Larry King (born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger; November 19, 1933 – January 23, 2021) was an American television and radio host, whose awards included 2 Peabodys, an Emmy and 10 Cable ACE Awards. Over his career, he hosted over 50,000 interviews. King was born and raised in New York City to Jewish parents who immigrated to the United States from

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

in the 1930s. He studied at Lafayette High School, a public high school in Brooklyn. He was a

WMBM WMBM (1490 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a gospel format. Licensed to Miami Beach, Florida, United States, the station serves the Miami area. The station is currently owned by New Birth Broadcasting Corp. Inc. and features programming from ...

radio interviewer in the Miami area in the 1950s and 1960s, and gained prominence in 1978 as host of '' The Larry King Show'', an all-night nationwide call-in radio program heard on the

Mutual Broadcasting System The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the golden age of U.S. ra ...

. From 1985 to 2010, he hosted the nightly interview television program '' Larry King Live'' on CNN. King hosted '' Larry King Now'' from 2012 to 2020, which aired on

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television series ...

Ora TV Ora TV is a television production studio and on-demand digital television network launched in 2012 by television host Larry King and his wife Shawn Southwick King and funded by América Móvil, a business venture of Mexican billionaire Carlos Sli ...

, and

RT America RT America was a U.S.-based news channel headquartered in Washington, D.C. Owned by TV Novosti and operated by production company T&RProductions, it was a part of the RT network, a global multilingual television news network based in Moscow fun ...

. He hosted '' Politicking with Larry King'', a weekly political talk show, on the same three channels from 2013 to 2020. King also appeared in television series and films, usually playing himself. He remained active until his death in 2021, from complications of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...

and

sepsis Sepsis, formerly known as septicemia (septicaemia in British English) or blood poisoning, is a life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage is follo ...

, at the age of 87.

Early life and education

King was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

on November 19, 1933. He was one of two children of Jennie ( Gitlitz), a garment worker who was born in

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative stat ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...

, and Aaron Zeiger, a restaurant owner and defense-plant worker who was born in Pinsk, Russian Empire. His parents were

Orthodox Jews Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Jewish theology, Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Torah, Written and Oral Torah, Or ...

who immigrated to the United States from

in the 1930s. King attended Lafayette High School, a public high school in Brooklyn. When King was nine years old, his father died of a heart attack. This resulted in King, his mother, and brother going on government

welfare Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...

. King was greatly affected by his father's death, and subsequently lost interest in his schoolwork. After graduating from high school, King worked to help support his mother. From an early age, he desired to work in radio broadcasting.

Career

Miami radio and television

A CBS staff announcer, whom King met by chance, suggested he go to Florida which was a growing

media market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television and radio station offerings, and may also incl ...

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 (now

) in

Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which ...

, hired him to clean up and perform miscellaneous tasks. 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. 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 The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a city in western Miami-Dade County and the Miami metropolitan area, several miles west of Downtown Miami.WIOD, at Pumpernik's Restaurant in Miami Beach. He would interview whoever walked in. His first interview was with a waiter at the restaurant. Two days later, singer Bobby Darin, in Miami for a concert that evening, walked into Pumpernik's having heard King's radio show; Darin became King's first celebrity interview guest. 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). King credited his success on local television to the assistance of comedian

Jackie Gleason John Herbert Gleason (February 26, 1916June 24, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, writer, composer, and conductor known affectionately as "The Great One." Developing a style and characters from growing up in Brooklyn, New York, he was know ...

, 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." During this period, WIOD gave King further exposure as a

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main ( play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and ...

for the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...

, during their 1970 season and most of their 1971 season. 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 Louis Elwood Wolfson (January 28, 1912 – December 30, 2007) was an American financier, a convicted felon, and one of the first modern corporate raiders, labeled by '' Time'' as such in a 1956 article.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. Eventually, King was rehired by WIOD. For several years during the 1970s, he hosted a sports talk-show called "Sports-a-la-King" that featured guests and callers.

''The Larry King Show''

Photograph of First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton Taping a Larry King Weekend Show - NARA - 3668097

On January 30, 1978, King began broadcasting a nightly coast-to-coast program on the

, inheriting the talk show slot that had begun with

Herb Jepko Herb Jepko (March 20, 1931 - March 31, 1995) was an influential radio talk show host in Salt Lake City from 1964 to 1990. He was the first radio talk show host to do a nationally syndicated, satellite-delivered program. Early years According t ...

in 1975, then followed by "Long John" Nebel in 1977, until his illness and death the following year. King's Mutual show rapidly developed a devoted audience, called "King-aholics". '' The Larry King Show''Alt URL
/ref> was broadcast live Monday through Friday from midnight to 5:30 a.m. Eastern Time. King would interview a guest for the first hour, with callers asking questions that continued the interview for the next two hours. At 3 a.m., the '' Open Phone America'' segment began, where he allowed callers to discuss any topic they pleased with him, 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. Some of King's regular callers used pseudonyms or were given nicknames by King, such as "The Numbers Guy", "The Chair", "The Portland Laugher", "The Miami Derelict", and "The Scandal Scooper". At the beginning, the show had 28 affiliates, though the number was eventually above 500. King hosted the show until stepping down in 1994. King occasionally entertained the audience by telling amusing stories from his youth or early broadcasting career. For its final year, the show was moved to afternoons. After King stepped down, Mutual gave the afternoon slot to David Brenner 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 Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simul ...

of the CNN show continued until December 31, 2009.

