Obituaries

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radio/TV host Larry King, brainy curmudgeon

Larry King (born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger; November 19, 1933 – January 23, 2021)[2] was an American television host, radio host, and paid spokesman, whose work was recognized with awards including two Peabodys, an Emmy award, and 10 Cable ACE Awards.[3][4][5]

King began as a local Florida journalist and radio interviewer in the 1950s and 1960s, and gained prominence beginning in 1978 as host of The Larry King Show, an all-night nationwide call-in radio program heard on the Mutual Broadcasting System.[6] From 1985 to 2010, he hosted the nightly interview television program Larry King Live on CNN. From 2012 to 2020, he hosted Larry King Now aired on Hulu, Ora TV, and RT America. He continued to host Politicking with Larry King, a weekly political talk show which aired weekly on the same two channels from 2013 until his death in 2021. King received many awards during his life, including several Cable ACE Awards, Peabody Awards and lifetime achievement awards. [3][7]

A CBS staff announcer, whom King met by chance, suggested he go to Florida which was a growing media market with openings for inexperienced broadcasters. King went to Miami, and after initial setbacks, he gained his first job in radio. The manager of a small station, WAHR[22] (now WMBM) in Miami Beach, hired him to clean up and perform miscellaneous tasks.[23] When one of the station's announcers abruptly quit, King was put on the air. His first broadcast was on May 1, 1957, working as the disc jockey from 9 a.m. to noon.[24] He also did two afternoon newscasts and a sportscast. He was paid $50 a week.

He acquired the name Larry King when the general manager claimed that Zeiger was too difficult to remember, so minutes before airtime, Larry chose the surname King, which he got from an advertisement in the Miami Herald for King's Wholesale Liquor.[25] Within two years, he legally changed his name to Larry King.[9]



He began to conduct interviews on a mid-morning show for WIOD, at Pumpernik's Restaurant in Miami Beach.[26] He would interview whoever walked in. His first interview was with a waiter at the restaurant.[27] Two days later, singer Bobby Darin, in Miami for a concert that evening, walked into Pumpernik's[28][29] having heard King's radio show; Darin became King's first celebrity interview guest.[30][31]



King's Miami radio show brought him local attention. A few years later, in May 1960, he hosted Miami Undercover, airing Sunday nights at 11:30 p.m. on WPST-TV Channel 10 (now WPLG).[32] On the show, he moderated debates on important local issues of the day.



King credits his success on local television to the assistance of comedian Jackie Gleason, whose national television variety show was being taped in Miami Beach beginning in 1964. "That show really took off because Gleason came to Miami," King said in a 1996 interview he gave when inducted into the Broadcasters' Hall of Fame. "He did that show and stayed all night with me. We stayed till five in the morning. He didn't like the set, so we broke into the general manager's office and changed the set. Gleason changed the set, he changed the lighting, and he became like a mentor of mine."[33]

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King's mugshot from his 1971 arrest in Miami

During this period, WIOD gave King further exposure as a color commentator for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League, during their 1970 season and most of their 1971 season.[34] However, he was dismissed by both WIOD and television station WTVJ as a late-night radio host and sports commentator as of December 20, 1971, when he was arrested after being accused of grand larceny by a former business partner, Louis Wolfson.[35][36] Other staffers covered the Dolphins' games into their 24–3 loss to Dallas in Super Bowl VI. King also lost his weekly column at the Miami Beach Sun newspaper. The charges were dropped.[36] Eventually, King was rehired by WIOD.[36] For several years during the 1970s, he hosted a sports talk-show called "Sports-a-la-King" that featured guests and callers.[30]



The Larry King Show[edit]

King interviewing Vladimir Putin in 2000

King interviewing President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush in 2006

On January 30, 1978, King went national on a nightly Mutual Broadcasting System coast-to-coast broadcast,[37] inheriting the talk show slot that had begun with Herb Jepko in 1975, then followed by "Long John" Nebel in 1977, until his illness and death the following year.[38] King's Mutual show rapidly developed a devoted audience.[39]

The Larry King Show was broadcast live Monday through Friday from midnight to 5:30 a.m. Eastern Time. King would interview a guest for the first 90 minutes, with callers asking questions that continued the interview for another 90 minutes. At 3 a.m., the Open Phone America segment began, where he allowed callers to discuss any topic they pleased with him,[39] until the end of the program, when he expressed his own political opinions. Many stations in the western time zones carried the Open Phone America portion of the show live, followed by the guest interview on tape delay.[40]

Some of King's regular callers used pseudonyms or were given nicknames by King, such as "The Numbers Guy",[41] "The Chair", "The Portland Laugher",[39] "The Miami Derelict", and "The Scandal Scooper".[42] The show was successful, starting with relatively few affiliates and eventually growing to more than 500. King hosted the show until stepping down in 1994.[43] King occasionally entertained the audience by telling amusing stories from his youth or early broadcasting career.[44][45]

For its final year, the show was moved to afternoons. After King stepped down, Mutual gave the afternoon slot to David Brenner[46] and Mutual's affiliates were given the option of carrying the audio of King's new CNN evening television program. After Westwood One dissolved Mutual in 1999, the radio simulcast of the CNN show continued until December 31, 2009.[47]



Larry King Live[edit]

King while hosting Larry King Live in 2006

Larry King Live began on CNN in June 1985 in which King hosted a broad range of guests from controversial figures of UFO conspiracy theories and alleged psychics,[48] to prominent politicians and leading figures in the entertainment industry, often doing their first or only interview on breaking news stories on his show. After doing his CNN show from 9 to 10 p.m., King then travelled to the studios of the Mutual Broadcasting System to do his radio show,[49] when both shows still aired.



