LARRY KING: LIVE! EVEN IN DEATH

January 27, 2024

LARRY KING: LIVE! EVEN IN DEATH

LARRY KING: LIVE! EVEN IN DEATH

Larry King was born Lawrence Leibel Harvey Zeiger in Brooklyn, New York City to immigrant parents. His father was from Austria and his mother was from Belarus. Both parents were Orthodox Jews.

He died January 23, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. The American talk-show host whose easygoing interviewing style helped make Larry King Live (1985–2010) one of CNN’s longest-running and most popular programs.

King grew up in Brooklyn, where he remained for several years after high-school graduation to help support his mother, who had been widowed when he was a young child.

In his early twenties King left New York for Florida in the hopes of breaking into radio. He worked as a disc jockey in South Florida, honing his conversational interview style doing on-location interviews with random citizens. In 1960 he broke into television with a Miami-based talk show. King also wrote for a number of Miami newspapers during that period.

In 1971 King was arrested and charged with grand larceny for allegedly having stolen money from a former friend. Though the charges were dropped the following year, the scandal left King temporarily unable to secure radio or newspaper work.

In the early 1970s he worked in public relations and as a sports commentator, and in 1975 he started to regain his foothold in Miami media.

From 1978 to 1994 King hosted the popular national radio talk show The Larry King Show, and from 1985 he hosted the television talk show Larry King Live on CNN, then a young network. The program was television’s first live phone-in show with an international audience. It became known for King’s off-the-cuff interview style. He prided himself on doing very little research on his guests but for its popularity as a platform for political candidates. Notably, Ross Perot announced his presidential candidacy on the show in 1992.

Though Perot failed to secure the presidency, the following year he and Vice President Al Gore used King’s show as a forum for debating the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Over time King became an internationally recognized figure, as famous as the celebrities, news makers, and world leaders that he interviewed.

In December 2010 Larry King Live ended its run, after 25 years on the air. British tabloid journalist Piers Morgan was chosen to take over for King. King resumed interviewing notable personalities on Larry King Now, a talk show that premiered on the Web site Hulu in 2012, and the following year he added the talk show PoliticKING with Larry King.

King appeared as himself in a number of television shows, including 30 Rock and Sesame Street, and in such films as Ghostbusters (1984). King also did voice work in several of the animated Shrek films (2004, 2007, and 2010) and in Bee Movie (2007). In addition, he participated in documentaries, including 1989: The Year That Made Us (2019) and Dispatches from Quarantine (2020).

After suffering a heart attack in 1987, he wrote books on heart disease.

His autobiography, My Remarkable Journey, was published in 2009.

In 2011 he received a News & Documentary Emmy Award for lifetime achievement.

King’s marital life was as interesting as his interviews.

Larry King married eight times. His wives were

1. Freda Miller (1952–1953)

2. Annette Kaye (1961)

3. Alene Akins (1961–1963)

4. Mickey Sutphin (1963–1967)

5. Alene Akins (1967–1972)

6. Sharon Lepore (1976–1983)

7. Julie Alexander (1989–1992)

8. Shawn Southwick (from 1997)

Larry King had a few underlying health conditions that led to his death on Jan. 23 at age 87.

He was hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after he contracted COVID-19 in December, although the novel virus was not his cause of death.

King's immediate cause of death was sepsis, according to his death certificate obtained by PEOPLE.

The Larry King Live host also had two underlying conditions that led to sepsis, including acute hypoxic respiratory failure – meaning he did not have enough oxygen in his blood – and end stage renal disease also known as kidney failure.

What stands Larry King out among others is his fearlessness, fairness, neutrality and unambiguity.

I see little bits of Larry King in a few of Nigerian Journalists and interviewers but none of them has all those attributes together.

Nigerian journalists are usually victims of those who pay the piper dictating the tune.

Most Television and Radio stations in Nigeria are owned by governments and individuals with known political leanings.

Their programs and program ideas are therefore tailored to the dictates of the owners of the stations.

Government interference and undue influence have also impaired the freedom of the press. Laws and interpretations are often twisted to arm-twist the press struggling to be free.

Lack of consistency and unprofessional conducts are also banes. Many journalists jump from one station or medium to another thereby losing their original concepts.

There are also the “Jacks of all trades” who are not known specifically for a particular program or concept.

Original and innovative program contents are also in short supply.

Larry King’s style was unique and he was consistent. Piers Morgan tried to fit into Larry’s shoes but couldn’t produce the ‘real McCoy’.

No to say there aren’t good ones on our airwaves. Yes, very good ones that would make you run to the alternative power supply if one fails.

For me, three people have me; Seun Okinbaloye, Edmond Obillo and Isaac Brown. The program for me is Journalists Hangout. In Yoruba, It’s the veteran Bolade Salami.