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US Television Host, Larry King Dies At 87 After Battling COVID-19

By Michael Bamidele

23 January 2021   |   2:06 pm

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Larry King, the American TV and radio host who is best known for his long-running CNN show Larry King Live has died. He was 87 years old. King passed away on Saturday morning at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, according to a statement published on his Twitter page. No cause of death was…

Larry King – Getty Images

Larry King, the American TV and radio host who is best known for his long-running CNN show Larry King Live has died. He was 87 years old.

King passed away on Saturday morning at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, according to a statement published on his Twitter page. No cause of death was provided, but King’s death came weeks after it was revealed that he was battling coronavirus.

“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 wrote.

“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. Additionally, while it was his name appearing in the shows’ titles, Larry always viewed his interview subjects as the true stars of his programs, and himself as merely an unbiased conduit between the guest and audience. Whether he was interviewing a U.S. president, foreign leader, celebrity, scandal-ridden personage, or an everyman, Larry liked to ask short, direct, and uncomplicated questions. He believed concise questions usually provided the best answers, and he was not wrong in that belief.”

Born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger on November 19, 1933, King began as a local Florida journalist and radio interviewer in the 1950s and 1960s, and gained prominence beginning in 1978 as host of The Larry King Show, an all-night nationwide call-in radio program heard on the Mutual Broadcasting System. From 1985 to 2010, he hosted the nightly interview television program Larry King Live on CNN.

From 2012 to 2020, he hosted Larry King Now on Hulu and RT America. He continued to host Politicking with Larry King, a weekly political talk show which has aired weekly on the same two channels from 2013 until his death.

King’s work as a broadcaster has earned him multiple awards including two Peabodys, an Emmy award, and 10 Cable ACE Awards.