Larry King

For other people named Larry King, see Larry King (disambiguation).

Larry King, (born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger on November 19, 1933) is an award-winning American broadcaster. He currently hosts a nightly interview program called Larry King Live, one of the longest running talk shows on air. The show airs on CNN.

Early life

Larry's parents were Jennie and Eddie Zeiger, Jews who had emigrated from Belarus (Minsk and Pinsk) to Brooklyn, New York, where Larry was born. They owned a bar-and-grill. Their first son Irwin was born in 1932, but died at age six of appendicitis. After Larry, they had another son, Marty.

Larry Zeiger grew up and attended public schools in Brooklyn. His childhood friends reportedly included the baseball pitcher Sandy Koufax (although there are differing accounts of whether or not King actually knew Koufax ^*) and the owner of the New York Mets, Fred Wilpon. He lived for some time in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, New York. After graduating from the local high school (Lafayette High School), Zeiger worked odd jobs, including a stint as a mail clerk with Associated Merchandising Corporation and then with United Parcel Service. He left Brooklyn for Miami at the age of 22 to pursue a job in radio.

Miami radio

Zeiger got his first job in radio through persistence. A small station, WAHR in Miami Beach, hired him to clean up and perform miscellaneous tasks. When one of their announcers quit, they put him on the air. His first broadcast was on May 1, 1957, when he worked as the disc jockey from 9 am to noon. He also did two afternoon newscasts and a sportscast. He was paid $55 a week. He acquired the name Larry King when the general manager suggested that Zeiger was too ethnic and hard to remember. He started interviewing on a midmorning show for WIOD, at Pumpernik's restaurant in Miami Beach. He would interview anyone who walked in. His first interview was with a waitress at the restaurant. Two days later, singer Bobby Darin, in Miami for a concert later that day, walked into Pumpernick's as a result of coming across King's show on his radio; Darin became King's first celebrity interview guest.

His Miami radio show launched him to local stardom. A few years later, in May 1960, he hosted Miami Undercover, airing Sunday nights at 11:30 on WPLG-TV Channel 10. On the show he moderated debates on important issues of the day.

Legal and financial troubles

In the early 1970s, he was entangled in legal and financial troubles. He was arrested on December 20, 1971 and charged with grand larceny. The charges stemmed from a deal he had made with Louis Wolfson. In 1968, Wolfson was convicted of selling unregistered stock. The circumstances are unclear. According to King, he told Wolfson that he could arrange a special investigation by John Mitchell, the incoming US Attorney General, to overturn the conviction. Wolfson agreed, and paid King $48,000. King never delivered, and could not pay back the money. When Wolfson was released from prison, he went after King. According to Wolfson, King served as an intermediary between Wolfson and New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison. Garrison was investigating the assassination of President Kennedy, but needed to raise funds for the investigation. Wolfson offered to pay $25,000 to help fund the investigation. The arrangement was that Wolfson gave Larry King cash (about $5,000 per visit). King was supposed to give this to Richard Gerstein, the State Attorney for Dade County, Florida. Gerstein was to transfer the money to Garrison. This took place over a year or two. Wolfson eventually found that not all the money he gave to King made it to Garrison. The larceny charge was dropped, because the statute of limitations had run out. But King pled no contest to one of 14 charges of passing bad checks. As a result of these troubles, he was off the air for three years. During those three years he worked several jobs. He was the PR director at a race track in Louisiana and he wrote some articles for Esquire Magazine, including a major piece on New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath.

Comeback to radio and TV

While in Louisiana, King managed to get back into radio by becoming the color commentator for broadcasts of the Shreveport Steamers of the World Football League. Eventually, King was rehired by WIOD in Miami. In 1978 he went national, inheriting the nightly talk show slot on the Mutual Radio Network, broadcast coast-to-coast, that had been "Long John" Nebel's until his death, and had been pioneered by Herb Jepko. King's Mutual show developed a devoted audience, paving the way for the likes of Art Bell and King's weekend relief host Jim Bohannon, among many, many others. It was broadcast live Monday through Friday from Midnight to 5:30am eastern time. Larry would interview a guest for the first 90 minutes, allowing callers to continue the interview for another 90. At 3am, Larry would allow the callers to discuss any topic they pleased with him, until the end of the program. They called that segment "Open Phone America". Some of the regular callers included "The Portland Laugher", "The Todd Cruz Caller", "The Scandal Scooper", and "The Water is Warm Caller". The show was wildly successful as a loss leader, starting with relatively few affiliates and eventually growing to more than 500. It ran until 1994. For its final year, the show was moved to afternoons but, because of the rise of Rush Limbaugh, was unable to generate the same audience size as the overnight show did. The afternoon show was eventually given to David Brenner and radio affiliates were given the option of carrying the audio of King's CNN evening program. He started his CNN show in June 1985, and the Westwood One radio simulcast of the CNN show continues at the time of this writing.

Unlike many interviewers, Larry King has a direct, non-confrontational approach. His interview style is characteristically frank and no-nonsense, but with occasional bursts of irreverence and humor. His non-confrontational approach attracts some guests who would not otherwise appear.