''Larry King Live''

'' Larry King Live'' began on CNN in June 1985. On the show, King hosted a broad range of guests, from figures such as

UFO conspiracy theorists An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are ide ...

and alleged psychics, to prominent politicians and entertainment industry figures, often doing their first or only interview on breaking news stories on his show. After broadcasting his CNN show from 9 to 10 p.m., King then traveled to the studios of the

to do his radio show, when both shows still aired. Larry King

Two of his best-remembered interviews involved political figures. In 1992, billionaire Ross Perot announced his presidential bid on the show. In 1993, a debate between

Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic ...

and Perot became CNN's most-watched segment until 2015. 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. King said that when interviewing authors, he did not read their books in advance, so that he would not know more than his audience. 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.''Larry King Fast Facts''
CNN. May 5, 2013 King also wrote a regular newspaper column in ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'' for almost 20 years, from shortly after that first national newspaper's debut in Baltimore-Washington in 1982 until September 2001. The column consisted of short "plugs, superlatives and dropped names" but was dropped when the newspaper redesigned its "Life" section. The column was resurrected in blog form in November 2008 and on Twitter in April 2009. During his career, he did more than 60,000 interviews. CNN's Larry King Live became "the longest-running television show hosted by the same person, on the same network and in the same time slot", and was recognized for it by the

Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

. He retired in 2010 after taping 6,000 episodes of the show.

Departure

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. 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, which was confirmed that September. The final edition of ''Larry King Live'' aired on December 16, 2010. 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." On February 17, 2012, CNN announced that he would no longer host specials.

Shows on Ora TV

In March 2012, King co-founded

, a production company, with his then-wife Shawn Southwick King and 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. Ora TV signed a multi-year deal with

to exclusively carry King's new talk-oriented web series, '' Larry King Now'', beginning July 17. On October 23, 2012, King hosted the third-party presidential debate on Ora TV, featuring Jill Stein, Rocky Anderson, Virgil Goode, and

Gary Johnson Gary Earl Johnson (born January 1, 1953) is an American businessman, author, and politician. He served as the 29th governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 as a member of the Republican Party. He was the Libertarian Party nominee for Presid ...

. In May 2013, the Russian-owned

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. 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."

Other ventures

King remained active as a writer and television personality thereafter. King guest starred in episodes of '' Arthur'', ''

30 Rock ''30 Rock'' is an American satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for ''Saturday Night Live'', tak ...

'' and '' Gravity Falls'', had cameos in '' Ghostbusters'' and '' Bee Movie'', and voiced Doris the Ugly Stepsister in '' Shrek 2'' and its sequels. 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 Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discove ...

"Larry King's IN VIEW Television Show to Feature Help Hospitalized Veterans"
Retrieved November 2015. and produced by The Profiles Series production company.''Greater Baton Rouge Business Report''
Retrieved November 2015. King and his wife Shawn appeared on ''

WWE Raw ''WWE Raw'', also known as ''Monday Night Raw'' or simply ''Raw'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that currently airs live every Monday at 8 p.m. ET on the USA Network in the United States. The show f ...

'' in October 2012, participating in a storyline involving professional wrestlers The Miz and Kofi Kingston. King became a very active user on the social-networking site

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

, 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 into the show and now on Twitter, I'm giving out thoughts, opinions. The whole concept has changed." After 2011, he also made various television

infomercial An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of dire ...

s, 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 television programs. '' ProPublica'' reported that in 2019 King had been manipulated into starring in a fake interview with a Russian journalist containing disinformation about Chinese dissident

Guo Wengui Guo Wengui (; born May 10, 1970—self claim or October 5, 1968), also known under the names Guo Haoyun (), Miles Guo, and Miles Kwok, is an exiled Chinese billionaire businessman who became a political activist and controls Beijing Zenith Hold ...

, which was subsequently spread by Chinese government associated social media accounts.

Charitable works

Following his 1987 heart attack, King founded the Larry King Cardiac Foundation, a non-profit organization which paid for life-saving cardiac procedures for people who otherwise would not be able to afford them. On August 30, 2010, King served as the host of

Chabad Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (), is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, particularly for its outreach activities. It is one of the largest Hasidic group ...

