Media legend Larry King has died

LOS ANGELES – Larry King, the legendary American talk-show host, has died. He was 87.

Ora Media, the company King cofounded, announced King’s passing Saturday morning with a statement on his Twitter account.

“With profound sadness, Ora Media announces the death of our co-founder, host, and friend Larry King, who passed away this morning at age 87 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles,” the statement said

In Late December 2020, King was hospitalized with a case of COVID-19. After spending some time in the intensive care unit, King improved enough to be moved out of the unit and was breathing on his own.

The television and radio icon spent decades conducting more than 30,000 interviews, including every president from Gerald Ford to Barack Obama. He spent seven years on the nationally syndicated radio program “The Larry King Show” and then more than two decades on CNN’s “Larry King Live.”

During his time on CNN, he earned dozens of awards and was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame and the National Association of Broadcasters Broadcasting Hall of Fame.

He retired from “Larry King Live” in 2010, but two years later returned to television with the show “Larry King Now” and “Politicking with Larry King,” which were available on Hulu and RT America.

King was born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger on Nov. 19, 1933 in Brooklyn, New York. In 1957, he changed his last name from Zeiger to King as he went on to pursue a career in radio.

After graduating high school, he spent several years living at home to help his mother, Jennie Zeiger, after his father, Edward Zeiger, died. Then in his 20s, King moved to Florida to start his career. He worked as a disc jockey in South Florida for some time.

In 1960, King broke into television with a talk show based in Miami. He also wrote for local newspapers in the city, according to CNN. He even became a color commentator for the Miami Dolphins during the 1970 season.