Throughout his career he has interviewed many of the leading figures of his time. Among his most famous interviews were Tony Blair, George W Bush, Marlon Brando, Barbara Bush, Johnny Carson, Johnny Cash, Bette Davis, Sammy Davis Jr., Jackie Gleason, Mikhail Gorbachev, Billy Graham, Audrey Hepburn, Gordon B. Hinckley, Bob Hope, L. Ron Hubbard, Michael Jordan, Bobby Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, Jr., Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Monica Lewinsky, Madonna, Paul McCartney, Al Pacino, H. Ross Perot, Prince, Nancy Reagan, Eleanor Roosevelt, Pete Rose, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Shania Twain, Margaret Thatcher, Oprah Winfrey, Vladimir Putin, and Malcolm X. In all, CNN claims that he has interviewed over 40,000 people.

1987 Heart Attack

On February 27, 1987, King suffered a major heart attack and then had quintuple-bypass surgery. It was a life-altering event. Previously smoking was one of his trademarks and he was not apologetic about this habit. King was a three-pack-a-day smoker and kept a lit cigarette during his interview so he would not have to take time to light up during breaks. He now encourages curbing of smoking to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

King has written 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, ISBN 0440500397) was written with New York's Newsday science editor, B. D. Colen. Taking on Heart Disease : Famous Personalities Recall How They Triumphed Over the Nation's #1 Killer and How You Can, Too (2004, ISBN 1579548202) features the experience of various celebrities with cardiovascular disease including Peggy Fleming and Regis Philbin.

Community

King has been generous in giving back to the community. After suffering several heart attacks, he established the Larry King Cardiac Foundation, an organization to which David Letterman, through his American Foundation for Courtesy and Grooming, has also contributed. King gave $1 million to George Washington University's School of Media and Public Affairs for scholarships to students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

On September 3, 2005, King aired, "How You Can Help," a three-hour special designed to provide a forum and information clearinghouse for viewers to understand and join nationwide and global relief efforts. This was following the devastation to the Gulf Coast by Hurricane Katrina. Guest Richard Simmons, a native of New Orleans, told him, "Larry, you don't even know how much money you raised tonight. When we rebuild the city of New Orleans, we're going to name something big after you."

Trivia

His large glasses, rolled up sleeves, tie, and suspenders have become his trademark: he never appears on the show wearing anything different.
His various personal interests, such as his love of sports and his hometown of New York City, are frequently brought up in interviews, both by King himself and the interviewee.
King has been frequently lampooned in the satirical newspaper The Onion with such headlines as "Larry King Continues Steady Descent Into Madness" and "Heavily Starched Shirt Only Thing Keeping Larry King Upright."
On one of his shows, David Letterman said joking that "Larry King is probably approaching a thousand years."
Appeared as himself performing his radio show in 1984's Ghostbusters.
Has made an appearance on The Simpsons, where Homer is seen listening to one of his self-help tapes on a walkman.
The first guest on Larry King Live was then-New York Governor Mario Cuomo.

Awards

King has received many broadcasting awards. He won the Peabody Award for Excellence in broadcasting for both his radio (1982) and television (1992) shows. He has also won 10 CableACE awards for Best Interviewer and for best Talk Show Series.

In 1989, King was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame. In 2002, the industry magazine Talkers named King both the fourth-greatest radio talk show host of all time and the top television talk show host of all time. ^* King was the only person to place in the top ten on both lists.

King is an honorary member of the Rotary Club of Beverly Hills. He is also a recipient of the President's Award honoring his impact on media from the Los Angeles Press Clubin 2006.

Family

King has been married to six women and has seven children.

Wives

Shawn Southwick (b. June 1959)
- Married September 5, 1997 in Jewish-Mormon inter-faith ceremony.
  - Son, Chance Armstrong King (b. March 9, 1999)
  - Son, Cannon Edward King (b. May 22, 2000)
  - Step-son (b. 1981)
Julie Alexander
- Marriage dates, 7 October 1989 - 1992 (divorced)
- Sued for slander, case settled in 1994
Sharon Lepore
- Marriage dates, 1976 - 1984 (divorced)
Alene Akins, former Playboy bunny
- Second marriage dates, 1967 - 1972 (divorced)
  - Daughter, Chaia (b. 1967)
- First marriage dates, 1961 - 1963 (divorced)
  - Adopted son, Andy King (from Akins' first marriage)
Mickey Sutphin
- Marriage dates, 1963 - 1967 (divorced)
  - Daughter, Kelly (Adopted by Sutphin's next husband)
    - Currently estranged from King
Frada Miller (married right after high school graduation)
- Marriage dates, 1952 - ? (annulled)

Companions

Angie Dickinson (c. 1983 to c. 1988)
Deanna Lund (1996-?)
- Engagement announced
Rama Fox (1992-1995)
- Engagement announced
- Legal dispute over financial matters

Other children

Son, Larry King, Jr. (b. 1962)
- Mother not married to King
- Re-entered King's life in 1991

Sources

Interview with Sandy Koufax biographer
CNN
Academy of Achievement Interview
Transcript of LKL 70th Birthday show
The San Francisco Chronicle, July 28, 1986, King: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly Past Larry King's monstrous success follows a string of Miami vices

Ratings: Larry King Live ranks number seven in prime time cable television as of January 26, 2006.

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/original/jan06ranker.pdf

External links

CNN profile
Larry King Cardiac Foundation
Yahoo movie page
AskMen.com profile
Larry King Live - Transcripts of all interviews since 2000

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