WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.040 Welcome to the Deep Dive. Today we are opening 00:00:02.040 --> 00:00:04.799 the closet, putting on the iconic red suspenders, 00:00:04.820 --> 00:00:09.380 and strapping in to explore a career so expansive 00:00:09.380 --> 00:00:11.720 it really redefined what a modern broadcaster 00:00:11.720 --> 00:00:14.660 could achieve. We are talking about the late, 00:00:14.820 --> 00:00:18.420 the inimitable Larry King. To call him prolific 00:00:18.420 --> 00:00:20.640 feels like, well, an understatement. He was. 00:00:20.719 --> 00:00:22.879 He's voluminous. When you actually tally up his 00:00:22.879 --> 00:00:24.660 work, we're talking of a man who anchored over 00:00:24.660 --> 00:00:28.140 6 ,000 episodes of Larry King live on CNN alone. 00:00:28.260 --> 00:00:31.820 Just on CNN, yeah. And historians estimate he 00:00:31.820 --> 00:00:34.759 conducted somewhere between, what, 50 ,000 and 00:00:34.759 --> 00:00:38.159 60 ,000 interviews across radio and television 00:00:38.159 --> 00:00:39.979 in his lifetime. It's an almost unbelievable 00:00:39.979 --> 00:00:42.460 number. Think about that sheer scale. I mean, 00:00:42.500 --> 00:00:45.310 he spoke. in depth to more distinct individuals 00:00:45.310 --> 00:00:47.469 than populate many small cities in the U .S. 00:00:47.490 --> 00:00:49.590 It really is a phenomenal achievement, not just 00:00:49.590 --> 00:00:51.649 in volume, but, you know, consistency spanning 00:00:51.649 --> 00:00:54.590 from 1957 all the way through his passing in 00:00:54.590 --> 00:00:57.869 2021. Yeah. And King wasn't just like a survivor 00:00:57.869 --> 00:01:00.310 in media. He was a constant adapter. He managed 00:01:00.310 --> 00:01:02.609 to remain not just relevant, but actually central 00:01:02.609 --> 00:01:05.430 across every major medium that emerged during 00:01:05.430 --> 00:01:08.349 those decades. From late night coast to coast 00:01:08.349 --> 00:01:11.109 AM radio to the golden age of cable news and 00:01:11.109 --> 00:01:14.200 then eventually into the the fractured digital 00:01:14.200 --> 00:01:17.159 world, internet television, even infomercials. 00:01:17.159 --> 00:01:19.859 He was everywhere. He really was. And he occupied 00:01:19.859 --> 00:01:22.840 this genuinely unique space as a public figure. 00:01:23.019 --> 00:01:25.659 He acted as a bridge, perhaps the most sort of 00:01:25.659 --> 00:01:27.500 democratic one we've ever seen. How do you mean 00:01:27.500 --> 00:01:30.579 democratic? Well, in the same 48 hours, King 00:01:30.579 --> 00:01:32.959 might sit down with a sitting world leader, a 00:01:32.959 --> 00:01:35.480 celebrity chef, a really divisive politician, 00:01:35.700 --> 00:01:39.540 and maybe an alleged psychic or UFO expert. And 00:01:39.540 --> 00:01:42.079 crucially, he treated them all with... Basically 00:01:42.079 --> 00:01:45.819 the same direct, often startlingly simple curiosity. 00:01:46.200 --> 00:01:49.680 So our mission today is to unpack not just the 00:01:49.680 --> 00:01:52.280 immense scale of this work, but also the equally 00:01:52.280 --> 00:01:55.379 complex and let's be honest, dramatic life behind 00:01:55.379 --> 00:01:57.140 the microphone. Definitely dramatic. We're tracing 00:01:57.140 --> 00:02:00.879 the complete arc. Yeah. Starting with his desperately 00:02:00.879 --> 00:02:04.560 humble depression era roots in Brooklyn. Analyzing 00:02:04.560 --> 00:02:07.150 that dramatic moment, he became Larry King. Examining 00:02:07.150 --> 00:02:09.849 the singular, often criticized interview style 00:02:09.849 --> 00:02:13.889 he cultivated and navigating the famously chaotic 00:02:13.889 --> 00:02:16.449 health crises, the business controversies, and 00:02:16.449 --> 00:02:18.789 those eight marriages that shaped the man. A 00:02:18.789 --> 00:02:21.189 lot to cover. And just to set the historical 00:02:21.189 --> 00:02:23.150 stage immediately, let's remember the beginning 00:02:23.150 --> 00:02:26.430 and the end. He was born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger. 00:02:26.509 --> 00:02:28.789 Zeiger, right. That name was abandoned almost 00:02:28.789 --> 00:02:31.110 instantly for broadcast purposes, as we'll get 00:02:31.110 --> 00:02:34.189 into. And when he passed away in January 2021 00:02:34.189 --> 00:02:38.710 at the age of 87, the narrative was, well, it 00:02:38.710 --> 00:02:41.189 was complicated. While he had been hospitalized 00:02:41.189 --> 00:02:44.490 with a severe COVID -19 infection, sources confirm 00:02:44.490 --> 00:02:47.150 his actual cause of death three weeks later was 00:02:47.150 --> 00:02:49.490 sepsis. Sepsis, right. A complication. Yeah, 00:02:49.530 --> 00:02:51.409 a life -threatening complication that followed 00:02:51.409 --> 00:02:54.509 that long hospitalization. Hashtag tag two Brooklyn 00:02:54.509 --> 00:02:56.990 roots and the Miami transformation. OK, let's 00:02:56.990 --> 00:02:59.289 unpack this journey then, because that Brooklyn 00:02:59.289 --> 00:03:01.530 beginning, it feels like the key to understanding 00:03:01.530 --> 00:03:04.490 why he pursued his career with such, I don't 00:03:04.490 --> 00:03:07.310 know, ferocious intensity. Absolutely. He was 00:03:07.310 --> 00:03:09.629 born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger on November 19th, 00:03:09.629 --> 00:03:13.129 1933 in New York City. His home life was rooted 00:03:13.129 --> 00:03:15.310 in the immigrant experience. His parents were 00:03:15.310 --> 00:03:17.569 Orthodox Jews who had immigrated from Soviet 00:03:17.569 --> 00:03:20.389 Belarus in the 1920s, specifically from Minsk 00:03:20.389 --> 00:03:23.030 and Pinsk. But that immigrant foundation was 00:03:23.030 --> 00:03:26.550 hit by this hammer blow of tragedy. They lived 00:03:26.550 --> 00:03:28.509 in a row house. But when King was just nine years 00:03:28.509 --> 00:03:31.050 old, his father, Aaron, died suddenly of a heart 00:03:31.050 --> 00:03:33.789 attack. Wow. Nine years old. Yeah. And this was 00:03:33.789 --> 00:03:36.719 the defining traumatic event. of his youth. The 00:03:36.719 --> 00:03:39.199 family king, his mother Jenny, and his brother 00:03:39.199 --> 00:03:41.319 were suddenly reliant on government welfare. 