Originally published 2021-01-23.
Larry King died on 23 January 2021 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 87. Earlier that month it had been reported that he was in hospital with COVID-19; he later left intensive care. His wife, Shawn Southwick, said afterwards that he died of sepsis, an infection she described as unrelated to COVID-19. His production company, Ora Media, announced the death that morning and named his surviving sons, Larry Jr., Chance and Cannon.
King's career ran for more than six decades across radio, cable television and online video. He was known for his suspenders, his big glasses and, above all, for asking short and simple questions. Here is a look at his life, how he became one of the most recognisable interviewers in the world, and why his style still matters.
His final weeks and health history
King had lived with serious health problems for decades. In February 1987 he had a major heart attack followed by quintuple bypass surgery, and he gave up a three-pack-a-day smoking habit afterwards. In 2017 doctors found a malignant tumour in his lung during a routine check, and it was removed surgically. In 2019 he had heart procedures and, by his own account, a stroke that left him in a coma for weeks. He was also reported to have type 2 diabetes.
When he was reported to be in hospital with COVID-19 in January 2021, many feared the worst because of his age and medical history. The family did not release full medical details, and his wife's later comment about sepsis is the clearest public statement on the cause. It is a reminder that a death following an infection is not always caused directly by it.
Despite his health, King kept working almost to the end, hosting Larry King Now and the weekly political talk show Politicking with Larry King for Ora TV until 2020.
From Brooklyn to a Miami radio booth
He was born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger on 19 November 1933 in Brooklyn, New York, to Jewish immigrant parents from what is now Belarus. His father died of a heart attack when Larry was nine, and the family relied on public assistance. He never went to college; after high school he took jobs to help support his mother.
A tip that Florida was a good place for a beginner sent him to Miami. In 1957 he was hired at the small station WAHR to clean up and do odd jobs. On 1 May that year a disc jockey left and Zeiger went on air for the first time. The station manager thought his surname was hard to remember, so minutes before broadcast he chose "King" after seeing a liquor store advert in the Miami Herald. He later made the change legal.
His first interview was with a waiter at a Miami Beach restaurant. Two days later he talked to the singer Bobby Darin. The habit of chatting with whoever walked in, famous or not, stayed with him for life.
The rise of Larry King Live
National fame came in 1978 with The Larry King Show, an all-night call-in programme on the Mutual Broadcasting System that ran until 1994. Listeners across America stayed up to hear him talk with guests and callers, and the show won a Peabody Award in 1982.
In June 1985 CNN launched Larry King Live. It ran until December 2010, with roughly 6,000 episodes, and Guinness World Records recognised it as the longest-running show hosted by the same person on the same network in the same time slot. The programme hosted some of the most memorable moments in American political television: Ross Perot announced his 1992 presidential run on the show, and the 1993 debate between Vice President Al Gore and Perot about the NAFTA trade deal became one of CNN's most-watched broadcasts.
King is often credited with interviewing every sitting US president from Gerald Ford to Barack Obama, along with world leaders, film stars, athletes and people caught up in scandals. Estimates of his total number of interviews vary widely, from 30,000 to more than 50,000 over his career, which says something about just how long he was on air. He won two Peabody Awards, an Emmy and ten CableACE Awards.
Why his interview style worked
King famously did little research before many interviews. He said he preferred to learn alongside the audience, so that his questions would be the ones viewers themselves would ask. His company's tribute summed it up: he liked "short, direct, and uncomplicated questions" and saw his guests, not himself, as the stars.
That approach had real strengths:
- Guests relaxed. Many public figures agreed to appear because they expected a conversation, not an ambush, and they often said more than they intended.
- Viewers felt included. Simple questions such as "What was that like?" invited stories instead of soundbites.
- Calls kept it human. Taking questions from ordinary viewers brought perspectives that a producer might never think of.
It also drew criticism. Some journalists said his gentle approach let powerful guests avoid hard follow-up questions. Later in life, his decision to distribute shows through outlets including the Russian state-owned RT America was also questioned. Both views are part of an honest picture of his career.
Family life and personal losses
King was married eight times to seven women; he married Alene Akins twice. His final marriage, to singer and TV host Shawn Southwick in 1997, was in divorce proceedings when he died. He had five children, along with nine grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
The last year of his life brought heavy grief. In summer 2020 two of his children died within weeks of each other. His son Andy, 65, died suddenly of a heart attack on 28 July, and his daughter Chaia, 51, died on 20 August, shortly after being diagnosed with lung cancer. King spoke publicly about how painful it was for a parent to outlive their children.
His legacy
Ora Media said that across 63 years and every kind of platform, his interviews and awards showed his lasting talent as a broadcaster. Tributes after his death came from presidents, rivals and fellow journalists, many of whom recalled being interviewed by him early in their own careers.
For anyone who interviews people today, whether on a podcast, in journalism or simply at work, King's approach offers a few practical lessons:
- Keep questions short and let the other person do the talking.
- Listen to the answer and ask the next question from it, rather than from a script.
- Treat everyone, from a waiter to a president, as someone with a story worth hearing.
Larry King turned curiosity into a career that outlasted changing technologies, networks and audiences. Few broadcasters have spoken to so many people, and fewer still made it look so easy.
Sources: Wikipedia: Larry King; NBC Los Angeles: Larry King has died at age 87.
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