Two of his more famous interviews involved political figures. In 1992, billionaire Ross Perot announced his presidential bid on the show. In 1993, a debate between Al Gore and Perot became CNN’s most-watched segment until 2015.[3]

Unlike many interviewers, King had a direct, non-confrontational approach. His reputation for asking easy, open-ended questions made him attractive to important figures who wanted to state their position while avoiding being challenged on contentious topics.[50] King said that when interviewing authors, he did not read their books in advance, so that he would not know more than his audience.[6][49] Throughout his career, King interviewed many of the leading figures of his time. According to CNN, King conducted more than 30,000 interviews in his career.[10]

King also wrote a regular newspaper column in USA Today for almost 20 years, from shortly after that first national newspaper's debut in Baltimore-Washington in 1982 until September 2001.[51] The column consisted of short "plugs, superlatives and dropped names" but was dropped when the newspaper redesigned its "Life" section.[52] The column was resurrected in blog form in November 2008[53] and on Twitter in April 2009.[54]







On June 29, 2010, King announced that after 25 years, he would be stepping down as the show's host. However, he stated that he would remain with CNN to host occasional specials.[55] The announcement came in the wake of speculation that CNN had approached Piers Morgan, the British television personality and journalist, as King's primetime replacement,[56] which was confirmed that September.[57][58]

The final edition of Larry King Live aired on December 16, 2010.[59] The show concluded with his last thoughts and a thank you to his audience for watching and supporting him over the years. The concluding words of Larry King on the show were, "I... I, I don't know what to say except to you, my audience, thank you. And instead of goodbye, how about so long."[60]



On February 17, 2012, CNN announced that he would no longer host specials.[61]








In March 2012, King co-founded Ora TV, a production company, with Mexican business magnate Carlos Slim. On January 16, 2013, Ora TV celebrated their 100th episode of Larry King Now. In September 2017, King stated that he had no intention of ever retiring and expected to host his programs until he died.[62]

Ora TV signed a multi-year deal with Hulu to exclusively carry King's new talk-oriented web series, Larry King Now, beginning July 17.[63] On October 23, 2012, King hosted the third-party presidential debate on Ora TV, featuring Jill Stein, Rocky Anderson, Virgil Goode, and Gary Johnson.[64]

In May 2013, the Russian-owned RT America network announced that they struck a deal with Ora TV to host the Larry King Now show on its network. King said in an advertisement on RT America: "I would rather ask questions to people in positions of power, instead of speaking on their behalf." The show continued to be available on Hulu.com and Ora.tv.[65][66] The following month, RT America began airing Larry King's new Thursday evening political talk show Politicking with Larry King, beginning with a discussion between Representative Aaron Schock (R, Illinois), Democratic Political Strategist Peter Fenn and Politico's Deputy Managing Editor Rachel Smolkin about Edward Snowden's leak scandal that revealed secret NSA surveillance programs.[67]

When criticized for doing business with a Russian-owned TV network in 2014, King responded, "I don't work for RT", commenting that his podcasts, Larry King Now and Politicking, are licensed for a fee to RT America by New York-based Ora TV. "It’s a deal made between the companies ... They just license our shows. If they took something out, I would never do it. It would be bad if they tried to edit out things. I wouldn’t put up with it."[68]



Other ventures[edit]

King attending a ceremony for Bill Maher to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in September 2010

Larry King remained active as a writer and television personality.

King guest starred in episodes of Arthur, 30 Rock and Gravity Falls, had cameos in Ghostbusters and Bee Movie, and voiced Doris the Ugly Stepsister in Shrek 2 and its sequels.[5] He also played himself in The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story and appeared as himself in an episode of Law and Order: Trial by Jury.

King hosted the educational television series In View with Larry King from 2013 to 2015, which was carried on cable television networks including Fox Business Network and Discovery[69] and produced by The Profiles Series production company.[70]

King and his wife Shawn appeared on WWE Raw in October 2012, participating in a storyline involving professional wrestlers The Miz and Kofi Kingston.[71]

King became a very active user on the social-networking site Twitter, where he posted thoughts and commented on a wide variety of subjects. King stated, "I love tweeting, I think it's a different world we've entered. When people were calling in, they were calling in to the show and now on Twitter I'm giving out thoughts, opinions. The whole concept has changed."[72]
After 2011, he also made various TV infomercials, often appearing as a "host" discussing products like Omega-3 fatty acid dietary supplement OmegaXL with guests, in an interview style reminiscent of his past TV programs.[73][74][75][url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_King#cite_note-75]