00:03:41.620 --> 00:03:43.219 That must have been incredibly difficult. Oh, 00:03:43.259 --> 00:03:45.900 the fallout was immediate and lasting. King later 00:03:45.900 --> 00:03:47.759 admitted that he completely lost interest in 00:03:47.759 --> 00:03:49.439 his schoolwork while attending Lafayette High 00:03:49.439 --> 00:03:51.759 School. Just lost interest. Completely. The structure 00:03:51.759 --> 00:03:54.860 and focus of academia just... evaporated for 00:03:54.860 --> 00:03:58.300 him. His drive shifted entirely from formal learning 00:03:58.300 --> 00:04:01.639 to sheer survival and, crucially, to that deeply 00:04:01.639 --> 00:04:04.759 ingrained, singular dream he held, becoming a 00:04:04.759 --> 00:04:07.300 successful radio broadcaster. Right, the radio 00:04:07.300 --> 00:04:10.259 dream. So after graduating, he worked odd jobs 00:04:10.259 --> 00:04:12.699 to help support his mother, but that dream didn't 00:04:12.699 --> 00:04:15.460 die. Not at all. He was desperate. He sought 00:04:15.460 --> 00:04:17.920 advice from a CBS production supervisor, James 00:04:17.920 --> 00:04:20.240 F. Sermons, who gave him this life -altering 00:04:20.240 --> 00:04:23.160 advice. Don't stay in New York. Go to Florida. 00:04:23.279 --> 00:04:25.899 Florida. Why Florida? He said Miami was a rapidly 00:04:25.899 --> 00:04:28.500 expanding media market and they were desperate 00:04:28.500 --> 00:04:31.399 for inexperienced broadcasters. Basically, a 00:04:31.399 --> 00:04:33.480 place where a newcomer could get a foot in the 00:04:33.480 --> 00:04:36.220 door. So it was a huge gamble then, moving south 00:04:36.220 --> 00:04:39.199 with nothing. A massive roll of the dice. And 00:04:39.199 --> 00:04:41.519 he faced initial setbacks, really struggling 00:04:41.519 --> 00:04:44.399 to break into the industry. He finally landed 00:04:44.399 --> 00:04:48.300 his first radio job in Miami Beach in 1957 at 00:04:48.300 --> 00:04:51.459 this small station, WAHR, which is now WMBM. 00:04:51.759 --> 00:04:53.920 But not on the air immediately. No, not at all. 00:04:53.959 --> 00:04:57.120 He was hired initially to clean floors, run errands, 00:04:57.120 --> 00:04:59.939 perform miscellaneous tasks, earning a meager 00:04:59.939 --> 00:05:03.540 $50 a week. $50. Yeah, a pittance even. then 00:05:03.540 --> 00:05:05.480 it really highlights his initial desperation 00:05:05.480 --> 00:05:07.519 you know absolutely so how did he get on air 00:05:07.519 --> 00:05:10.040 well here's where the persona was instantly born 00:05:10.040 --> 00:05:13.600 an announcer abruptly quit and king who had apparently 00:05:13.600 --> 00:05:15.879 been practicing was just shoved onto the air 00:05:15.879 --> 00:05:19.920 on may 1st 1957 just like that pretty much he 00:05:19.920 --> 00:05:22.660 started as a disc jockey quickly adding newscasts 00:05:22.660 --> 00:05:25.379 and a sports cast but the station's general manager 00:05:25.379 --> 00:05:28.399 a man named marshall simmons stopped him moments 00:05:28.399 --> 00:05:31.470 before he went live why What happened? Simmons 00:05:31.470 --> 00:05:33.810 looked at the name Lawrence Zeiger and basically 00:05:33.810 --> 00:05:37.009 declared it was too German, too Jewish, and not 00:05:37.009 --> 00:05:39.870 show business enough. Wow. That's blunt. Right. 00:05:40.009 --> 00:05:42.649 It was a moment of absolute panic and necessity. 00:05:43.110 --> 00:05:45.829 Lawrence Zeiger needed an alias, and he needed 00:05:45.829 --> 00:05:47.750 it seconds before the microphone opened. Jeez, 00:05:47.750 --> 00:05:51.029 like seconds. That's the story. He glanced down, 00:05:51.149 --> 00:05:53.370 saw an advertisement in the Miami Herald for 00:05:53.370 --> 00:05:56.550 King's Wholesale Liquor, and just chose King. 00:05:56.750 --> 00:06:00.000 No way. from a liquor ad that spur -of -the -moment 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:02.740 decision in a hallway defined the next six decades 00:06:02.740 --> 00:06:05.480 of his professional identity it wasn't some calculated 00:06:05.480 --> 00:06:09.019 pr move it was pure desperate improvisation incredible 00:06:09.019 --> 00:06:11.759 and he legally changed the name to larry king 00:06:11.759 --> 00:06:16.319 within two years so larry king is born how did 00:06:16.319 --> 00:06:19.500 he break through locally was it just as spontaneous 00:06:19.500 --> 00:06:23.160 pretty much yeah it showcases his innate ability 00:06:23.160 --> 00:06:26.379 to connect with people He began conducting interviews 00:06:26.379 --> 00:06:30.560 for WIOD from this now famous deli called Pumpernick's 00:06:30.560 --> 00:06:32.339 Restaurant in Miami Beach. Pumpernick's, right. 00:06:32.519 --> 00:06:35.420 And he literally interviewed whoever walked in 00:06:35.420 --> 00:06:38.279 the door. Just whoever. That's the key difference 00:06:38.279 --> 00:06:41.120 right there. He didn't start in some sterile 00:06:41.120 --> 00:06:44.220 studio. His environment was a busy, loud Jewish 00:06:44.220 --> 00:06:47.839 deli. His very first interview, a waiter at the 00:06:47.839 --> 00:06:50.240 restaurant. A waiter. It really reinforces that 00:06:50.240 --> 00:06:52.680 democratic approach you mentioned. Exactly. He's 00:06:52.680 --> 00:06:54.540 interviewing a waiter, but he's treating it like 00:06:54.540 --> 00:06:56.519 the most important interview of his career. And 00:06:56.519 --> 00:06:58.980 did that casual setting work? It became his superpower. 00:06:59.060 --> 00:07:01.740 It removed the barrier between the broadcaster 00:07:01.740 --> 00:07:04.160 and the subject, and the concept paid off almost 00:07:04.160 --> 00:07:06.720 immediately. Two days after interviewing the 00:07:06.720 --> 00:07:09.720 waiter, the singer Bobby Darin, who was in Miami 00:07:09.720 --> 00:07:12.420 for a concert, heard the show, walked right into 00:07:12.420 --> 00:07:15.360 Pumpernicks, and became King's first major celebrity 00:07:15.360 --> 00:07:17.519 interview guest. Amazing. Just walked it off 00:07:17.519 --> 00:07:19.990 the street. King had successfully created this 00:07:19.990 --> 00:07:22.790 space where the everyday person and the global 00:07:22.790 --> 00:07:25.189 star could inhabit the same informal setting. 00:07:25.490 --> 00:07:28.490 He soon parlayed this into local TV exposure, 00:07:28.810 --> 00:07:31.750 hosting Miami Undercover starting in 1960. And 00:07:31.750 --> 00:07:34.029 his local success was really cemented by a figure 00:07:34.029 --> 00:07:36.910 of immense national power at the time, Jackie 00:07:36.910 --> 00:07:40.189 Gleason. Ah, yes. Gleason's national variety 00:07:40.189 --> 00:07:42.949 show moved its taping to Miami Beach in 1964, 00:07:43.290 --> 00:07:46.029 and King credits him heavily as a crucial mentor. 00:07:46.569 --> 00:07:49.110 Also, he recounted how Gleason stayed up all 00:07:49.110 --> 00:07:51.329 night with him, advising him and even helped 00:07:51.329 --> 00:07:53.569 rearrange the set and lighting of King's local 00:07:53.569 --> 00:07:56.250 program. That connection, that mentorship from 00:07:56.250 --> 00:07:59.089 a national icon gave him vital legitimacy. OK, 00:07:59.170 --> 00:08:01.589 so his career was rocketing forward. He even 00:08:01.589 --> 00:08:03.629 became a color commentator for the Miami Dolphins. 