Larry King

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Larry King
Born	November 19, 1933 (age 73) Brooklyn, New York
Occupation	Televsion host
Spouse	Shawn Southwick
Children	Larry King, Jr.

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

Contents 1 Early life 2 Miami radio 3 Legal and financial troubles 4 Comeback to radio and TV 5 1987 heart attack 6 Community 7 Trivia 8 Awards 9 Controversy 10 Quotes 11 Family 11.1 Wives (reverse chronological order): 11.2 Companions 11.3 Other children 12 Bibliography 13 References 14 External links

[edit] Early life

Larry Zeiger was born to an Austrian father. He 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 [1]) 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.

[edit] Miami radio

Zeiger got his first job in radio through persistence. A small station, WIOD 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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 Steamer of the World Football League on KWKH. 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. One reason King got the Mutual job is because he had once been an announcer at WGMA-AM in Hollywood, Florida which was then owned by C. Edward Little. Little went on to become president of Mutual and was the one who hired King when Nebel died. 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, expressing his own political opinions, something he rarely, if ever does on his television 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 most talk radio stations at the time had an established policy of local origination at the time (3 to 6 P.M. Eastern Time) that Mutual offered the show, a very low percentage of King's overnight affiliates agreed to carry his daytime show and it was unable to generate the same audience size. 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.

On the Larry King Live show, King hosts guests from a broad range of topics. This includes cotroversial figures of UFO conspiracies and alleged psychics. One notable guest is Sylvia Browne, who in 2005 told Newsweek Larry King, a believer in the paranormal, asks her do private psychic readings.^[1]

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. In all, CNN claims that he conducted more than 40,000 interviews over the course of his career [2].

[edit] 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 0-440-50039-7) 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 1-57954-820-2) features the experience of various celebrities with cardiovascular disease including Peggy Fleming and Regis Philbin.

[edit] 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."

[edit] Trivia

• King's large glasses, rolled up sleeves, tie, and suspenders have become his trademark: he seldom appears on the show wearing another outfit.
• 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", and a satirical column titled "I am Fucking Insane."
• On one of his shows, David Letterman said jokingly that "Larry King is probably approaching a thousand years."
• For a period of time Alan Kalter's "Secret Word" on the Late Show with David Letterman was said to be "sponsored" by Larry King. The sponsorship was announced by stating "Larry King - he looks like an owl."
• King has made an appearance on The Simpsons episode "One Fish, Two Fish, Blowfish, Blue Fish", as himself. When Homer decides to listen to an audio book edition of The Good Book, it is narrated by Larry King. King appears again as himself in the episode "Sideshow Bob Roberts" moderating the Springfield Mayoral debate between Mayor Quimby and Sideshow Bob.
• In a 2006 interview, Larry King mistakenly referred to Andre Agassi as Pancho Gonzales.^[2]
• The first guest on Larry King Live was then-New York Governor Mario Cuomo.
• The person who Larry would most like to interview is J.D. Salinger. On an episode of The Colbert Report that aired on March 1, 2007, King also mentioned both Jesus Christ and Abraham Lincoln as the people that he would most like to interview that are deceased.
• He has stated that his favorite guest was Frank Sinatra because of his "passion and sense of humor." He also included that his worst was Robert Mitchum because he [Mitchum] "drove me nuts, but he had a good rating."

[edit] 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. [3] 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.

[edit] Controversy

On September 10, 1990, while on The Joan Rivers Show, King responded to Rivers' query as to which contestant in the pageant was "the ugliest," blurting out, "Miss Pennsylvania," adding "She was one of the 10 finalists and she did a great ventriloquist bit," he said. "The dummy was prettier."^[3] King was a judge on the September 8, 1990 pageant. King sent Miss Pennsylvania Marla Wynne a dozen long-stemmed roses and a telegram apologizing for saying she was the ugliest contestant in the Miss America Pageant that year.^[4]

King has a history of making disparaging remarks, bordering on the slanderous, about competing broadcasters during interviews. Among those who have been King's targets have been "Chicago Ed" Schwartz, in an interview with the Chicago Sun-Times when King's show replaced Schwartz's on WIND (Schwartz had just recently moved to WGN), and Tom Snyder, whose ABC Radio program was in direct competition with the final years of King's late-night/overnight Mutual show.

King has also been sued on more than one occasion because of an interview on Larry King Live. He has a tendency during his interviews to decorate the screen with banners that sometimes project a bias or point of view separate from the subject at hand with the guest. One example was his interview with guest Lynn Redgrave, taped in advance and aired May 22, 2003, in which the subject was her career and breast cancer. During the interview there were comments edited in later about her ex-husband John Clark scrolling on the screen in the form of Chyrons, which Clark deemed to be defamatory. So he sued. Their defense was that under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, they had the privilege of presenting interviews more or less any way they liked and the case was dismissed. Clark is seeking a trial on the merits, and is currently waiting for review before the Ninth Circuit. [4]

[edit] Quotes

• "All the other kids were going to college, and I was working at the United Parcel Service. I was always telling everyone, 'I want to be a broadcaster.'"
• "In the early '70's I had lost all the jobs I had."
• "You paint YOUR bald spot."
• When asked by Roseanne Barr about whether he had ever used the Internet, King replied, "I’ve never done it, never gone searching....The wife loves it. I wouldn’t love it. What do you punch little buttons and things?"
• Can you OD on Garlique and Welch's grape juice?

[edit] Family

King has been married seven times, to six different women.

[edit] Wives (reverse chronological order):

• Shawn Southwick, present wife
  • 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, Danny Southwick (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)
• Sherryl Lewis (promise ring given at the beginning of junior year of high school)
  • Relationship dates, Oct. 1950 - Dec. 1950 (broke-up soon after meeting Miller, his first wife)

[edit] Companions

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

[edit] Other children

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

[edit] Bibliography

• Mr. King, You're Having a Heart Attack: How a heart attack and bypass surgery changed my life (1989, ISBN 0-440-50039-7) (co author with 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 1-57954-820-2)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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• Larry King at the Internet Movie Database
• CNN profile
• Larry King Cardiac Foundation
• Yahoo movie page
• AskMen.com profile
• Larry King Live - Transcripts of all interviews since 2000