|
|
|
|
| Birth Name(s) : Lawrence Harvey Zeiger |
Date of Birth: N/A |
| Status:
Single
|
Partner:
|
| Profession:
Actor |
| << Add Larry King To Your Favorites |
|
Full Larry King Biography
Larry King (born November 19, 1933) is an award-winning American writer, journalist and broadcaster. He currently hosts a nightly interview program on CNN called Larry King Live, one of the longest running talk shows on American air.
King was born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Jennie (née Gitlitz), a garment worker, and Edward Zeiger, a restaurant owner and defense plant worker. He was raised in a "very cultural Jewish" family. His father died at 44 of a heart attack when King was nine, and his mother had to go on relief to support Larry and his younger brother. His father's death affected King greatly, and King lost interest in school, ruining his chances to go to college. After graduating from high school, he worked to help support his mother. In his 20s, King worked as a UPS delivery boy and it seemed his dream of a job in radio wouldn't occur.
The circumstances of what occurred between the two are unclear. According to King, he told Wolfson that he could arrange a special investigation by John Mitchell, the incoming US Attorney General, to overturn the conviction. Wolfson agreed, and paid King $48,000. King never delivered, and could not pay back the money. When Wolfson was released from prison, he went after King. According to Wolfson, King served as an intermediary between Wolfson and New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison. Garrison was investigating the assassination of President Kennedy, but needed to raise funds for the investigation. Wolfson offered to pay $25,000 to help fund the investigation. The arrangement was that Wolfson gave Larry King cash (about $5,000 per visit). King was supposed to give this to Richard Gerstein, the State Attorney for Dade County, Florida. Gerstein was to transfer the money to Garrison. This took place over a year or two. Wolfson eventually found that not all the money he gave to King made it to Garrison. The larceny charge was dropped because the statute of limitations had run out. But King pled no contest to one of 14 charges of passing bad checks. As a result of these troubles, he was off the air for three years. During those three years he worked several jobs. He was the PR director at Louisiana Downs, a race track in Louisiana and he wrote some articles for Esquire Magazine, including a major piece on New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath.
Unlike many interviewers, Larry King has a direct, non-confrontational approach. His interview style is characteristically frank and no-nonsense, but with occasional bursts of irreverence and humor. His approach attracts some guests who would not otherwise appear. King, who is known for his lack of pre-interview preparation, once bragged that he never pre-reads the books of authors who appear on his show. In a show dedicated to the surviving Beatles, for example, Larry asked George Harrison's widow about the song "Something" which was written about George Harrison's first wife. He seemed surprised when she did not know very much about the song.
King has written two books about living with heart disease. Mr. King, You're Having a Heart Attack: How a heart attack and bypass surgery changed my life (1989, ISBN 0-440-50039-7) was written with New York's Newsday science editor, B. D. Colen. Taking on Heart Disease : Famous Personalities Recall How They Triumphed Over the Nation's #1 Killer and How You Can, Too (2004, ISBN 1-57954-820-2) features the experience of various celebrities with cardiovascular disease including Peggy Fleming and Regis Philbin.
As result of heart attacks, he established the Larry King Cardiac Foundation, an organization to which David Letterman, through his American Foundation for Courtesy and Grooming, has also contributed. King gave $1 million to George Washington University's School of Media and Public Affairs for scholarships to students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
On September 3, 2005, King aired, "How You Can Help," a three-hour special designed to provide a forum and information clearinghouse for viewers to understand and join nationwide and global relief efforts. This was following the devastation to the Gulf Coast by Hurricane Katrina. Guest Richard Simmons, a native of New Orleans, told him, "Larry, you don't even know how much money you raised tonight. When we rebuild the city of New Orleans, we're going to name something big after you."
King is the first recipient of the Arizona State University Hugh Downs Award for Communication Excellence, presented April 11, 2007, via satellite by Downs himself. Downs, the highly respected broadcaster and TV host, sported red suspenders for the event and turned the tables on King by asking “very tough questions” about King’s best, worst, most emotional and most influential interviews during King’s 50 years in broadcasting. The award is sponsored by the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication at Arizona State University. |
|
|
| Add Larry King Biography (SuperUSERS) + |
| Add Larry King Review/Comment
|
HQ Larry King Pictures (1) | Random Larry King Picture
|
| << Back to the Larry King Homepage |
|
