Getty/Instagram
Larry King lost two of his five children just weeks apart: son Andy King, 65, and daughter Chaia King, 51.
Larry King lost two of his five children just weeks apart from each other in July, according to the Daily Mail. King’s son, Andy King, died at age 65. His daughter Chaia King died at age 51.
Andy King, who King adopted in 1961, died on July 28, 2020, from what his family believes was a heart attack. The legendary broadcaster’s daughter Chaia died on August 19, 2020, following a battle with lung cancer.
Andy and Chaia’s mother was King’s ex-wife Alene Akins, a former Playboy Bunny. They divorced for the first time in 1963 but re-married in 1968. Akins died in 2017 after being diagnosed with lung cancer for a second time.
King has been married a total of eight times. He has two children, Chance and Cannon, with ex-wife Shawn Southwick King, son Larry Jr. with ex-wife Annette Kaye, and a daughter, Kelly, from his marriage with Mickey Sutphin.
Sources told Page Six of the tragic news that “Larry and his three remaining children are distraught, and Larry’s still recovering from his own health issues from last year,” said an insider.
Another source said King, 86, quickly returned to work hosting Hulu’s Politiking with Larry King following his children’s death. “He did two live shows. It’s his way of processing.”
King Was Unable to Attend His Children’s Funerals Due to Coronavirus
King’s granddaughter Jillian told the Daily Mail that her grandfather was unable to travel and attend Andy and Chaia’s funerals. King, who recently suffered a stroke, watched the memorial services on video from his home in Los Angeles.
“Everyone’s feeling pretty bad and broken,” Jillian said. “Larry is really hurt and upset. He was very sick last year. His kids were all taking very close care of him. He’s upset that he’s lost them now.”
Jillian noted that during this time, her father-in-law also died. “I was out of town because my husband’s father had passed away so we were up in Kentucky taking care of his funeral when I heard the news,’ she said. “My dad (Andy King) passed away July 28. We’re assuming it was a heart attack but there wasn’t ever an autopsy.”
“I was in disbelief when I heard,” Jillian continued. “Chaia, with everything she was going through, was more expected. At least we had time to prepare. But there was no warning with him. It was a shock.” Of her father, whose full name was Louis Andrew “Andy” King, and Aunt Chaia, Jillian said, “They were both such wonderful people.”
Andy was buried with a Buddhist natural ceremony in Gainesville, Florida. “He was buried in a shored without being embalmed,” Jillian said. “Family spoke at the funeral.” As for Chaia, “She picked to be buried how her mother was buried, in the same cemetery next to her with a natural burial as well.”
King Got Together With All 5 of His Children for Father’s Day
Back in June, his son Cannon, 20, posted a photo on Father’s Day, which showed all of the TV host’s children together. He captioned the photo, “Dad’s side of the family came out for Father’s Day weekend. We love this man!”
While appearing on the web series My Life as a Dad in 2014, King opened up about the difference between how he’s raining his two youngest sons compared to his elder three children, which was during a time when his journalism career was taking off.
King said of Andy, Kelly, and Chaia, “I don’t know if they are hurt by it… they don’t say it. They all pretty much handle it very well, and they love their younger brothers. But I imagine that there is a little resentment. That would be normal, you know, why he wasn’t there for me all the time. It’s the kind of life I led, and if I could do a do-over again, I would have spent more time.”
“The advice I would give,” King continued, “is you can’t get it back. The day you didn’t go to the game, you can’t get that back. You didn’t go. The hotel room that goes unsold will never be sold. The day you didn’t spend, you didn’t spend. That is a big regret of mine; that I didn’t do more.”
King, who’s been married and divorced eight times said, “You don’t have to love your wife – that’s why there is divorce. You don’t divorce your children. There are things about your children that will annoy you, but the love is spectacular.”
READ NEXT: Frankie Banali Dead: Quiet Riot Drummer Dies of Pancreatic Cancer at 68
