Larry King Dies At 87 Following A Battle With Covid-19

Legendary broadcaster Larry King has passed away at the age of 87 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles following a recent battle with COVID-19. According to an official statement at King’s Twitter page:

“With profound sadness, Ora Media announces the death of our co-founder, host and friend Larry King, who passed away this morning aged 87 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. 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 unique and lasting talent as a broadcaster.”

“Additionally, while it was his name appearing in the shows’ titles, Larry always viewed his interview subjects as the true stars of his programs, and himself as merely an unbiased conduit between the guest and audience. Whether he was interviewing a U.S. president, foreign leader, celebrity, scandal-ridden personage, or an everyman, Larry liked to ask short, direct, and uncomplicated questions. He believed concise questions usually provided the best answers, and he was not wrong in that belief.”

Born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger in Brooklyn, New York on November 19, 1933, King began as a local Florida journalist and radio interviewer in the 1950s and 1960s. He credits his early success on local television to the assistance of comedian Jackie Gleason, whose CBS 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 became like a mentor of mine.

The Peabody Award-winning broadcaster was a fixture with his nightly talk show, Larry King Live, on CNN, which ran for 25 years from 1985 to 2010. According to CNN, King conducted more than 30,000 interviews in his career

He continued to host Politicking with Larry King, a weekly political talk show which had aired weekly on Hulu and RT America from 2013 until his death.

King had medical issues in recent decades, including heart attacks and the diagnoses of diabetes and lung cancer. Last year, two of his five children within weeks of each other. Son Andy King died of a heart attack at 65 in August, and daughter Chaia King died from lung cancer at 51 in July.

Funeral arrangements for King and a memorial service will be announced at a later date.