00:08:03.709 --> 00:08:06.930 Yeah, during the 1970 and most of the 1971 seasons. 00:08:07.009 --> 00:08:09.009 But his early career wasn't just success. It 00:08:09.009 --> 00:08:12.060 was volatile. In December 1971, King faced this 00:08:12.060 --> 00:08:14.680 devastating professional and legal crisis. He 00:08:14.680 --> 00:08:18.399 was fired by both WIOD and WTVJ. Fired? What 00:08:18.399 --> 00:08:20.060 happened? This was a scandal, right? This was 00:08:20.060 --> 00:08:23.240 the big one. A serious, reputation -shattering 00:08:23.240 --> 00:08:26.740 scandal. He was arrested for grand larceny following 00:08:26.740 --> 00:08:29.060 a complaint from a former business partner, Louis 00:08:29.060 --> 00:08:32.440 Wolfson, concerning a $5 ,000 bad check. Grand 00:08:32.440 --> 00:08:36.049 larceny? That's serious. Oh, yeah. He lost his 00:08:36.049 --> 00:08:38.850 late -night radio slot, his TV commentary job, 00:08:39.009 --> 00:08:41.350 and his newspaper column basically overnight. 00:08:41.629 --> 00:08:43.529 The charges were later dropped, but the damage 00:08:43.529 --> 00:08:45.629 was done. So how did he come back from that? 00:08:45.850 --> 00:08:48.820 Well, the key takeaway here is resilience. The 00:08:48.820 --> 00:08:50.620 charges were eventually dismissed, but he lost 00:08:50.620 --> 00:08:53.700 years of traction. It took time, but he was eventually 00:08:53.700 --> 00:08:56.299 rehired by W .I .O .D., starting first with a 00:08:56.299 --> 00:08:58.980 sports talk show called Sports a la King. OK. 00:08:59.100 --> 00:09:01.000 But this brush with the law and professional 00:09:01.000 --> 00:09:02.759 disgrace, it really underscores the vulnerability 00:09:02.759 --> 00:09:05.799 beneath that burgeoning celebrity veneer. And 00:09:05.799 --> 00:09:07.980 maybe it fueled his determination to reach a 00:09:07.980 --> 00:09:10.440 level of national prominence where local scandals 00:09:10.440 --> 00:09:12.860 couldn't touch him again. Hashtag Tag Three, 00:09:13.019 --> 00:09:15.940 the king of all night radio. Right. That need 00:09:15.940 --> 00:09:18.399 for national legitimacy seems to define his next 00:09:18.399 --> 00:09:22.059 big move. Exactly. In 1978, Larry King truly 00:09:22.059 --> 00:09:25.139 went national. He began a nightly coast -to -coast 00:09:25.139 --> 00:09:27.659 radio program on the mutual broadcasting system. 00:09:28.179 --> 00:09:31.019 The Larry King Show started January 30, 1978, 00:09:31.379 --> 00:09:33.899 and it was the bridge that took him from regional 00:09:33.899 --> 00:09:36.399 celebrity to genuine national figure. And we 00:09:36.399 --> 00:09:38.120 have to talk about the time slot because it just 00:09:38.120 --> 00:09:40.700 sounds physically grueling. This show was broadcast 00:09:40.700 --> 00:09:44.340 live Monday through Friday from midnight to 5 00:09:44.340 --> 00:09:47.960 .30 a .m. Eastern Time. Yeah, midnight to 5 .30 00:09:47.960 --> 00:09:50.080 a .m. Five and a half hours, five nights a week 00:09:50.080 --> 00:09:52.960 in the dead of night. Yeah. I mean, how does 00:09:52.960 --> 00:09:55.399 someone sustain that level of output? It speaks 00:09:55.399 --> 00:09:57.919 volumes about his drive, doesn't it? And frankly, 00:09:58.080 --> 00:10:00.059 the incredible energy he maintained, especially 00:10:00.059 --> 00:10:02.159 considering he was a three -pack -a -day smoker 00:10:02.159 --> 00:10:04.940 back then. Three packs a day and doing that shift. 00:10:05.179 --> 00:10:07.259 Wild. The structure of the show was specifically 00:10:07.259 --> 00:10:09.740 designed for this demanding schedule and that 00:10:09.740 --> 00:10:12.379 unique late -night audience. It had three distinct 00:10:12.379 --> 00:10:14.360 parts. Okay, break that format down for us. So 00:10:14.360 --> 00:10:16.080 first hour was dedicated to a detailed interview 00:10:16.080 --> 00:10:17.720 with a high -profile guest. Standard enough. 00:10:18.490 --> 00:10:21.210 But the secret weapon came next. For the following 00:10:21.210 --> 00:10:23.929 two hours, the guest stayed on. The guest stayed 00:10:23.929 --> 00:10:26.690 for three hours. Often, yes. And the microphone 00:10:26.690 --> 00:10:28.850 was open to callers from all across the country. 00:10:29.110 --> 00:10:31.789 These callers continued the interview, asking 00:10:31.789 --> 00:10:35.169 questions of the guest directly. Wow. That's 00:10:35.169 --> 00:10:38.129 real access. It was a massive democratization 00:10:38.129 --> 00:10:41.450 of access long before the Internet or social 00:10:41.450 --> 00:10:43.429 media made that kind of direct communication 00:10:43.429 --> 00:10:45.769 common. And that must have created an audience 00:10:45.769 --> 00:10:48.860 that was intensely loyal. Right. Because they 00:10:48.860 --> 00:10:50.700 felt like active participants. They were the 00:10:50.700 --> 00:10:52.779 original Kingaholics, weren't they? Absolutely. 00:10:52.940 --> 00:10:55.120 People who were up with him every night, tuning 00:10:55.120 --> 00:10:57.799 in for that blend of high profile guest and direct 00:10:57.799 --> 00:11:00.159 interaction. So what was the third segment? Ah, 00:11:00.399 --> 00:11:03.600 the third segment was where the intimacy deepened 00:11:03.600 --> 00:11:06.500 even further. Starting at 3 a .m. Eastern, the 00:11:06.500 --> 00:11:09.179 segment was called. Open Phone America. Open 00:11:09.179 --> 00:11:11.679 Phone America. Okay. At this point, the guest 00:11:11.679 --> 00:11:14.519 was typically long gone, and King allowed callers 00:11:14.519 --> 00:11:17.120 to discuss any topic they pleased with him until 00:11:17.120 --> 00:11:19.340 the end of the program. Anything at all. Anything. 00:11:19.460 --> 00:11:21.840 And this is also when King felt free to share 00:11:21.840 --> 00:11:24.460 his own opinions, often political ones, with 00:11:24.460 --> 00:11:26.919 his dedicated audience. That segment must have 00:11:26.919 --> 00:11:29.340 been crucial for Stations Out West, with the 00:11:29.340 --> 00:11:32.000 time difference. Absolutely. Because of the time 00:11:32.000 --> 00:11:33.840 difference, many stations in the Pacific and 00:11:33.840 --> 00:11:36.299 mountain time zones would carry the main guest 00:11:36.299 --> 00:11:38.720 interview on tape delay earlier in the evening. 00:11:38.860 --> 00:11:41.419 Right. But they often carried the Open Phone 00:11:41.419 --> 00:11:44.700 America segment live, starting much earlier in 00:11:44.700 --> 00:11:47.740 their local evening schedule. It meant King's 00:11:47.740 --> 00:11:50.919 personal, unfiltered thoughts were reaching listeners 00:11:50.919 --> 00:11:54.700 across the entire continent, creating this shared, 00:11:54.860 --> 00:11:57.600 almost cult -like experience. And the community 00:11:57.600 --> 00:12:00.559 he built was so vivid that we know the callers. 