Larry King, the Jewish longtime TV host who became an icon through his interviews with countless newsmakers, passed.
He was 87.
Born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger on November 19, 1933, in Brooklyn, New York, King was raised by two Jewish immigrants who were Orthodox Jews. His mother, Jennie (Gitlitz) Zeiger, was from Lithuania, while his father, Edward Zeiger, hailed from Ukraine. Edward died of a heart attack when King was 10, a memory King said he mostly “blocked out.”
Left to raise King and his younger brother Marty alone, Jennie Zeiger was forced to go on welfare to support her children. The death had a profound effect on King, and his mother.
“Prior to his death, I’d been a good student but afterwards, I just stopped being interested,” King told The Guardian in a 2015 interview. “It was a real blow to me. But eventually I channeled that anger because I wanted to make him and my mother proud.”
In an era filled with star newsmen, King was a giant, the media reported.
With an affable, easygoing demeanor that distinguished him from more intense TV interviewers, King perfected a casual approach to the Q&A format, always leaning forward and listening intently to his guests, rarely interrupting.
“I’ve never learned anything,” King was fond of saying, “while I was talking.”
For years, King hosted the Chabad Telethon from Los Angeles, hosting the annual televised fundraising event with West Coast Head Shliach Rabbi Shlomo Cunin which drew the support of many famous actors and raised millions of dollars each year for Chabad of California’s programs.
A statement was posted on his verified Facebook account announcing his passing. His son, Chance, confirmed King’s death Saturday morning.
“With profound 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 said.
King had been hospitalized with Covid-19 in late December at Cedars-Sinai, a source close to the family said at the time.
He is survived by three sons.
VIDEO: The exception to the absence of women in leadership roles in the U.S. is Chabad, says Larry King. Watch his discussion with Shluchos Racheli Muchnik of Oxnard, Leah Lang of Camarillo and Rochel Shmuckler of Los Angeles.
A special yahrzeit for a special man.