Larry King dies following COVID-19 hospitalization

Legendary talk show-host Larry King died on January 23 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, according to Ora Media, a media group that King had co-founded in 2012. King died after being hospitalized with COVID-19, but the statement did not give an exact cause of death. King was 87.

King had endured several health problems for many years, including an almost fatal stroke in 2019. King also had diabetes.

King’s death is one many will not be taking lightly. Born Larence Harvey Zeiger, King became a cultural icon and inspired many others. He started his career in 1957 as a disc jockey at WAHR-AM in Miami. It was then where he decided to change his name to what we know him as now, Larry King.

“The Larry King Show,” a radio talk-show, hosted by King, first broadcasted in January 1978. The show consisted of King interviewing a guest and then taking phone calls from listeners for the guest. It was at this radio show where King would develop a very large and devoted audience. The show, which won a Peabody Award in 1982,  ended in May 1994.

In 1985, “Larry King Live” premiered on CNN. Here, King would do over 30,000 interviews, including every president from Ford to Obama. The show, which was consistently CNN’s most-watched program, ran until 2010. After leaving CNN, many, including King himself, expected him to retire. However, because King loved what he did, he kept working until his death, hosting “Larry King Now,” which aired on Ora TV, Hulu and RT America.

“I just love what I do,” King once said. “I love asking questions, I love doing interviews.”