00:12:00.590 --> 00:12:03.110 by name or, well, by nickname, right? He gave 00:12:03.110 --> 00:12:05.309 them pseudonyms. That's right. It made them characters 00:12:05.309 --> 00:12:08.210 in his national drama. The sources are full of 00:12:08.210 --> 00:12:10.970 these recurring, almost folkloric figures who 00:12:10.970 --> 00:12:12.830 became part of the nightly show's landscape. 00:12:12.929 --> 00:12:16.570 The numbers guy, the chair, the Portland Laugher. 00:12:16.730 --> 00:12:19.029 The Portland Laugher. What did they do? Apparently, 00:12:19.070 --> 00:12:21.289 just laughed into the phone, never spoke a word. 00:12:21.470 --> 00:12:24.669 That's bizarre. Yeah. And the Miami Derelict, 00:12:24.850 --> 00:12:26.850 the Scandal Scoopers, they weren't just random 00:12:26.850 --> 00:12:28.929 people. They were like the co -stars of Late 00:12:28.929 --> 00:12:31.850 Night America. It really proved King's knack 00:12:31.850 --> 00:12:34.149 for turning the mundane into compelling narrative. 00:12:34.529 --> 00:12:37.289 That personal touch obviously translated into 00:12:37.289 --> 00:12:39.929 immense growth. He started that national show 00:12:39.929 --> 00:12:42.490 with only, what, 28 affiliates? Just 28. But 00:12:42.490 --> 00:12:44.690 when he finally retired from the program in 1994, 00:12:44.990 --> 00:12:48.129 after 16 years on Mutual, the show had swelled 00:12:48.129 --> 00:12:52.309 to over 500 affiliates. 500. That's huge reach 00:12:52.309 --> 00:12:55.179 for... radio back then incredible reach and the 00:12:55.179 --> 00:12:57.940 sheer longevity in the audio space is amazing 00:12:58.809 --> 00:13:01.350 Even after his final radio broadcast on May 27, 00:13:01.629 --> 00:13:04.590 1994, he remained connected to that audio world. 00:13:04.730 --> 00:13:07.490 How so? For many years, the audio of his new 00:13:07.490 --> 00:13:10.149 high -profile CNN television program was actually 00:13:10.149 --> 00:13:13.649 simulcast on radio networks until 2009. So even 00:13:13.649 --> 00:13:15.629 with the TV show booming, he kept a foot in radio. 00:13:15.970 --> 00:13:18.909 Long after cable news had supposedly killed radio's 00:13:18.909 --> 00:13:21.389 influence, he simply refused to let go of the 00:13:21.389 --> 00:13:23.509 medium that made him. Which brings us, yeah, 00:13:23.629 --> 00:13:25.870 to the absolute zenith of his career. where he 00:13:25.870 --> 00:13:28.049 became this global cultural staple instantly 00:13:28.049 --> 00:13:30.789 recognizable by his demeanor and, of course, 00:13:30.830 --> 00:13:34.049 those suspenders. Larry King Live began on CNN 00:13:34.049 --> 00:13:39.409 in June 1985 and ran for 25 years. An unparalleled 00:13:39.409 --> 00:13:42.730 quarter century run. The scale is, again, almost 00:13:42.730 --> 00:13:46.289 comical. 6 ,000 episodes taped. 6 ,000. It was 00:13:46.289 --> 00:13:49.509 recognized by Guinness World Records as the longest 00:13:49.509 --> 00:13:52.129 running television show hosted by the same person 00:13:52.129 --> 00:13:54.470 on the same network and in the same time slot. 00:13:54.889 --> 00:13:57.570 That consistency is just the defining feature 00:13:57.570 --> 00:13:59.830 of his career. And as you mentioned earlier, 00:14:00.090 --> 00:14:03.129 the breadth of guests was dizzying. From the 00:14:03.129 --> 00:14:04.809 most serious political figures on the planet 00:14:04.809 --> 00:14:07.070 to figures who were fringe, controversial, or 00:14:07.070 --> 00:14:09.169 just plain front. Right. He secured the first 00:14:09.169 --> 00:14:11.370 or exclusive interviews on countless breaking 00:14:11.370 --> 00:14:14.889 stories. ZNC truly saw his role as simply allowing 00:14:14.889 --> 00:14:17.429 the guest, whoever they were, to tell their story 00:14:17.429 --> 00:14:19.639 without filtering. That's exactly the heart of 00:14:19.639 --> 00:14:22.600 his controversial but immensely successful interview 00:14:22.600 --> 00:14:25.840 philosophy. His style was direct. He didn't waste 00:14:25.840 --> 00:14:28.399 time on pleasantries. But crucially, it was non 00:14:28.399 --> 00:14:30.639 -confrontational. Okay, non -confrontational. 00:14:30.700 --> 00:14:32.120 That wasn't accidental, you're saying. It was 00:14:32.120 --> 00:14:34.820 a strategy. Oh, highly calculated, yes. Calculated 00:14:34.820 --> 00:14:37.259 how? Because to an outsider, it often looked 00:14:37.259 --> 00:14:40.200 like, well, journalistic softness, right? Especially 00:14:40.200 --> 00:14:42.399 compared to the rising tide of aggressive cable 00:14:42.399 --> 00:14:45.399 news hosts in the 90s and 2000s. Sure, but it 00:14:45.399 --> 00:14:47.879 was attractive to the powerful. Important figures, 00:14:48.179 --> 00:14:50.960 world leaders, major CEOs, the biggest celebrities. 00:14:51.320 --> 00:14:54.220 They knew that coming on to Larry King Live meant 00:14:54.220 --> 00:14:55.899 they could state their position without heavy 00:14:55.899 --> 00:14:58.799 challenge, without being aggressively cross -examined 00:14:58.799 --> 00:15:01.799 on specific details, without facing gotcha questions. 00:15:02.299 --> 00:15:05.460 King basically offered a safe harbor in a media 00:15:05.460 --> 00:15:07.860 environment that was becoming increasingly hostile. 00:15:08.059 --> 00:15:11.809 A safe harbor. And this brings us to the... absolutely 00:15:11.809 --> 00:15:15.649 legendary and often criticized technique he employed 00:15:15.649 --> 00:15:18.250 to maintain that non -confrontational stance. 00:15:18.809 --> 00:15:21.809 Tell us about his reading habits, or lack thereof. 