', woulda', I regret making decisions in my career. I'm a big regreter and then I think, move on," Walters said.

But now that she is moving on, we asked her what she is most proud of, after such an extraordinary career.

"I'm proud of the women like you. I'm proud of the women who are doing everything in television, behind the cameras and in front of them. That wasn't the case when I began and if my success helped it along, or my failures, that's my legacy, that's what I'm proud of," she said.

So what's she going to do after Friday? Walters says she'd like to travel a bit, without having to file a story on deadline. And she wants to spend a lot more time with her only daughter. But there's something she's really looking forward to doing first.

"Sleep, sleep. Sleep until 10!" she said.

To celebrate her amazing career, an unprecedented event is happening Thursday on "The View." All of the former co-hosts are coming back for the biggest roundtable ever. And then on Friday, Barbara Walters signs off for the last time. You can catch it all at 10am on ABC-13.