Larry King Biography

After a number of early struggles, Larry King persevered and got his first job in the radio. Here, he was asked to perform a number of odd jobs before he was finally given his first assignment as a disc jockey on May 1, 1957. It was during this time, he acquired the name, ‘Larry King’.

He was given an opportunity to host the mid-morning show for WIOD in Miami Beach and this show propelled him to glory. In 1960, he hosted ‘Miami Undercover’, on which he presented debates pertaining to important issues of the time.

For the 1970-71 seasons, he was given further opportunities as a color pundit for the ‘Miami Dolphins’ of the National Football League. However, he was fired at the end of the season when he was arrested after being accused of grand larceny by a former business partner. The charges were dropped the following year.

He spent the next few years refreshing his career and did a brief spell as a color commentator for ‘Shreveport Steamer’ of the World Football League. It was during this time, he also hosted a sports-talk show, ‘Sports-a-la-King’.

After persisting for a successful breakthrough, he finally achieved what he was hoping for. He went national in 1978, getting the night talk show slot on the Mutual Broadcasting System.

In 1984, he hosted his very own CNN show, ‘Larry King Live’, where he invited a number of illustrious guests and discussed all kinds of issues from diviners to UFO conspiracy theories and news from the entertainment industry.

In 2012, he co-founded ‘Ora TV’ along with Carlos Slim. The production company signed a pact to host King’s new talk-oriented web show, ‘Larry King Now’ from July 17th. From 2012 to 2020, he hosted, ‘Larry King Now’ on Hulu and RT America.

His weekly political talk show ‘Politicking with Larry King’ was also aired on Hulu and RT America from 2013 to 2021.

‘Larry King Live’, hosted on CNN, had a successful run from 1985 to 2010. It is deemed as one of the longest running talk-show programs in American history, with a whopping total of one million viewers every night. This one-hour show was broadcast three times a day and could be seen by audiences all over the world on CNN International. Some of the notable episodes of the show included the debate between Ross Perot and Al Gore, the episode with Ryan Seacrest and the episode featuring the ailing Tammy Faye Messner. The success of the show was phenomenal and is still regarded as his biggest accomplishment.

He won a total of 10 CableACE Awards for the categories, ‘Best Interviewer’ and ‘Best Talk Show Series’.

He was the proud recipient of the President’s Award, honoring his impact on media from the Los Angeles Press Club, in 2006.

Larry King married for eight times. His wives were: Freda Miller, Annette Kaye, Alene Akins, Mary Francis Stuphin, Sharon Lepore, Julie Alexander and Shawn Southwick. He married Alene Akins twice. He had eight children in total.

For most part of his early life, he was a fervent smoker. In 1987, he suffered from a major heart attack and went through a number of surgeries to correct his heart disease issue.

He authored two books about living with heart disease, titled, ‘Mr. King, You’re Having a Heart Attack: How a Heart Attack and Bypass Surgery Changed My Life’ and ‘Taking on Heart Disease: Famous Personalities Recall How They Triumphed over the Nation’s #1 Killer and How You Can, Too’.

Larry King died on 23 Jan 2021 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, U.S. He was admitted to hospital in December 2020 after he tested positive for COVID-19.

In terms of religious views, Larry King never believed that he would be ‘going anywhere (heaven/hell)’ after he died.