00:15:21.870 --> 00:15:23.950 Right. It's sort of the antithesis of preparation, 00:15:24.210 --> 00:15:26.889 isn't it? King famously and openly stated that 00:15:26.889 --> 00:15:29.350 when interviewing authors, he purposely did not 00:15:29.350 --> 00:15:31.169 read their books in advance. Didn't read the 00:15:31.169 --> 00:15:34.190 book. Nope. He didn't read biographies. He didn't 00:15:34.190 --> 00:15:36.480 memorize statistics. He tried to keep... his 00:15:36.480 --> 00:15:39.139 preparation minimal for pretty much every guest 00:15:39.139 --> 00:15:43.360 now was this truly for the audience as he claimed 00:15:43.360 --> 00:15:45.740 so he wouldn't know more than them or was it 00:15:45.740 --> 00:15:49.139 maybe a strategy to minimize his own workload 00:15:49.789 --> 00:15:53.129 while maximizing access ah that is the central 00:15:53.129 --> 00:15:55.509 tension of his career and it's likely both right 00:15:55.509 --> 00:15:57.950 yeah probably he argued that by remaining slightly 00:15:57.950 --> 00:16:00.289 ignorant he ensured his questions were the same 00:16:00.289 --> 00:16:02.570 fundamental questions the average viewer at home 00:16:02.570 --> 00:16:04.830 was thinking what's this book about why'd you 00:16:04.830 --> 00:16:07.950 do that simple questions exactly it made him 00:16:07.950 --> 00:16:10.210 relatable accessible and ensured the conversation 00:16:10.210 --> 00:16:12.909 stayed focused on broad strokes rather than deep 00:16:12.909 --> 00:16:15.870 substantive pushback if he didn't know the obscure 00:16:15.870 --> 00:16:18.409 details of the author's previous work well he 00:16:18.409 --> 00:16:21.879 couldn't use those So he was more of a facilitator 00:16:21.879 --> 00:16:24.360 than a dissecting journalist. Precisely. That 00:16:24.360 --> 00:16:26.740 was the role he carved out. Regardless of the 00:16:26.740 --> 00:16:29.279 motivation, the impact he had on politics was 00:16:29.279 --> 00:16:32.639 just undeniable. The sources highlight two really 00:16:32.639 --> 00:16:35.500 monumental political moments on his show. First, 00:16:35.659 --> 00:16:40.320 in 1992, Ross Perot. Oh, yeah. The Texas billionaire. 00:16:40.679 --> 00:16:43.500 He used Larry King live as his launching pad 00:16:43.500 --> 00:16:45.870 to announce his presidential candidacy. That 00:16:45.870 --> 00:16:49.070 single interview fundamentally altered the 1992 00:16:49.070 --> 00:16:52.250 election. At the time, Perot was just this wealthy 00:16:52.250 --> 00:16:55.470 businessman with an idea. King's massive platform 00:16:55.470 --> 00:16:58.889 gave immediate national legitimacy to that third 00:16:58.889 --> 00:17:02.169 party bid. Incredible power. And the second moment. 00:17:02.309 --> 00:17:05.230 Came in 1993 when the debate he moderated between 00:17:05.230 --> 00:17:08.589 Vice President Al Gore and Perot became CNN's 00:17:08.589 --> 00:17:10.990 most watched segment in its history up until 00:17:10.990 --> 00:17:14.299 2015. Wow. Most watched until 2015. Yeah. He 00:17:14.299 --> 00:17:16.039 didn't just cover politics. He actively drove 00:17:16.039 --> 00:17:18.019 it sometimes. And while he was achieving this 00:17:18.019 --> 00:17:21.039 peak on CNN, he was still maintaining his sort 00:17:21.039 --> 00:17:23.240 of writerly identity. He wrote a column for the 00:17:23.240 --> 00:17:25.240 Sporting News. Yeah, during the 1980s, which 00:17:25.240 --> 00:17:27.160 makes perfect sense given his background as a 00:17:27.160 --> 00:17:29.680 sports commentator, right? But the most ubiquitous 00:17:29.680 --> 00:17:31.900 writing was his regular column in USA Today. 00:17:32.180 --> 00:17:35.400 That ran for almost 20 years, from 1982 until 00:17:35.400 --> 00:17:38.720 2001. 20 years. And that column, it accompanied 00:17:38.720 --> 00:17:41.700 his nightly television presence? It sounds like 00:17:41.700 --> 00:17:44.079 it perfectly reflected that breezy, access -driven 00:17:44.079 --> 00:17:46.400 nature of his celebrity. It did. The column was 00:17:46.400 --> 00:17:49.799 described as being filled with short plugs, superlatives, 00:17:49.799 --> 00:17:52.319 and dropped names. Sounds about right. Yeah, 00:17:52.380 --> 00:17:55.420 it was light, easy reading. Essentially, a daily 00:17:55.420 --> 00:17:59.000 dose of Larry King's proximity to power and celebrity. 00:17:59.400 --> 00:18:02.019 So when he finally stepped down on December 16, 00:18:02.299 --> 00:18:05.539 2010, there was speculation. Piers Morgan was 00:18:05.539 --> 00:18:07.799 confirmed as his replacement. Was that seen as 00:18:07.799 --> 00:18:11.640 CNN shifting strategy? away from his style absolutely 00:18:11.640 --> 00:18:14.500 it was widely interpreted as cnn moving away 00:18:14.500 --> 00:18:17.200 from king's non -confrontational style toward 00:18:17.200 --> 00:18:20.119 a more aggressive opinionated format king's simplicity 00:18:20.119 --> 00:18:23.660 was being replaced by well punchiness his final 00:18:23.660 --> 00:18:26.200 graceful words on the show i i i don't know what 00:18:26.200 --> 00:18:28.740 to say except to you my audience thank you and 00:18:28.740 --> 00:18:31.119 instead of goodbye how about so long were the 00:18:31.119 --> 00:18:33.339 perfect unassuming exit for the man who loved 00:18:33.339 --> 00:18:36.160 a simple question so long very fitting Hashtag 00:18:36.160 --> 00:18:38.240 Shag if he posts CNN ventures and legacy building. 00:18:38.579 --> 00:18:40.700 But as we've established, Larry King did not 00:18:40.700 --> 00:18:42.420 know the meaning of the word retirement. Not 00:18:42.420 --> 00:18:44.779 at all. He pivoted immediately into the new media 00:18:44.779 --> 00:18:48.220 landscape. Right away. In 2012, he co -founded 00:18:48.220 --> 00:18:51.299 Aura TV, a production company, alongside his 00:18:51.299 --> 00:18:54.579 then -wife, Sean Southwick King, and the influential 00:18:54.579 --> 00:18:57.619 Mexican business magnate, Carlos Slim. Carlos 00:18:57.619 --> 00:19:01.799 Slim. Wow. Big backer. Huge. He was determined 00:19:01.799 --> 00:19:04.660 to adapt. This venture immediately launched the 00:19:04.660 --> 00:19:06.559 web series Larry King Now, which was carried 00:19:06.559 --> 00:19:10.400 on Hulu started in July 2012. He was truly embracing 00:19:10.400 --> 00:19:13.200 the digital distribution model. Still innovating. 00:19:13.259 --> 00:19:15.339 And he even hosted the third party presidential 00:19:15.339 --> 00:19:17.980 debate on the Aura TV platform that year, showing 00:19:17.980 --> 00:19:19.619 he could still attract high stakes political 00:19:19.619 --> 00:19:21.759 content outside of the established networks. 00:19:22.019 --> 00:19:27.099 Now, this leads us to the most. Complex and ethically 00:19:27.099 --> 00:19:29.319 scrutinized segment of his late career, right? 00:19:29.380 --> 00:19:31.319 The RT America deal. Yeah, this was definitely 00:19:31.319 --> 00:19:34.460 controversial. In May 2013, Aura TV struck a 00:19:34.460 --> 00:19:36.799 deal with the Russian government -owned RT America 00:19:36.799 --> 00:19:39.259 Network to license his two shows, Larry King 00:19:39.259 --> 00:19:42.180 Now and a weekly political talk show, Politicking 00:19:42.180 --> 00:19:44.420 with Larry King. And this arrangement ran for 00:19:44.420 --> 00:19:47.500 seven years until 2020. Correct. The controversy 00:19:47.500 --> 00:19:49.779 here stemmed directly from the source of the 00:19:49.779 --> 00:19:52.619 funding, didn't it? RT being widely viewed as... 00:19:52.970 --> 00:19:55.349 A propaganda outlet for the Russian government. 