Larry King, the legendary US radio and television host, has died

The 87-year-old communicator was admitted to a Los Angeles hospital after contracting coronavirus

Larry King, the legendary US radio and television presenter, died of coronavirus at age 87. The famous journalist had been hospitalized for COVID-19 since the beginning of December in Los Angeles.

He suffered from type 2 diabetes and had had numerous medical problems, including several heart attacks, lung cancer, and angina pectoris, a disease caused by decreased blood flow to the heart.

King was one of the most important figures in the history of American television, famous for his shirts, his multicolored ties, his suspenders, and his big glasses. He hosted the program " Larry King Live " for 25 years, in which he interviewed all US presidents since 1974 and world leaders such as the Palestinian Yasir Arafat or the Russian Vladimir Putin.

He left CNN in 2010 and continued doing interviews broadcast on its website. In 2012, he launched the show " Larry King Now " on Ora TV, a video-on-demand channel that he co-founded.

Throughout his life, King received more than a dozen awards from the media, including two Peabody Awards for excellence in broadcasting in 1982 and 1992, as well as an Emmy Award and 10 CableACE Awards for Best Interviewer, as well as the best talk show series.

The sad news was confirmed through the communicator's Twitter account. "With deep sadness, Ora Media announces the death of our co-founder, host and friend Larry King, who passed away this morning at age 87 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles," the statement begins.

It continues: “For 63 years and, across the radio, television and digital media platforms, Larry did thousands of interviews, received awards and global acclaim, which are a testament to his unique and enduring talent as a broadcaster. Also, although it was his name that appeared in the titles of the shows, Larry always saw his interviewees as the true stars of his programs and himself as a simple impartial interlocutor between the guest and the audience.

“Whether he was interviewing a president of the United States, a foreign leader, a celebrity, a scandal-ridden character, or a common man, Larry liked to ask short, direct, and simple questions. He believed that concise questions generally provided the best answers and was not mistaken in that belief, "the statement added.

“Larry's interviews in his 25-year career at CNN on ' Larry King Live ' and his Ora Media shows ' Larry King Now ' and ' Politicking with Larry King ' are constantly referenced by media outlets around the world and followed being part of the historical record of the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st”, the text highlighted.

Larry King with Clinton and Al Gore in 1995

Finally, Ora Media sent condolences to the presenter's loved ones and reported that the funeral will be coordinated with the family, who asked for privacy at this delicate moment.

Private life

King was married eight times in his life, filing for divorce from his last wife, Shawn Southwick, in 2019. He was the father of five children and had nine grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Two of King's own children, Andy King and Chaia King, died within weeks of each other in July and August 2020, one from a heart attack and the other after a battle with lung cancer.

With Bill Clinton in 2002

After suffering a heart attack and undergoing a five-fold bypass in 1987, he founded the Larry King Heart Foundation, which has paid for life-saving heart procedures for people who couldn't afford them and promotes healthy lifestyle habits.

The famous kiss on the mouth with Marlon Brando

On August 23, King reported that two of his children died in the span of just over three weeks. "With great sadness and the broken heart of a father, I confirm the recent loss of two of my children, Andy and Chaia King, " wrote the journalist on his Facebook account. “They were good and gentle souls and we will miss them very much. Andy passed away suddenly, of a heart attack on July 28 and Chaia left on August 20, after she had been diagnosed with a lung tumor. Losing them is wrong. No father should bury his children," he added.

Larry King with Mick Jagger

The son of European immigrants, he grew up in Brooklyn, never went to college, and started out as a local radio interviewer and sports host in Florida in the 1950s.

In an interview with George W. Bush, Alan Keyes and John McCain

Fame came with an all-night coast-to-coast radio call show starting in 1978, and from 1985 to 2010 it hosted CNN's highest-rated and longest-running show, reaching millions of people in the United States and across the world. all the world.

“Larry King was a broadcasting giant and a master of celebrity-statesman interviewing. His name is synonymous with CNN and was vital to the network's rise. Everybody wanted to be on 'Larry King Live'. May he rest in peace, ”wrote his colleague, CNN journalist Christiane Amanpour.

Interviewing Hugo Chávez in Caracas

It is estimated that King conducted thousands of interviews. In 1995 he presided over a Middle East peace summit with PLO President Yasser Arafat, King Hussein of Jordan, and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

He welcomed everyone into his studio, from the Dalai Lama to Elizabeth Taylor, from Mikhail Gorbachev to Barack Obama, from Bill Gates to Lady Gaga.

Uggie, the dog from the movie "The Artist", "interviewed" by Larry King

King prided himself on never over preparing for an interview. His non-confrontational style relaxed his guests and made him easily understandable to his audience. "I don't pretend to know everything, " he said in an Associated Press interview in 1995. "I'm not asking, 'What about Geneva or Cuba?' I ask, 'Mr. President, what is it you don't like about this job?' or 'What's the biggest mistake you've ever made?' That is fascinating."

With Paul McCartney

In an age when CNN, as the sole cable news company, was seen as politically neutral, and King was the essence of its middle ground, political figures and people at the center of controversies sought out his show.

Together with Donald Trump in 1999

And he was known for getting guests who were notoriously elusive. Frank Sinatra, who rarely gave interviews and often lashed out at reporters, spoke to King in 1988 in what would be the singer's last major television appearance. Sinatra was an old friend of King's and acted accordingly.

Shaking hands with Vladimir Putin in 2000

"Why are you here? King asked then. And Sinatra replied: " Because you asked me to come and, to begin with, it had been a long time since I saw you, I thought we should get together and talk, talk about many things."

With Barack Obama

Laughing with Madonna in 1999

King had never met Marlon Brando, who was even harder to get an interview when the acting giant asked to appear on his show in 1994. The two hit it off so well that they ended their 90-minute talk with a song and a kiss on the mouth , an image that was in all the media in the following weeks.