Larry King, legendary talk show host and broadcast pioneer, died on Saturday at the age of 87.
“With deep sadness, the media Ora announces the death of our co-founder, host and friend Larry King, who passed away this morning at the age of 97 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles,” his company said in a statement posted on Twitter .
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“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 a broadcaster,” the statement said.
King, with his trademark suspenders and iconic voice, spent more than 60 years in the spotlight. He hosted CNN’s “Larry King Live” for 25 years, interviewing from world leaders and icons to criminals and conspiracy theorists during more than 6,000 episodes of the program from 1985 to 2010.
“Instead of goodbye, how about so long,” King told viewers as he sang his last show on CNN in 2010.
King continued to work on a variety of projects after his stint on CNN, including the co-foundation of Ora TV in 2012.
King’s historic career began on local radio stations in Miami in 1957, as a talk show host and DJ. His passion for fluid interviews began in 1958, when he gave an interview program at the site of Miami’s Pumpernik Restaurant, where he literally spoke to anyone who came through the door. He increased his skill by providing a colorful commentator for the Miami Dolphins’ broadcasts and appeared on television in 1964. At the same time, King began writing columns for newspapers like The Miami Herald, The Miami News and The Miami Beach Sun-Reporter.
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Legal and financial issues almost got in the way of his career in the 1970s, but he recovered to launch the Larry King Show “on the Mutual Broadcasting Network in 1978, which paved the way for his highly successful program on CNN.
Born Lawrence Zeiger on November 19, 1933 in Brooklyn, New York, he started working with Larry King early in his career. He battled lung cancer, lived with type 2 diabetes, survived multiple heart attacks and underwent five bypass operations in 1987. The broadcasting legend promised to help others and founded the Larry King Cardiac Foundation (LKCF) in 1988, which helps facilitate critical treatment for people who otherwise would not be able to receive care due to financial or insurance issues.
The non-profit organization was funded with revenue from King’s books, lectures and entertainment galas held in New York City, Washington DC and Los Angeles, according to the LKCF website.
King wrote “Taking on Heart Disease” to help educate victims of heart disease. He was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1989, has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, won two Peabody Awards for Excellence in Broadcasting, 10 Cable ACE Awards and was honored in 2008 by the Radio & Television News Association of Southern California, among many other awards and milestones.
The longtime Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers fan was regularly seen at Dodger Stadium rooting for his favorite team. He has been married eight times, to seven different women, but has been single since actress Shawn King’s divorce in 2019.
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King lost two of his five adult children when Andy, 65, and Chaia, 51, died weeks after each other in 2020. Andy had a heart attack while Chaina was battling lung cancer.
King has appeared in a number of films and TV shows, including “Ghostbusters, Enemy of the State”, “30 Rock”, “Boston Legal,” The Stepford Wives, “” Primary Colors “,” Fraiser “,” Spin City “, Murphy Brown, “” Dave, “The Simpsons” and “The Larry Sanders Show”.
King leaves three children alive, Larry Jr. Chance and Cannon.