Legendary host Larry King is dead

King of the interview, American audiovisual star, Larry King, who passed away Saturday at 87, spent more than 60 years behind a microphone, and his show on CNN broadcast from 1985 to 2010 had become a must-see for politicians and celebrities.

AFP

From Yasser Arafat to Vladimir Putin, who immediately saluted his memory, through Hillary Clinton, Marlon Brando or the quidams who made the news, Larry King conducted more than 40,000 interviews since 1958. 

It is the company he co-founded, Ora Media, which announced Saturday with "deep sadness" his death in Los Angeles. 

It did not specify the cause of his death but Larry King had been admitted to hospital after contracting COVID-19, CNN said earlier this month.

"For 63 years on radio, television and digital media, Larry's thousands of interviews, awards and worldwide recognition are a testament to his unique talent as a media person," Ora Media added.

Larry King has interviewed every president since Gerald Ford, either after their terms or before, as he did with George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump. It was at his home that Jacques Chirac announced in 1995 the reduction of French nuclear tests in the Pacific. 

CNN journalist Christiane Amanpour hailed "a giant of the audiovisual industry", while Vladimir Putin praised his "great professionalism".

During the 25 years of his show, the atmosphere on the set was invariably warm, almost intimate, even complacent: "I'm not interested in making people uncomfortable," he told AFP in 1995.

With a lively gaze behind big glasses, and with a very personal cheek, Larry King, always in shirt arms, was easily recognizable by his multicolored ties and straps.

One million viewers

His real name was Larry Zeiger, the Jewish child from Brooklyn, born on November 19, 1933 to Russian immigrant parents, who became an orphan at the age of ten. Affected by this death, he no longer made any effort at school and never went to university. 

However, he dreamed of a career in radio and went to Florida to try his luck. 

He became a disc jockey in a Miami radio station and changed his name to "King", as the station manager considered his name "too ethnic".

The new radio host often recorded in a restaurant, inviting passers-by to his microphone. 

In 1978, he left Florida for Washington, D.C., where he started a national radio talk show, and then for local television. The CNN channel spotted him and included him in its night programs in 1985. 

By the time he celebrated his 40th anniversary in 1997, he said he was "proud" of the success m8he had achieved thanks to a simple recipe. "I'm curious. I ask interesting questions. I'm not here to embarrass (my guests), I've always liked to make guests relax. 

Every night, the ritual was the same: usually from his Washington studio, with the city lights in the background, King would chat casually with his host, before the second half of the evening, the host would answer questions from around the world on the phone. The program aired six nights a week and was broadcast in more than 200 countries or territories.

At the height of his success, King had over a million viewers each night, making him the star of the cable channels and enabling him to negotiate a salary of over $7 million annually.

In 2010, however, Larry King left Ted Turner's channel, which was losing ratings. He continued his interviews on his own website before signing for the public channel Russia Today (RT) in 2013.

Married eight times to seven different women, the octogenarian has had five children.

Source: AFP