Larry King, Radio and TV Legend, Dies at 87
The world has lost a TV and radio legend. Larry King, popular broadcaster for more than six decades, has died. His passing was announced on Saturday by his company, Ora Media, on King’s official Twitter account. No cause of death was given, but a few weeks ago it was revealed that King had been hospitalized while battling Covid-19.
“For 63 years and across the platforms of radio, television and digital media, Larry’s many thousands of interviews, awards, and global acclaim stand as a testament to his unqiue and lasting talent as a broadcast,” read the statement published online. “Additionally, while it was his name appearing in the shows’ titles, Larry always wanted his interview subjects as the true stars of his programs, and himself as merely an unbiased conduit between the guest and the audience.”
King is probably best known for his 20 years hosting Larry King Live, a nightly interview show, on CNN, although that represents less than half of his career in broadcasting. Born in Brooklyn, he moved to Florida as a young man, and became a local radio host in Miami. (That’s also where he changed his name from his birth name, Lawrence Ziegler, to Larry King.) His show became popular in Florida, and got him his first jobs in television. That eventually lead to his national radio program, The Larry King Show, which aired late nights on Mutual Broadcasting from 1978 to 1994.
The nightly show featured King, guests, and callers from around the country. It became quite popular, and brought King enough recognition to help him land his show on CNN. King became so famous that in addition to his own shows, he made countless cameos as himself in film and television. His IMDb page lists dozens of appearances, in everything from Spin City to The Simpsons, from Dave to Bulworth. (He was also spoofed multiple times on SNL.) King’s most famous may be his appearance as himself in Ghostbusters, where he’s hosting an episode of his call-in radio show (while smoking a cigarette) on the topic of “ghosts and ghost busting” during the big montage set to Ray Parker Jr.’s theme song:
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The full announcement about King’s death is below.
— Larry King (@kingsthings) January 23, 2021
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