Larry King

Television Host

• Born: November 19, 1933
• Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York

Journalist and broadcaster

An award-winning radio and television personality, King has interviewed thousands—from celebrities to ordinary people who have become involved in extraordinary circumstances—in a direct but nonconfrontational manner.

Areas of achievement: Entertainment; journalism

Early Life

Larry King was one of two children born of Jewish parents. His father, Edward Zeiger, owned a restaurant and worked in a defense plant. His mother, Jennie, was an immigrant garment worker from Belarus. When King was seven years old, his mother called him “the mouthpiece” because he announced the makes of cars passing through an intersection in Brooklyn. He would attend baseball games, then go home and recount everything that happened as if he were a broadcaster. After his father died at an early age, his mother went on public assistance, and King supported her after graduating from high school. In 1952, he married his high school sweetheart, but the union was annulled the following year. He married seven more times.

An avid radio listener, at an early age King wanted to work on radio. One day, he met a Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) announcer in New York and mentioned his interest in being a radio broadcaster. King was advised to try the growing market in Florida, where those without experience were given a chance. He took a bus to Miami and applied for announcer jobs, at first without luck. Then he agreed to do maintenance work and other assignments for a small station, WAHR, in Miami Beach. On May 1, 1957, one of the announcers quit, and King was put on the air as a disc jockey from nine in the morning until noon. Just before going on the air, the manager asked him to change his name to something less ethnic, so he chose King, after seeing an ad in The Miami Herald for a liquor store. He later did newscasts and sportscasts.

King went to work for WIOD, where he did midmorning interviews from Pumpernik’s Restaurant in Miami Beach. Starting with a waiter at the restaurant, he would put a microphone in front of anyone who entered the restaurant. On his third day, he interviewed his first celebrity, singer Bobby Darin, who was in town for a concert. King soon became a Miami celebrity; his kindly interviewing style prompted interviewees to talk freely. He also wrote a weekly column for the Miami Beach Sun. and he was a late-night radio host for WIOD.

His first television show was on WPST; in May 1960, he was the host of Miami Undercover, a late-night Sunday television program featuring debates on public issues. One night, he interviewed comic actor Jackie Gleason. Afterward, they stayed up all night, while Gleason gave King career advice. King also worked for WTVJ as a television sports commentator.

King’s career nose-dived when he was arrested on December 20, 1971, for grand larceny. A former business partner accused him, but charges were dropped on March 10, 1972. In the intervening time, King was fired from radio and television, and his weekly column stopped. He then moved to Louisiana, to provide color commentary for games by the Shreveport Steamers of the World Football League in the 1974–75 season on radio station KWKH. Eventually, he was hired back at WIOD.

Life’s Work

King became a national celebrity in 1978, when Edward Little, head of Mutual Radio Network, hired King for a coast-to-coast program; he was replacing “Long John” Nebel upon his death. King knew Little when Little was general manager of WGAI. The show was broadcast from Monday to Friday, midnight to 5:30 a.m.; interviews lasted ninety minutes, and the interviews were followed by ninety minutes of call-in questions. Next, King offered ninety minutes of Open Phone America for anyone to call and talk on any subject. Finally, King wrapped up, stating his own opinions. In 1984, his program moved to late afternoons, but it was unable to penetrate that market.

Shortly after the beginning of USA Today in 1983, King wrote a regular column for the national newspaper. In 2001, the column was discontinued, but it reappeared as a blog in 2008 and on Twitter in 2009.

The big break came in June 1985, when Cable News Network (CNN) hired King to do interviews for an hour in prime time on Larry King Live. His large spectacles and prominent suspenders and tie soon became trademarks that excited cartoonists and many fans. Westwood One simulcast his show on radio. King often prepared questions ahead of time and ad-libbed on the air; sometimes he went into an interview without advance preparation, surprising his guests with his ignorance.

In 1984, he appeared in Ghostbusters, and he has been in thirty-one films, often appearing as himself. He is the author or coauthor of fifteen books.

On February 24, 1987, King had a major heart attack, attributed to chain-smoking. Quintuple bypass surgery saved his life. In 1997, he had surgery to clear a clogged blood vessel. In 2009, surgery removed a plaque buildup in his heart. In 2010, following a highly public split and reconciliation with his seventh wife, King announced that he was ending his long-running show Larry King Live to spend more time with his young children.

Initially, King had signed a contract with CNN to maintain a relationship with the network in the capacity of four specials hosted each year. However, by 2012, the agreement had been made to end the specials as well, officially severing his ties with CNN. At the same time, he was grateful for the full-time opportunity to explore television ventures with other networks and it was not long before he had started other projects. For the first time, King took his interview format online, signing with Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim to host a new show, titled Larry King Now, on his Internet network Ora TV about one month later. The show, also made available on the popular streaming platform Hulu, debuted in a similar interview style as his longtime CNN show and featured first guests that included Seth MacFarlane, Matthew McConaughey, and Meghan McCain. By 2015, King had also become the host of another original show on Ora TV called PoliticKing with Larry King. In addition, as a longtime fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers, he was given a show on the team's regional sports network called Larry King at Bat.

King passed away on January 23, 2021, at the age of 87 while hospitalized after testing positive for COVID-19.

Significance

After his heart surgeries, King wrote two books about his experience, and he started the Larry King Cardiac Foundation, which provides funds for those needing heart surgery but lacking necessary funds. He also contributed one million dollars for scholarships to the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University for disadvantaged students. King also has hosted many special programs, including award ceremonies.

King has been honored by those in the radio and television industry. He won two Peabody Awards for excellence in broadcasting—for his radio program in 1982 and for his television program in 1992. On ten occasions, he won CableACE awards for best interviewer and for best talk show series. In 1997, his star was placed on the Hollywood Boulevard Walk of Fame. The Los Angeles Press Club conferred the President’s Award on him in 2006. Arizona State University gave him the first Hugh Downs Award for Communication Excellence in 2007. The Radio and Television News Association of Southern California awarded him the Golden Mike Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2008. He was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1989 and into the Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 1996. In 2002, the industry magazine Talkers named King the top television talk show host of all time and listed him as the fourth-greatest radio talk show host of all time.

Bibliography

King, Larry. My Remarkable Journey. New York: Weinstein, 2009. Print.

King, Larry. Taking on Heart Disease. New York: St. Martin’s, 2004. Print.

King, Larry, and B. D. Colen.“Mr. King, You’re Having a Heart Attack”: How a Heart Attack and Bypass Surgery Changed My Life. New York: Delacorte, 1989. Print.

King, Larry, with Bill Gilbert. How to Talk to Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere: The Secrets of Good Communication. New York: Crown, 1994. Print.

Leibovich, Mark. "Larry King Is Preparing for the Final Cancellation." New York Times Magazine. New York Times, 26 Aug. 2015. Web. 15 Aug. 2016.