's 30th annual "To Life" telethon, in Los Angeles. He donated to the Beverly Hills 9/11 Memorial Garden, where his name is on the monument.

Personal life

King was married eight times, to seven women. He married high-school sweetheart Freda Miller in 1952 at age 19. That union ended the following year at the behest of their parents, who reportedly had the marriage annulled."Larry King divorces Shawn Southwick: Meet the TV icon's slew of ex-wives"
. '' Daily News''. April 16, 2010. p. 4 of 25. He was later briefly married to Annette Kaye, who gave birth to his son, Larry Jr., in November 1961. King did not meet Larry Jr. until the latter was in his 30's. In 1961, King married his third wife, Alene Akins, a Playboy Bunny, at one of the magazine's eponymous nightclubs. He adopted Akins' son Andy in 1962; the couple divorced the following year. In 1963, he married his fourth wife, Mary Francis "Mickey" Sutphin, who divorced him. He remarried Akins, with whom he had a second child, Chaia, in 1969. The couple divorced a second time in 1972. In 1997, Dove Books published a book written by King and Chaia, ''Daddy Day, Daughter Day''. Aimed at young children, it tells each of their accounts of his divorce from Akins. Larry King and Shawn Southwick feed Gilbert Gottfried

Larry King and Shawn Southwick feed Gilbert Gottfried

On September 25, 1976, King married his fifth wife, mathematics teacher and production assistant Sharon Lepore. The couple divorced in 1983.''Daily News'', slide show
. '' Daily News''. pp. 5–6. King met businesswoman Julie Alexander in 1989, and proposed to her on the couple's first date on August 1, 1989. Alexander became King's sixth wife on October 7, 1989, when the two were married in Washington, D.C.''Daily News'', slide show
. '' Daily News''. pp. 7–8. The couple lived in different cities, however, with Alexander in Philadelphia, and King in Washington, D.C., where he worked. They separated in 1990 and divorced in 1992. He became engaged to actress

Deanna Lund Deanna Lund (May 30, 1937 – June 22, 2018) was an American film and television actress best known for her role in the Irwin Allen television series ''Land of the Giants'', in which she played the character of Valerie Ames Scott. Early years Lu ...

in 1995, after five weeks of dating, but they remained unmarried.''Daily News,'' slide show
. '' Daily News''. p. 10. In 1997, he married his seventh wife, Shawn Southwick, born in 1959 (as Shawn Ora Engemann),''Daily News'', slide show
, ibid., p. 11 of 25 a singer, actress, and TV host. They wed in King's Los Angeles hospital room three days before he underwent heart surgery to clear an occluded blood vessel.

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. new ...

(via ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''). April 14, 2010. The couple had two children: Chance, born March 1999, and Cannon, born May 2000. He was stepfather to

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

quarterback Danny Southwick. On King and Southwick's 10th anniversary in September 2007, Southwick joked she was "the only ifeto have lasted into the two digits". Larry and Shawn King filed for divorce in 2010 but reconciled, and filed for divorce again on August 20, 2019. They were estranged and going through divorce proceedings at the time of King's death in 2021. From his seven wives, King had five children and nine grandchildren, as well as four great-grandchildren. His children with Alene (Andy and Chaia), died within weeks of each other in August 2020, Andy at 65 from a heart attack and Chaia at 51 from lung cancer. King resided in

Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...

. A lifelong Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers fan, he was frequently seen behind home plate at the team's games. He was previously part of an investment group that attempted to bring a

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

franchise to

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

, in 1990. He lost $2.8 million to

Bernie Madoff Bernard Lawrence Madoff ( ; April 29, 1938April 14, 2021) was an American fraudster and financier who was the admitted mastermind of the largest Ponzi scheme in history, worth about $64.8 billion. He was at one time chairman of the NASDAQ ...

. In 2009, 2011, and several times in 2015, King said that he would like to be cryonically suspended. He discussed the issue with his family two years before his death, and "after much consideration," he decided that he did not want to undergo the procedure. In his early eighties, King took human growth hormone daily. After describing himself as a Jewish agnostic in 2005,"I don't know if there's a God. I'm a classic agnostic, but I'm a Jewish agnostic." he stated that he was fully

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

in 2015. In 2017, he told ''

The Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is a broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Jerusalem Post''. In 2004, the pap ...

'', "I love being Jewish, am proud of my Jewishness, and I love

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Illnesses and death

On February 24, 1987, King had a major heart attack before a successful quintuple- bypass surgery. Following this, he wrote two books about living with heart disease. ''Mr. King, You're Having a Heart Attack: How a Heart Attack and Bypass Surgery Changed My Life'' (1989, ), which was written with New York's ''

Newsday ''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and fo ...