00:19:55.630 --> 00:19:58.930 Exactly. Critics argued that by licensing content 00:19:58.930 --> 00:20:01.609 to them, King was lending his immense credibility 00:20:01.609 --> 00:20:04.130 to a network specifically designed to spread 00:20:04.130 --> 00:20:06.910 foreign influence and disinformation. It looked 00:20:06.910 --> 00:20:09.730 bad. So how did King defend this decision? He 00:20:09.730 --> 00:20:11.529 must have known the scrutiny it would bring. 00:20:11.710 --> 00:20:14.849 His defense was twofold and very specific. He 00:20:14.849 --> 00:20:18.579 adamantly maintained. I don't work for RT. Okay. 00:20:18.759 --> 00:20:21.740 He clarified that Aura TV simply licensed the 00:20:21.740 --> 00:20:24.240 shows to the network for a fee, much like any 00:20:24.240 --> 00:20:26.400 independent production company licenses content. 00:20:27.000 --> 00:20:29.279 He stressed that he retained complete editorial 00:20:29.279 --> 00:20:32.000 control, stating he would never put up with them 00:20:32.000 --> 00:20:34.500 trying to edit out content. So he saw it as just 00:20:34.500 --> 00:20:36.920 a business transaction, using their pipes, basically. 00:20:37.119 --> 00:20:38.980 That was his framing, using the infrastructure 00:20:38.980 --> 00:20:41.019 of the network for distribution while maintaining 00:20:41.019 --> 00:20:43.059 independence. But, you know, that distinction 00:20:43.059 --> 00:20:45.700 remained deeply problematic for many critics. 00:20:46.059 --> 00:20:48.279 Understandably. But even outside of that structure, 00:20:48.400 --> 00:20:50.660 he remained active, right? He hosted another 00:20:50.660 --> 00:20:53.599 show. Yeah, he hosted the educational TV series 00:20:53.599 --> 00:20:57.240 In View with Larry King from 2013 to 2015, carried 00:20:57.240 --> 00:20:59.359 on various networks like Fox Business Network 00:20:59.359 --> 00:21:02.160 and Discovery. And his digital presence. Yeah. 00:21:02.240 --> 00:21:04.000 You mentioned Twitter. That connected back to 00:21:04.000 --> 00:21:06.519 his radio days. Absolutely. He was incredibly 00:21:06.519 --> 00:21:08.680 active on Twitter, using it almost like his own 00:21:08.680 --> 00:21:11.480 personal Open Phone America segment. He told 00:21:11.480 --> 00:21:14.440 sources, I love tweeting. I'm giving out thoughts, 00:21:14.480 --> 00:21:16.740 opinions. The whole concept has changed. So he 00:21:16.740 --> 00:21:18.799 was still doing that direct, unfiltered connection 00:21:18.799 --> 00:21:22.220 thing. Exactly. He used the platform to maintain 00:21:22.220 --> 00:21:24.779 that intimacy with the public he had mastered 00:21:24.779 --> 00:21:27.740 decades prior. We should also touch on his immense 00:21:27.740 --> 00:21:30.819 cultural ubiquity in film. He almost always played 00:21:30.819 --> 00:21:33.200 himself, didn't he? Reinforcing that status as 00:21:33.200 --> 00:21:35.579 the interviewer laureate. Totally. The sources 00:21:35.579 --> 00:21:39.319 list Ghostbusters, Contact, The Dictator. But 00:21:39.319 --> 00:21:41.859 for pure pop culture delight, you can't forget 00:21:41.859 --> 00:21:44.519 his surprisingly charming voice roles. Oh, right. 00:21:44.680 --> 00:21:48.099 Doris, the ugly stepsister in Shrek 2. And sequels. 00:21:48.410 --> 00:21:50.789 An incredibly unexpected casting choice. And 00:21:50.789 --> 00:21:53.130 perhaps the most fitting, he voiced B. Larry 00:21:53.130 --> 00:21:56.049 King in Jerry Seinfeld's B movie. B. Larry King. 00:21:56.170 --> 00:21:59.210 Perfect. He was such a recognizable fixture that 00:21:59.210 --> 00:22:01.150 he could literally become a character named after 00:22:01.150 --> 00:22:03.190 himself in a major animated film. It's amazing. 00:22:03.490 --> 00:22:07.190 But the downside of being so sort of digitally 00:22:07.190 --> 00:22:10.369 adaptable became apparent late in his life. The 00:22:10.369 --> 00:22:12.509 sources mention a really unfortunate incident 00:22:12.509 --> 00:22:16.400 in 2019. involving disinformation. Yeah, reported 00:22:16.400 --> 00:22:19.039 by ProPublica. It highlights the dangers of the 00:22:19.039 --> 00:22:22.180 modern media landscape. He was manipulated unwittingly, 00:22:22.200 --> 00:22:25.119 sources suggest, into starring in a fake interview. 00:22:25.400 --> 00:22:27.400 A fake interview? Yeah, containing disinformation 00:22:27.400 --> 00:22:30.720 about a Chinese dissident, Guo Wengui. This fake 00:22:30.720 --> 00:22:33.720 content was then actively spread by Chinese government 00:22:33.720 --> 00:22:37.299 -associated social media accounts. Wow. That's 00:22:37.299 --> 00:22:40.259 scary. It really showed how easily even a trusted 00:22:40.839 --> 00:22:43.319 seasoned professional could be caught and used 00:22:43.319 --> 00:22:45.619 as a vector for state -sponsored disinformation. 00:22:45.940 --> 00:22:48.640 A real demonstration of the new risks in the 00:22:48.640 --> 00:22:50.880 digital age. Despite controversies like that, 00:22:51.000 --> 00:22:52.940 his charitable legacy seems pretty substantial. 00:22:53.180 --> 00:22:56.099 The Larry King Cardiac Foundation. Right. Following 00:22:56.099 --> 00:22:58.660 his major heart attack in 1987, he founded that 00:22:58.660 --> 00:23:01.200 foundation. It's a nonprofit organization dedicated 00:23:01.200 --> 00:23:03.539 to paying for life -saving cardiac procedures 00:23:03.539 --> 00:23:05.880 for people who couldn't afford them. So he turned 00:23:05.880 --> 00:23:07.779 his own health crisis into something positive 00:23:07.779 --> 00:23:10.990 for others. Exactly. He transformed a personal 00:23:10.990 --> 00:23:13.369 health crisis into a mission to fund, sources 00:23:13.369 --> 00:23:17.150 say, over 200 lifesaving operations for those 00:23:17.150 --> 00:23:19.690 in need. That's significant. Let's dig into those 00:23:19.690 --> 00:23:23.089 private battles more. That 1987 heart attack, 00:23:23.250 --> 00:23:25.890 you said, was a complete reordering of his life. 00:23:26.170 --> 00:23:29.180 Oh, absolutely. He required emergency quintuple 00:23:29.180 --> 00:23:32.619 bypass surgery. It was a massive life -threatening 00:23:32.619 --> 00:23:34.619 intervention directly linked to his lifestyle. 00:23:34.920 --> 00:23:37.359 And that surgery forced a dramatic immediate 00:23:37.359 --> 00:23:40.759 change, didn't it? His smoking habit. Yes. He 00:23:40.759 --> 00:23:43.019 was reportedly a chain smoker who consumed three 00:23:43.019 --> 00:23:45.660 packs of cigarettes a day. Three packs. Unbelievable. 00:23:45.660 --> 00:23:47.740 The severity of the heart attack forced him to 00:23:47.740 --> 00:23:51.400 quit instantly. Cold turkey. Wow. And he not 00:23:51.400 --> 00:23:54.019 only survived, but he chronicled the experience 00:23:54.019 --> 00:23:56.240 co -writing two books about living with heart 00:23:56.240 --> 00:23:58.799 disease. He turned his vulnerability into a public 00:23:58.799 --> 00:24:00.640 health message. But the health battles didn't 00:24:00.640 --> 00:24:03.160 stop there, did they? They persisted relentlessly. 