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Larry King 1933 - 2021

Lawrence Leibel Harvey Zeiger of Beverly Hills, Los Angeles County, California United States was born on November 19, 1933 in Kings County, NY to Aaron Ziegler and Jennie Gitlitz. He married Annette Kaye in 1961 and they later divorced in 1961. They had a child Larry King Jr. Lawrence Leibel's partner was Alene Akins on September 25, 1976 and they later separated on June 7, 1984. They had children Andy King and Chaia King. He and Shawn Ora Engemann married on September 5, 1997, and they were married until Lawrence Leibel's death on January 23, 2021. They had children Chance King and Cannon King.

Lawrence Leibel Harvey Zeiger
Larry King
Name
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Beverly Hills, Los Angeles County, California United States
Last residence
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November 19, 1933
Kings County, New York, United States
Birth
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January 23, 2021
Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, United States
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Updated: May 12, 2022
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Larry King Lawrence Leibel Zeiger (1933 - 2021)
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Lawrence Leibel Harvey Zeiger's History: 1933 - 2021

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  • Introduction

    Lawrence Leibel Harvey Zeiger, better known as simply "Larry King", is a well respected and liked American television and radio host known best for his straight forward interviews. Born and raised in New York City, his parents were Orthodox Jews who immigrated to the United States from Belarus in the 1930s. From his seven wives, King had five children, nine grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. King resided in Beverly Hills, California. A lifelong Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers fan, he was frequently seen behind home plate at the team's games. He remained active until his death in 2021, from complications of sepsis, at the age of 87
  • 11/19
    1933

    Birthday

    November 19, 1933
    Birthdate
    Kings County, New York United States
    Birthplace
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  • Ethnicity & Family History

    Born as Lawrence Harvey Zeiger on November 19, 1933, in Brooklyn, New York, King was the first born child of Jewish immigrants Edward Zeiger (a bar owner) and Jennie Gitlitz (a garment worker). His younger brother was named Marty. His parents were Orthodox Jews who immigrated to the United States from Belarus in the 1930s. When King was 9 years old, his father died of heart disease at the age of 44. King's mother had to go on welfare to support him and his younger brother.

  • Nationality & Locations

    Born and raised in New York City, his parents were Orthodox Jews who immigrated to the United States from Belarus in the 1930s.

  • Early Life & Education

    Lafayette High School- Brooklyn NY King's father died when he was 9 years old, which greatly affected his emotional stability, causing him to lose interest in school. He barely finished high school, and after graduating took a job as a mail clerk to help support his mother ad younger brother.

  • Religious Beliefs

    His parents were Russian Jews, King described himself as a Jewish agnostic in 2005, and later in 2015 stated that he was fully atheist.

  • Professional Career

    He started his career as a WMBM radio interviewer in the Miami area in the 1950s and 1960s, while making a salary of $55 a week The name he was going by at the time, Larry Zeiger, didn't sit well with the station's general manager and minutes before the young King was to go on air, he chose the last name "King" after seeing an advertisement for King's Wholesale Liquor.  King gained popularity here (especially in the South Florida radio scene) and in 1978 became the host of “The Larry King Show” an all-night nationwide call-in radio program heard on the Mutual Broadcasting System. Here he would interview guests, take callers questions, and express his own political beliefs. King then went on to host his own talk show, Larry King Live, on CNN in 1985. Here he hosted a broad range of guests such as UFO conspiracy theorists and alleged psychics, to prominent politicians and entertainment industry figures. Unlike many interviewers, King had a direct, non-confrontational approach. His reputation for asking easy, open-ended questions made him attractive to important figures who wanted to state their position while avoiding being challenged on contentious topics and often led to interviewees doing their first or only interview on breaking news stories on his show. In 2010 after taping 6,000 episodes of the show, King announced he'd be ending his reign as host after 25 years. After retiring from “Larry King Live” he hosted Politicking with Larry King, a weekly political talk show from 2013 to 2020. He earned numerous awards including 2 Peabodys, an Emmy and 10 Cable ACE Awards. Over his career, he hosted over 60,000 interviews and CNN's Larry King Live became "the longest-running television show hosted by the same person, on the same network and in the same time slot", and was recognized for it by the Guinness Book of World Records. He remained active until his death in 2021, from complications of sepsis, at the age of 87.

