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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
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. 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. 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, Marlon Brando, George H.W. Bush, George W Bush, Barbara Bush, Johnny Carson, Jimmy Carter, Johnny Cash, Bill Clinton, Bette Davis, Sammy Davis Jr., Bob Dylan, Gerald Ford, Jackie Gleason, Mikhail Gorbachev, Al Gore, Billy Graham, Audrey Hepburn, Gordon B. Hinckley, Bob Hope, L. Ron Hubbard, Steve Irwin, Michael Jordan, Bobby Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, Jr., Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Monica Lewinsky, Madonna, Paul McCartney, Al Pacino, J.K. Rowling, H. Ross Perot, Prince, Nancy Reagan, Ronald Reagan, Eleanor Roosevelt, Pete Rose, Frank Sinatra, Howard Stern, Barbra Streisand, Shania Twain, Margaret Thatcher, Bono, Jerry Seinfeld, Rick Warren, Oprah Winfrey, Vladimir Putin, Malcolm X, and Elizabeth Taylor. In all, CNN claims that he conducted more than 40,000 interviews over the course of his career *. 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(2004, ISBN 1-57954-820-2) 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 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. Controversy King has 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. * Quotes Family King has been married to six women and has seven children. Wives Companions Other children Sources 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 | ||||||||||
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