00:24:03.380 --> 00:24:05.859 No, they didn't. He endured more than one major 00:24:05.859 --> 00:24:08.599 crisis later on. Doctors discovered and successfully 00:24:08.599 --> 00:24:11.039 removed a malignant tumor in his lung during 00:24:11.039 --> 00:24:14.960 a 2017 examination. Successfully removed, thankfully. 00:24:15.180 --> 00:24:17.980 But then came another devastating blow in March 00:24:17.980 --> 00:24:21.500 2019. The stroke. That was the stroke. Highly 00:24:21.500 --> 00:24:24.240 debilitating. It left him in a coma for what 00:24:24.240 --> 00:24:27.359 he described as weeks. The physical recovery 00:24:27.359 --> 00:24:30.920 was arduous, affecting his core ability to communicate. 00:24:31.140 --> 00:24:33.279 And the psychological impact. Yeah. The sources 00:24:33.279 --> 00:24:36.539 reveal it was profound. He actually contemplated 00:24:36.539 --> 00:24:39.660 suicide. He did. King later admitted the experience 00:24:39.660 --> 00:24:42.240 was so devastating that he contemplated suicide 00:24:42.240 --> 00:24:44.829 in the afternoon. aftermath. He told a Los Angeles 00:24:44.829 --> 00:24:47.470 television station, quote, I didn't want to live 00:24:47.470 --> 00:24:50.000 this way. Oh, that's heartbreaking for a man 00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:52.460 whose entire identity was built on effortless, 00:24:52.500 --> 00:24:55.720 witty, rapid -fire communication. Exactly. The 00:24:55.720 --> 00:24:57.859 impact of the stroke was this devastating loss 00:24:57.859 --> 00:25:00.619 of self. It adds incredible dimension to the 00:25:00.619 --> 00:25:03.099 public persona, doesn't it? It really does. Here 00:25:03.099 --> 00:25:05.279 was this man who seemed outwardly impervious, 00:25:05.299 --> 00:25:07.240 constantly interviewing, constantly working, 00:25:07.299 --> 00:25:09.859 yet grappling with private despair and physical 00:25:09.859 --> 00:25:12.099 challenges that fundamentally threatened his 00:25:12.099 --> 00:25:15.019 livelihood and identity. And his life outside 00:25:15.019 --> 00:25:18.500 of work was rarely calm either. We need to address 00:25:18.500 --> 00:25:22.579 the sheer chaos and volume of his personal relationships. 00:25:22.859 --> 00:25:25.299 Eight marriages to seven different women. It's 00:25:25.299 --> 00:25:28.480 an unprecedented level of marital flux, starting 00:25:28.480 --> 00:25:30.640 almost comically early with an annulled marriage 00:25:30.640 --> 00:25:32.559 to his high school sweetheart, Freda Miller, 00:25:32.759 --> 00:25:37.329 when he was just 19 in 1952. 19. Yeah. The relationships 00:25:37.329 --> 00:25:39.990 were often dramatic and overlapping. And one 00:25:39.990 --> 00:25:41.809 of the more surprising family facts is about 00:25:41.809 --> 00:25:44.670 his eldest son, right? Yes, he had a son, Larry 00:25:44.670 --> 00:25:47.569 Jr., whom he did not meet until Larry Jr. was 00:25:47.569 --> 00:25:49.630 already in his 30s. Didn't meet him until he 00:25:49.630 --> 00:25:52.190 was 30? Correct. Larry Jr. was the result of 00:25:52.190 --> 00:25:54.390 King's brief second marriage to Annette Kay. 00:25:54.789 --> 00:25:57.450 This later reunion really speaks to the often 00:25:57.450 --> 00:26:00.190 fragmented nature of King's family life amidst 00:26:00.190 --> 00:26:02.349 his intense career climb. And he showed this 00:26:02.349 --> 00:26:04.869 remarkable tendency to repeat previous relationships. 00:26:05.089 --> 00:26:09.170 He married Aline A. Yes. First briefly from 1961 00:26:09.170 --> 00:26:13.250 to 1963, and then again from 1969 to 1972. Why? 00:26:13.430 --> 00:26:15.450 Do we know? The dynamics must have been complex. 00:26:15.769 --> 00:26:17.589 During that first short marriage, he adopted 00:26:17.589 --> 00:26:20.009 her son, Andy. And then during the second marriage, 00:26:20.089 --> 00:26:22.990 they had a daughter together, Chaya. Okay. But 00:26:22.990 --> 00:26:25.410 his longest and final marriage was to Sean Southwick, 00:26:25.490 --> 00:26:29.029 starting in 1997. Right. And the proposal and 00:26:29.029 --> 00:26:31.569 wedding to Sean were classic Larry King high 00:26:31.569 --> 00:26:34.369 drama, tied intimately to his health crises again. 00:26:34.690 --> 00:26:37.569 How so? they married in his hospital room just 00:26:37.569 --> 00:26:39.690 three days before he underwent heart surgery 00:26:39.690 --> 00:26:43.349 in 1997 in the hospital room yes they went on 00:26:43.349 --> 00:26:46.349 to have two sons chance and canon that marriage 00:26:46.349 --> 00:26:49.190 lasted until their separation in 2019 which is 00:26:49.190 --> 00:26:51.329 actually a considerable run given his track record 00:26:51.329 --> 00:26:54.799 true But the private tragedy hit hardest just 00:26:54.799 --> 00:26:56.700 months before his own death, didn't it, with 00:26:56.700 --> 00:26:58.839 his children from Aline Akins? Oh, absolutely 00:26:58.839 --> 00:27:01.160 devastating. His children with Aline Akins, Andy, 00:27:01.240 --> 00:27:03.660 and Shia died within weeks of each other in August 00:27:03.660 --> 00:27:06.700 2020. Within weeks. Oh, my God. Andy died at 00:27:06.700 --> 00:27:09.660 65 from a heart attack, and Shia died just weeks 00:27:09.660 --> 00:27:12.859 later at 51 from lung cancer. That's unimaginable. 00:27:12.980 --> 00:27:15.299 To lose two children in such rapid succession, 00:27:15.619 --> 00:27:17.799 particularly after such a tumultuous relationship 00:27:17.799 --> 00:27:20.299 with their mother. It must have been an unbearable 00:27:20.299 --> 00:27:22.960 blow in the final months of his life. King spoke 00:27:22.960 --> 00:27:25.440 publicly about the profound pain of enduring 00:27:25.440 --> 00:27:29.480 that loss. It's just awful. Outside of family 00:27:29.480 --> 00:27:32.140 drama, his personal views and finances were also 00:27:32.140 --> 00:27:35.160 pretty colorful. Raised Orthodox Jewish, but 00:27:35.160 --> 00:27:37.680 his religious views evolved significantly. Yeah, 00:27:37.740 --> 00:27:40.119 quite a journey there. By 2005, he described 00:27:40.119 --> 00:27:42.599 himself as a Jewish agnostic, proud of his heritage, 00:27:42.640 --> 00:27:45.920 but questioning dogma. Okay. By 2015, he went 00:27:45.920 --> 00:27:48.960 further, stating he was fully atheist. Atheist. 