His son, Chance, confirmed King’s death on Saturday morning.
King has hosted “Larry King Live” on CNN for over 25 years, interviewing presidential candidates, celebrities, athletes, movie stars and everyday people. He retired in 2010 after recording more than 6,000 episodes of the show.
A statement was posted on his verified Facebook announcing his passing.
“With deep sadness, Ora Media announces the death of our co-founder, host and friend Larry King, who died this morning at the age of 87 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles,” the statement said. “For 63 years and across all radio, television and digital media platforms, Larry’s many thousands of interviews, awards and worldwide accolades stand as proof of his unique and enduring talent as a broadcaster.”
The statement did not cause the death.
“We mourn the passing of our colleague Larry King,” CNN President Jeff Zucker said in a statement.
“The scandalous young man from Brooklyn had a historical career that spread on radio and television. His curiosity about the world propelled his award-winning career in broadcasting, but his generosity of spirit drew the world to him. We are so proud of the 25 years spent on CNN, where his news interviews really put the network on the international stage. From our CNN family to Larry, we send our thoughts and prayers and promise to continue his curiosity for the world in our work. “
King struggled with a number of health problems, suffering several heart attacks. In 1987, he underwent bypass surgery, inspiring him to set up the Larry King Heart Foundation to provide assistance to the uninsured.
More recently, King revealed in 2017 that he was diagnosed with lung cancer and underwent successful surgery to treat it. He also underwent a procedure in 2019 to address angina.
In an age full of news people, King was a giant – among the most prominent television interrogators and host of world-class presidents, movie stars and athletes.
With a pleasant and light demeanor, which distinguished him from the more intense TV interviewers, King perfected a casual approach to the question and answer format, always leaning forward and listening intently to his guests, rarely interrupting them.
“I never learned anything,” King liked to say, “while we were talking.”
For 25 years, he hosted “Larry King Live” on CNN, a period that was highlighted by more than 30,000 interviews, including every incumbent president from Gerald Ford to Barack Obama and thousands of phone calls from viewers.
The show made King one of the faces of the network and one of the most famous television journalists in the country. His column in USA Today, which ran for nearly 20 years until 2001, featured King’s distinctive printed style, inviting readers on a path of non-sequiturs that served as a window into his mind.
“The most underused player in the NFL this year was Desmond Howard of Washington … Despite what you think about Lawrence Walsh, we will always need a special prosecutor because a government cannot investigate itself,” he said. King wrote in a 1992 column.
These meditations, combined with his unmistakable appearance – oversized glasses, ever-present straps – made King ripe for caricature. In the 1990s, he was cast in “Saturday Night Live” by Norm MacDonald, who channeled the USA Today column with an identical imitation.
Jokes aside, King’s influence is evident today in the generation of podcasters who have mimicked – whether deliberate or not – the conversational approach to interviews.
“A good interview – you know more than you know before you start. You should come up with some of your changed opinions,” King told the Los Angeles Times in 2018. “You should definitely have fun – an interviewer is, also an animator. “
Born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger on November 19, 1933, in Brooklyn, New York, King was raised by two Jewish immigrants. His mother, Jennie (Gitlitz) Zeiger, was from Lithuania, while his father, Edward Zeiger, was from Ukraine. Edward died of a heart attack when King was 10 years old, a memory that King said he “blocked”.
Left to raise King and his younger brother Marty alone, Jennie Zeiger was forced to go to welfare to support her children. Death had a profound effect on King and his mother.
“Before he died, I was a good student, but after that, I stopped being interested,” King told The Guardian in a 2015 interview. “It was a real blow to me. But in the end I channeled that anger because I wanted to make him and my mother proud. “
King said his father had a huge influence on him, instilling in his son a sense of humor and a love of sports. And no sport has attracted more of King’s affection than baseball.
He grew up a Brooklyn Dodgers fan and continued to support the team after moving to Los Angeles. He was a match at home team matches at Dodger Stadium, often spotted on high-priced chairs behind the home plate. In 2004, King wrote a book entitled “Why I Love Baseball.”
King’s media career began in earnest in 1957, when he was hired as a disc jockey at WAHR-AM in Miami. That’s when he made the decision to give up his last name.
“You can’t use Larry Zeiger,” the stationmaster recalled. “It’s too ethnic. People won’t be able to write it or remember it. You need a better name.”
“There was no time to think about whether this was good or bad or what my mother would say. I was in the air in five minutes,” King wrote in his 2009 autobiography.
“The Miami Herald was spread out on his desk. Face up was a full-page ad for King’s Wholesale Liquors. The general manager looked down and said, ‘King! How about Larry King? “
During this time, King entered what would become a series of failed marriages. His union with Frada Miller has been annulled, and the dates of his second marriage to Annette Kaye are unavailable to the public.
From 1961-63, King married Alene Akins, whom he remarried from 1967-71; Before remarrying, King tied the knot with Mickey Sutphin in 1964 before divorcing in 1966.
CNN’s Ray Sanchez and David J. Lopez contributed to this report.