Larry King, the award-winning radio and TV presenter who has become a household name with his longtime program on CNN Larry King Live, died on Saturday morning at the age of 87.
“With deep sadness, Ora Media announces the death of our co-founder, host and friend Larry King, who passed away this morning at the age of 87 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles,” announced King’s official Twitter on Saturday morning . No cause of death was provided, but King’s death came weeks later, it was revealed that the 87-year-old host was battling the coronavirus.
“For 63 years and across all radio, television and digital media platforms, Larry’s many thousands of interviews, awards and global acclaim are testament to his unique and enduring talent as an announcer. Furthermore, although his name appeared in the program titles, Larry always saw his interviewees as the real stars of his programs, and himself only as an impartial channel between the guest and the audience. Whether he was interviewing a president of the United States, a foreign leader, a celebrity, a character full of scandals or an ordinary man, Larry liked to ask short, direct and simple questions. He believed that concise questions usually provided the best answers, and he was not wrong in that belief. “
– Larry King (@kingsthings) January 23, 2021
King has battled other health problems over the years, including prostate cancer and type two diabetes. In 1987, he suffered a heart attack that required five-fold revascularization surgery, and in 2017, he underwent surgery to remove a malignant tumor in his lung.
Earlier this year, two of King’s adult sons – son Andy and daughter Chaia – died weeks later. Despite the tragedies, King continued to release new episodes of his series on YouTube Larry King Now, with the most recent episode premiering two weeks ago. In May, King also announced plans to enter the world of podcasting.
Born in Brooklyn, King began his career in the late 1950s as a newspaper journalist and DJ in Miami before expanding his radio repertoire for interviews with celebrities and commentary on sporting events. In 1978, King launched his national broadcast of the Larry King Show, which he continued to perform even after his Larry King Live The television program started airing on CNN in 1985.
Equally adept at interviewing celebrities, politicians, conspiracy theorists, mediums and other news creators, King’s CNN program aired every night from June 1985 to December 2010, with guests ranging from US presidents and Vladimir Putin to Frank Zappa and Prince.
Donald Trump was another frequent guest of King’s decades before his presidency, with the property tycoon even offering a 25th anniversary special dedicated to the host; in a clip reappeared from a 1987 interview, Trump admitted to King that he had no desire to run for president and criticized the foreign policy of then President Ronald Reagan:
King won two Peabody awards for his broadcasting work and was inducted into both the National Radio Hall of Fame and the Broadcasters Hall of Fame. Following his departure from Larry King Live, the host moved to Larry King Now and Politicking with Larry King, which was launched in 2012 and 2013, respectively. He has also made numerous screen appearances on TV shows and films – most playing himself – including roles in 30 Rock, Murphy Brown, Ghostbusters, Frasier, Primary colors and American Crime Story.
King, who has been married eight times, also had a long history of health problems, including his first heart attack in 1987. In April 2019, TMZ reported that King suffered a heart attack before preparing to visit the hospital for a previously scheduled angiography. After arriving by ambulance, doctors reportedly underwent angioplasty to repair a collapsed artery.
However, Ora TV – the digital TV network founded by King in 2012, home to his programs Larry King Now and Politicking with Larry King – refuted the details of that report in a statement, noting: “His doctors say he did not have a heart attack and did not have cardiac arrest.”
“On the morning of Thursday, April 23, Larry King was scheduled for an angioplasty,” the statement said. “Before the scheduled procedure, he had angina and went to the hospital early to be examined. His doctor successfully performed angioplasty and inserted stents to reopen the previous 1987 bypass. He is recovering from the hospital and is due to be discharged soon. His doctors expect him to make a full recovery. ” The statement added at the time that King was “in a good mood” at the time and preparing to resume work “soon” on both Larry King Now and Politics.
“An interview is an interview. It is basically who, what, where, when and why. And while it is certainly an exalted place to sit with the Prime Minister of Great Britain or the president of a country, it is still … ‘Why do you do what you do? How do you feel about what you do? What do you think of what is happening in the world? ‘It all comes down to an interviewer is an interviewer, ”said King in an interview with the Television Academy.
“I never sat with a president of the United States or a world leader or head of a country and thought, ‘wow, this is the head of a country – I have to be different!’ I’m still all man. What would a guy on the street say to Chirac from France if you had a chance to talk to him? “