Tributes paid to veteran chat show host Larry King
Larry King, the iconic American chat show host, died yesterday aged 87.
He conducted tens of thousands of interviews with world leaders, movie stars and ordinary people in a career that spanned more than 60 years.
His death, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, was announced by his production company Ora Media.
No cause of death was given but a spokesman said on January 4 he had Covid-19, had received supplemental oxygen and been moved out of intensive care.
From 1985 to 2010, King hosted Larry King Live on CNN. His interviewees included the Dalai Lama, Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor, Mikhail Gorbachev, Barack Obama, Bill Gates and Lady Gaga. King had interviewed every US president since 1974, along with world leaders including Yasser Arafat and Vladimir Putin.
In a statement, Ora Media said: ‘‘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.’’
Tributes from the media, politicians and Hollywood stars poured in, including from Putin, who lauded King’s ‘‘great professionalism and unquestioned journalistic authority’’.
King was born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger on Nov 19 1933 in Brooklyn, New York. Larry King Live was broadcast six nights a week to more than 200 countries. At the height of its success, the show attracted more than one million viewers every night. Of his interviewing style, King once said: ‘‘I never learned anything when I was talking.’’