'' science editor B. D. Colen, and ''Taking On Heart Disease: Famous Personalities Recall How They Triumphed over the Nation's #1 Killer and How You Can, Too'' (2004, ), which features the experience of various celebrities with cardiovascular disease, including Peggy Fleming and Regis Philbin. King quit smoking after the heart attack, having smoked three packs of cigarettes a day until then. King related his heart attack experience in an interview in the 2014 British documentary film ''The Widowmaker'', which advocates for coronary calcium scanning to motivate preventive cardiology and highlights the financial conflicts of interest in the widespread use of coronary stents. He received annual chest X-rays to monitor his heart condition. During his 2017 examination, doctors discovered a malignant tumor in his lung. It was then successfully removed with surgery. On April 23, 2019, King underwent a scheduled angioplasty and also had stents inserted. It was erroneously reported that he had another heart attack along with heart failure; these claims were later retracted. He returned to '' Politicking with Larry King'' on August 15. On November 27, he said he had had a stroke in March, and was in a coma "for weeks". He later admitted he had contemplated suicide following the stroke, telling Los Angeles television station KTLA, "I thought I was just going to bite the bullet. I didn't want to live this way." On January 2, 2021, it was revealed that King had been hospitalized with

ten days earlier in a Los Angeles hospital. King's widow Shawn Southwick-King told '' Entertainment Tonight'' that he had recovered from COVID-19, but died of

as a complication on January 23, 2021, at the age of 87 at

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a nonprofit, tertiary, 886-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars-Sinai Health System, the hospital employs a staff of over ...

, Los Angeles. According to the death certificate obtained by ''

People A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...

'' magazine, sepsis was the immediate cause of death. It also listed two underlying conditions leading to the infection – acute hypoxemic respiratory failure and

end-stage renal disease Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a type of kidney disease in which a gradual loss of kidney function occurs over a period of months to years. Initially generally no symptoms are seen, but later symptoms may include leg swelling, feeling tired, v ...

. In February 2021, it was reported that Shawn had gone to court to contest the deceased's handwritten will written in 2019, which had left his estate (valued at $2 million) to his five surviving children. Shawn alleges her stepson Larry King Jr. exerted undue influence over his father towards the end of his life, and that the handwritten will conflicts with a will he signed in 2015, in which she was named executor of his estate. This does not include more valuable "assets that were held in Trust law, trusts".

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

Larry King at the 70th Annual Peabody Awards

King received many broadcasting awards. He won the Peabody Award for Excellence in broadcasting for both his radio (1982) and television (1992) shows. He also won ten CableACE Awards for Best Interviewer and for Best Talk Show Series. In 1989, King was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame, and in 1996 to the Broadcasters' Hall of Fame. In 2002, the industry publication ''Talkers Magazine'' named King both the fourth-greatest radio talk show host of all time and the top television talk show host of all time. In 1994, King received the Scopus Award from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, American Friends of Hebrew University. In 1996, he received the Golden Plate Award of the Academy of Achievement, American Academy of Achievement presented by Awards Council member Art Buchwald. He was given the Golden Mike Award for Lifetime Achievement in January 2008, by the Radio & Television News Association of Southern California. King was an honorary member of the Rotary Club of Beverly Hills. He was also a recipient of the President's Award honoring his impact on media from the Los Angeles Press Club in 2006. King was the first recipient of the Arizona State University Hugh Downs Award for Communication Excellence, presented April 11, 2007, via satellite by Downs himself. King was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters by Bradley University; for which he said "is really a hoot". King received numerous honorary degrees from George Washington University, the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia School of Medicine, Brooklyn College, the New England Institute of Technology, and the Pratt Institute.

References

External links

Larry King Live
– Transcripts of all interviews since 2000 * * *
Larry King's Final On-Camera Interview
Silver Screen Studios - Dispatches from Quarantine (May 11, 2020) {{DEFAULTSORT:King, Larry 1933 births 2021 deaths 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American male actors 21st-century American male writers American atheists American columnists American male film actors American male television actors American newspaper writers American people of Austrian-Jewish descent American people of Belarusian-Jewish descent American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent American people of Russian-Jewish descent American talk radio hosts American television talk show hosts Baseball spectators Cryonicists CNN people Deaths from kidney failure Deaths from respiratory failure Deaths from sepsis Infectious disease deaths in California Jewish American journalists Jewish American male actors Jewish American writers Lafayette High School (New York City) alumni Male actors from Miami Male actors from New York City Miami Dolphins announcers National Football League announcers Peabody Award winners People from Beverly Hills, California People from Hollywood, Florida People from Miami Beach, Florida Radio personalities from Miami Radio personalities from New York City RT (TV network) people Writers from Brooklyn Writers from Miami