00:27:49.019 --> 00:27:51.539 Interesting. And financially, he wasn't always 00:27:51.539 --> 00:27:54.380 savvy. The Madoff connection. Right. He suffered 00:27:54.380 --> 00:27:56.940 substantial financial setbacks, including losing 00:27:56.940 --> 00:28:00.319 a reported $2 .8 million to Bernie Madoff's colossal 00:28:00.319 --> 00:28:03.160 Ponzi scheme. Ouch. A huge loss that speaks to 00:28:03.160 --> 00:28:06.119 his trust and perhaps, yeah, some poor investment 00:28:06.119 --> 00:28:08.480 judgment, despite his immense wealth over the 00:28:08.480 --> 00:28:10.819 years. And for a man who seems so grounded in 00:28:10.819 --> 00:28:13.799 the simple mechanics of broadcasting. He flirted 00:28:13.799 --> 00:28:17.240 with cryonics in Frozen. Yes. It's a fascinating 00:28:17.240 --> 00:28:19.740 detail. The sources indicate he considered being 00:28:19.740 --> 00:28:22.140 cryonically suspended multiple times, specifically 00:28:22.140 --> 00:28:25.400 mentioning the idea in 2009, 2011, and 2015. 00:28:25.759 --> 00:28:28.599 Seriously considered it. Apparently so. After 00:28:28.599 --> 00:28:30.700 serious contemplation and discussions with his 00:28:30.700 --> 00:28:33.299 family, he ultimately decided against the procedure 00:28:33.299 --> 00:28:35.849 two years before his death. It's just fascinating 00:28:35.849 --> 00:28:38.529 that the man who wanted simple, direct answers 00:28:38.529 --> 00:28:41.650 was tempted by such an elaborate sci -fi solution 00:28:41.650 --> 00:28:44.829 to mortality. It really is. And finally, his 00:28:44.829 --> 00:28:47.210 death sparked a contentious legal fight over 00:28:47.210 --> 00:28:49.930 his estate. It did. His estate was valued at 00:28:49.930 --> 00:28:52.630 $2 million, though that figure apparently excluded 00:28:52.630 --> 00:28:55.369 assets held in trusts, which could be substantial. 00:28:55.690 --> 00:28:58.730 Okay, so $2 million was the publicly stated value. 00:28:58.930 --> 00:29:01.190 Right. And that lower value became the focus 00:29:01.190 --> 00:29:04.319 of a very public legal battle. His estranged 00:29:04.319 --> 00:29:07.500 wife, Sean Southwick, contested his 2019 handwritten 00:29:07.500 --> 00:29:10.259 will. Handwritten will? Yes. The will explicitly 00:29:10.259 --> 00:29:13.119 left the entire $2 estate to his five surviving 00:29:13.119 --> 00:29:15.140 children, seemingly cutting Sean out completely. 00:29:15.420 --> 00:29:17.400 She alleged that the will was signed under undue 00:29:17.400 --> 00:29:20.380 influence from his son, Larry King Jr. Wow. So 00:29:20.380 --> 00:29:22.990 more drama right to the end. Exactly. This legal 00:29:22.990 --> 00:29:25.170 battle over his final wishes was only resolved 00:29:25.170 --> 00:29:27.970 through a settlement in 2024 with King's business 00:29:27.970 --> 00:29:31.450 management firm long after his passing. It created 00:29:31.450 --> 00:29:34.470 this final dramatic public episode in his life. 00:29:34.829 --> 00:29:37.750 Hashtag tag tag seven conclusion and final thought. 00:29:37.970 --> 00:29:42.130 So what does this entire sprawling, chaotic and 00:29:42.130 --> 00:29:46.009 monumental career ultimately mean? When we synthesize 00:29:46.009 --> 00:29:48.890 the legacy, the recognition is just everywhere, 00:29:49.029 --> 00:29:50.750 isn't it? Absolutely. Across every corner of 00:29:50.750 --> 00:29:53.289 the industry. He won two Peabody's for Excellence, 00:29:53.509 --> 00:29:55.789 one for his radio show, one for his CNN coverage, 00:29:56.069 --> 00:30:00.750 an Emmy, 10 Cable AC Award. 10 Cable AC. Yeah. 00:30:00.750 --> 00:30:02.630 It was inducted into both the Radio Hall of Fame 00:30:02.630 --> 00:30:04.809 and the Broadcaster's Hall of Fame. He wasn't 00:30:04.809 --> 00:30:06.809 just an interviewer. He really defined the role 00:30:06.809 --> 00:30:09.089 for a generation. So the essential takeaway for 00:30:09.089 --> 00:30:11.910 you, the listener, what is it? I think it's King's 00:30:11.910 --> 00:30:14.349 unique ability to transcend media format. while 00:30:14.349 --> 00:30:16.269 remaining utterly consistent in his delivery 00:30:16.269 --> 00:30:18.750 his style he navigated the transition from local 00:30:18.750 --> 00:30:21.049 miami radio to those grueling national midnight 00:30:21.049 --> 00:30:23.930 airwaves to the prime time cable news slot and 00:30:23.930 --> 00:30:26.069 finally into the complexities of digital media 00:30:26.069 --> 00:30:28.890 and even infomercials right always maintaining 00:30:28.890 --> 00:30:31.349 that distinctive simple non -confrontational 00:30:31.349 --> 00:30:34.460 style and he also understood The essential currency 00:30:34.460 --> 00:30:36.680 of vulnerability, didn't he? His willingness 00:30:36.680 --> 00:30:39.480 to expose his health battles, his constant family 00:30:39.480 --> 00:30:42.099 drama. Yes. And even just his simple, honest 00:30:42.099 --> 00:30:45.039 questions. It made him profoundly relatable and 00:30:45.039 --> 00:30:48.359 human, even as his access made him iconic. Precisely. 00:30:48.359 --> 00:30:50.819 And that brings us back to his foundational interview 00:30:50.819 --> 00:30:54.220 technique. The simple, non -confrontational question, 00:30:54.319 --> 00:30:56.980 often delivered without deep research. We've 00:30:56.980 --> 00:30:58.779 seen how this allowed him to interview, you know, 00:30:58.799 --> 00:31:01.759 50 ,000 people. So the final question, the provocative 00:31:01.759 --> 00:31:04.220 thought for you listening, was it the mark of 00:31:04.220 --> 00:31:07.759 genuine humility and pure curiosity? A way to 00:31:07.759 --> 00:31:09.980 truly represent the average audience member's 00:31:09.980 --> 00:31:12.700 perspective and ensure accessibility for all? 00:31:12.880 --> 00:31:16.019 A man simply looking for an answer. unburdened 00:31:16.019 --> 00:31:19.059 by academic pretense? Or was it, conversely, 00:31:19.059 --> 00:31:22.079 a highly calculated method, a strategy used to 00:31:22.079 --> 00:31:24.380 draw out the powerful figures of the world by 00:31:24.380 --> 00:31:26.660 guaranteeing them a less challenging platform 00:31:26.660 --> 00:31:28.539 than they might face with a hard -hitting journalist, 00:31:28.819 --> 00:31:31.420 a way to ensure continued access by providing 00:31:31.420 --> 00:31:34.140 accommodation? That really is the ultimate tension 00:31:34.140 --> 00:31:37.200 in the Larry King legacy, isn't it? Whether his 00:31:37.200 --> 00:31:39.559 signature method was driven by journalistic humility 00:31:39.559 --> 00:31:43.779 or by strategic accommodation. Yeah. It's a fascinating 00:31:43.779 --> 00:31:45.859 question for you to consider as you reflect on 00:31:45.859 --> 00:31:47.440 the man who, from the moment he found the name 00:31:47.440 --> 00:31:50.059 King in a Miami hallway, built a life around 00:31:50.059 --> 00:31:53.039 making the complex world accessible one simple 00:31:53.039 --> 00:31:54.039 question at a time.