Larry King Biography Quotes 26 Report mistakes

Early Life and Education
Lawrence Harvey Zeiger, known worldwide as Larry King, was born on November 19, 1933, in Brooklyn, New York. He grew up in a working-class Jewish family; his mother, Jennie, worked in the garment industry, and his father, Aaron, ran a restaurant before later working in a defense plant. The sudden death of his father from a heart attack when Larry was nine plunged the family into financial hardship, an experience that shaped his outlook and drive. A devoted listener of radio as a boy, he idolized the voices he heard beaming across New York and dreamed of joining their ranks. He attended Lafayette High School in Brooklyn and, instead of going to college, took odd jobs to support his family and nurture his interest in broadcasting.

Beginnings in Radio
In the mid-1950s, King moved to Miami, then an emerging market for radio. He started at a local station in a junior role and was unexpectedly put on the air when an opening occurred. On his first day behind the microphone, a manager suggested he change his name, saying Zeiger was hard to remember and might sound too ethnic to some listeners. Spotting an advertisement for a nearby business called King, he chose Larry King on the spot. Miami quickly embraced him. He hosted music shows, sports coverage, and interviews, and he developed a knack for conversational, disarming questions. He learned to let pauses breathe and to invite guests to tell their stories in full. He also began doing live, on-location interviews that drew a cross-section of celebrities, local leaders, and ordinary callers.

National Reach and Signature Style
In 1978, King launched The Larry King Show on the Mutual Broadcasting System, an overnight call-in program that became a national phenomenon. A hallmark segment, Open Phone America, invited anyone to call, and King's genial manner turned late-night radio into a democratic forum. He favored short, plainspoken questions and avoided verbal fencing, creating a space where guests felt safe to open up. His easy rapport and curiosity earned him a Peabody Award and a loyal following. He also began a widely read column for USA Today, marked by his trademark ellipses and quick-hit observations on politics, culture, and sports.

Television at CNN
Larry King Live premiered on CNN in 1985 and ran for 25 years, becoming one of the most recognizable interview shows in the world. With CNN founder Ted Turner championing big-tent programming and executive producer Wendy Walker shaping the nightly lineup, King interviewed presidents, world leaders, artists, and newsmakers of every stripe. Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama all sat for memorable conversations. Ross Perot used the program to ignite his outsider presidential bid in 1992, demonstrating the show's extraordinary reach. King secured rare sit-downs with figures like Frank Sinatra and Marlon Brando, and hosted consequential discussions with global figures such as Mikhail Gorbachev, Yasser Arafat, and Vladimir Putin. Viewers came to expect breaking-news roundtables after national crises and celebrity interviews that felt conversational rather than combative. He earned another Peabody and a shelf of television honors, and his suspenders and gravelly baritone became cultural touchstones.

Later Ventures
After leaving CNN in 2010, King embraced digital media. With support from businessman Carlos Slim, he co-founded Ora TV, where he launched Larry King Now and PoliticKING with Larry King, bringing his interview style to streaming platforms and new audiences. He continued to draw a diverse roster of guests and remained active on social media, adapting to changing formats without abandoning the straightforward curiosity that defined his work.

Personal Life and Health
King's personal life was as widely discussed as his public career. He married several times and was a devoted father. Among his children were Larry King Jr., Andy King, and Chaia King. Late in life he was married to Shawn Southwick King, who frequently appeared by his side at public events. King was candid about his health challenges. He survived multiple heart attacks and underwent quintuple bypass surgery in 1987, experiences that led him to establish the Larry King Cardiac Foundation to help patients lacking insurance obtain life-saving treatment. He also contended with cancer and other ailments in later years. In 2020, he suffered the devastating loss of two of his children, Andy and Chaia, within weeks of each other. In early 2021 he was hospitalized with COVID-19 and died on January 23, 2021, in Los Angeles, closing a broadcasting career that spanned more than six decades.

Craft and Influence
King's interviewing philosophy was simple: ask short questions, listen closely, and never try to show the guest up. He said he preferred not to over-prepare so that he could be genuinely curious on the air, a method that some critics questioned but that many guests praised. The result was an atmosphere in which presidents, dissidents, actors, and authors spoke in a more human register. He mentored younger broadcasters and was generous with colleagues behind the scenes. Producers like Wendy Walker credited his humility and work ethic with keeping a nightly program agile through the 24-hour news era. His prominence also gave him an unusual ability to convene unlikely pairings on live television, making his show a destination for newsmakers seeking a broad, mainstream audience.

Legacy
Larry King helped define the possibilities of modern interview journalism across radio, cable news, and digital platforms. He was a bridge between eras: a kid from Brooklyn who loved radio, a national overnight companion in the 1970s and 1980s, a prime-time fixture during the rise of CNN, and finally a streaming pioneer who kept asking questions well into his eighties. The people around him, from Ted Turner and Wendy Walker to guests like Ross Perot, Frank Sinatra, and world leaders, illustrate the breadth of his reach. His family and close colleagues remember a man who worked tirelessly, bounced back from adversity, and used his fame to raise awareness and funds for cardiac care. His influence endures in countless interviewers who emulate his economy of language and commitment to letting others be heard.

Our collection contains 26 quotes who is written by Larry, under the main topics: Witty One-Liners - Wisdom - Friendship - Writing - Learning.

Other people realated to Larry: Billie Jean King (Athlete), Barbara de Angelis (Writer), Barbara Olson (Journalist)

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