Photo Credit: Larry King/Instagram; Alexis Latshaw/Instagram
Larry King, a legend in the news business passed away at 87 years old. While no reason was given, he was hospitalized with COVID January 2nd for about a week. And for a man who has survived a heart attack in the 80s, a stroke in 2019, being a diabetic and a 2017 lung cancer diagnosis, not to mention 7 marriages. The last one sounds much more difficult to get through than all others combined, to be honest.
King had spent over 5 decades in the news business, a man whose career could have been said to have been finished as far back as the 70s when he was arrested for grand larceny for not paying back a shady gambling financier he was working with at the time. He went from public relations desk duty for Esquire Magazine unable to find work for a few years to having CNN’s highest rated program with a salary in 1985 of $100k/ year to $7 million.
Recognized with a 2008 Golden Mike Award for Lifetime Achievement by the Radio & Television News Association of Southern California, an Emmy, multiple Peabody awards, he has been credited with shaping conversation over the last 5 decades. Meghan McCain has said about his passing, “TV is less interesting without you.”
King’s production company Ora Media released a statement saying, “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.” CNN President Jeff Zucker stated, “we are so proud of the 25 years he spent with CNN, where his newsmaker interviews truly put the network on the international stage.”
King has been a mainstay on television for so long, it’s hard to imagine him not being there. And you know what his passing means, right? Betty White is now trending. Lil Duval said if Betty White goes this year he might need counseling. And we agree. Still, the television institution of Larry King is definitely going to be missed.
