Larry King, the award-winning TV and radio host who became a household name with his longtime CNN program Larry King Live, died 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,” King’s official Twitter announced Saturday morning. No cause of death was provided, but King’s death came weeks after it came to light that the 87-year-old host was struggling with the coronavirus.
“For 63 years and on the platforms of radio, television and digital media, Larry’s thousands of interviews, awards and worldwide recognition are proof of his unique and lasting talent as a broadcaster. While that was his name in the titles of the show, Larry always considers his interviews to be the true stars of his shows, and only sees himself as an unbiased channel between the guest and the audience. Whether he was interviewing a US president, foreign leader, celebrity, scandal-ridden person or anyone, Larry wanted to ask short, direct and uncomplicated questions. He believed that concise questions usually provide the best answers, and he was not wrong in this belief. ”
– Larry King (@kingsthings) 23 January 2021
King has struggled with other health problems over the years, including prostate cancer and type two diabetes. In 1987, he had a heart attack that required five bypass surgeries, and in 2017, he underwent surgery to remove a malignant tumor in his lung.
Earlier this year, two of King’s adult children – son Andy and daughter Chaia – died within weeks of each other. Despite the tragedies, King continued to release new episodes of his YouTube series Larry King Nou, with the most recent episode premiering two weeks ago. In May, King also announced plans to enter the world of podcasting.
The Brooklyn-born King began his career in the late fifties as a newspaper journalist and Miami DJ before expanding his radio repertoire into well-known interviews and commentary on sporting events. In 1978, King launched his nationwide broadcast of Larry King Show, which he even presented afterwards. Larry King Live television program began broadcasting on CNN in 1985.
King’s CNN program is equally adept at interviewing celebrities, politicians, conspiracy theorists, psychologists and other newsmakers, and airs every night from June 1985 to December 2010 with guests ranging from US Presidents and Vladimir Putin to Frank Zappa and Prince.
An interview is an interview. It is basically who, what, where, when and why. And while it is certainly a sublime place to sit with the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom or the President of a country, it is nevertheless … ‘why do you do what you do? How do you feel about what you are doing? What do you think of what is happening in the world? “It comes down to the fact that an interviewer is an interviewer,” King said in an interview with the Television Academy.
‘I never sat down 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 must be different! ‘I’m still every man. What would a man in the street say to Chirac from France if you had the chance to talk to him? ‘
Donald Trump was another regular guest in King’s decades before his presidency, with the real estate magnate even hosting a 25th birthday special dedicated to the host; in a reformed excerpt from a 1987 interview, Trump admitted to King that he had no desire to elect him president and criticized the foreign policy of then-president Ronald Reagan:
King has won two Peabody Awards for his broadcast work and has been inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame and the Broadcasters Hall of Fame. After his retirement Larry King Live, the host moved to Larry King Nou and Politics with Larry King, which were launched in 2012 and 2013 respectively. He has also appeared in numerous shows on TV shows and films – mostly played himself – including roles in 30 Rock, Murphy Brown, Ghostbusters, Frasier, Primary colors and American crime story.
King, who has been married eight times, also has a long history of health issues, including his first heart attack in 1987. In April 2019, TMZ reported that King had previously suffered a heart attack while preparing to visit the hospital for a previously scheduled angiogram. After arriving by ambulance, doctors apparently performed an angioplasty to repair a collapsed artery.
Ora TV – the digital TV network King founded in 2012, home of his shows Larry King Nou and Politics with Larry King refuted the details of the report in a statement, saying: “His doctors say he did not have a heart attack and he did not have a cardiac arrest.”
“On the morning of Thursday, April 23, Larry King would have angioplasty,” the statement read. ‘Before his scheduled procedure, he experienced angina and went to the hospital early to be examined. His doctor successfully performed the angioplasty and inserted stents to reopen the previous diversion from 1987. He recovered in hospital and was soon released. His doctors expect him to recover completely. ” The statement at the time added that King was “in good spirits” at the time and was preparing to work on both again “soon” Larry King Nou and Politics.