  • Personal Life & Family

    King was married eight times, to seven women. King’s first wife was his high-school sweetheart Freda Miller who he married when he was 18 years old in 1952. The next year, the marriage was allegedly annulled by their parents, who didn't approve. His second wife was Annette Kaye who he married in 1961 and is the mother of his first son, Larry Jr., born in 1961. The two were married for less than a year. King married his third wife Alene Akins in 1961 who was a former playboy bunny. During their marriage (1961-1963) he adopted her son Andy. In 1963, he married his fourth wife, Mary Francis "Mickey" Sutphin who is the mother of King’s daughter Kelly. Mickey divorced King two years after they were married. King then remarried Alene in 1968 and she gave birth to their daughter, Chaia in 1969. They then divorced again in 1971. King married Sharon Lepore, a production assistant and former math teacher in 1976 to become his fifth wife. They divorced 7 years later in 1983. His sixth wife was a businesswoman named Julie Alexander who he married in Washington DC (where he was working at the time) in 1989. The two separated in 1990, two years before their divorce was official. Five years later in 1995 King proposed and became engaged to actress Deanna Lund after five weeks of dating, but they never married. In 1997, King married his seventh and final wife, Shawn Southwick who was a singer, actress, and TV host. They married in King's Los Angeles hospital room three days before he underwent heart surgery to clear an occluded blood vessel. The couple had two children: Chance (born March 1999) and Cannon (born May 2000). On their 10th wedding anniversary in September 2007, Southwick joked she was "the only wife to have lasted into the two digits". Larry and Shawn King filed for divorce in 2010, reconciled, and then filed for divorce again in 2019. They were estranged and going through divorce proceedings at the time of King's death in 2021.
  • 01/23
    2021

    Death

    January 23, 2021
    Death date
    Complications from Covid19
    Cause of death
    Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California United States
    Death location
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2 Memories, Stories & Photos about Lawrence Leibel

Larry King - Radio & CNN TV Host
Photo of Daniel Pinna Daniel Pinna
9.25k+ favorites
11/06/2012
Larry King - Radio & CNN TV Host
Larry King, the famous television host, earlier in his career. Larry King was born Lawrence Leibel Harvey Zeiger on November 19th, 1933 in Brooklyn, New York City. Larry began his media career as an entry level support staff of a small station in Miami Beach, and got his first broadcast opportunity on May 1st, 1957.

A little known fact is that Larry King credits Jackie Gleason for much of his career. Jackie, who at that time was filming his television show in Miami Beach, took a liking to Larry and honed Larry's media skills.

Larry King went to national radio in 1978, and began hosting the famous CNN show "Larry King Live" in June 1985 which lasted until his retirement on December 16th, 2010.
Date & Place: at Miami Radio Station in Miami, Florida United States of America
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Daniel Pinna
9 favorites
10/07/2015
Larry King has one of those distinct faces that are immediately recognizable no matter what age he is.
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Lawrence Leibel Harvey Zeiger
Photo of Mary Neeley Mary Neeley
545 favorites
01/23/2021
Lawrence Leibel Harvey Zeiger
I had to pleasure of meeting Larry King in 2016 at the Glendale CA studio where he filmed his talk show for ORA TV. I really enjoyed chatting with him on the couch.😁👍
You will be missed, Larry!🌹
Date & Place: at ORA Studios in Glendale, Los Angeles County, California United States
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Lawrence Leibel Zeiger's Family Tree & Friends

Lawrence Leibel Zeiger's Family Tree

Aaron Ziegler
Jennie Gitlitz
Larry King
Larry King Nov 19, 1933 - Jan 23, 2021
Partner
Child
Sibling
Marriage

Annette Kaye

&

Larry King

1961
Marriage date
Divorce
Cause of Separation
1961
Divorce date
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Larry King
Larry King Nov 19, 1933 - Jan 23, 2021
Annette Kaye
Child
Larry King Jr born Nov 1961
Partnership

Alene Akins

&

Larry King

September 25, 1976
Start of partnership
Other
Cause of Separation
June 7, 1984
End of partnership
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Larry King
Larry King Nov 19, 1933 - Jan 23, 2021
Alene Akins Oct 17, 1940 - Feb 3, 2017
Child
Andy King Jun 11, 1955 - Jul 28, 2020
Chaia King Dec 21, 1969 - Aug 20, 2020
Marriage

Shawn Ora Engemann

&

Larry King

September 5, 1997
Marriage date
Lawrence Leibel's Death
Cause of Separation
January 23, 2021
Lawrence Leibel's death date
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Larry King
Larry King Nov 19, 1933 - Jan 23, 2021
Shawn Ora Engemann born Nov 5, 1959
Child
Chance King born Mar 9, 1999
Cannon King born May 22, 2000
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Friendships

Lawrence Leibel's Friends

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Other Biographies

Other Lawrence Zeiger Biographies

Zeiger, Lawrence (Nov 19, 1933 - Jan 23, 2021)
Zeiger, Lawrence (Aug 20, 1895 - Oct 1984)

Other Zeiger Family Biographies

Zeiger, Lena (Aug 16, 1907 - Oct 10, 1994) Zeiger, Joseph (Oct 17, 1888 - Dec 1968) Zeiger, Ann (Sep 19, 1910 - Oct 25, 2008) Zeiger, Vivian (Mar 8, 1916 - Oct 29, 2010) Zeiger, John (Dec 18, 1901 - Nov 1970) Zeiger, Ruth (Aug 24, 1917 - Aug 14, 1997) Zeiger, Emanuel (Feb 12, 1907 - Aug 1974) Zeiger, Elizabetta (Apr 22, 1926 - Aug 18, 1996) Zeiger, Leah (May 6, 1907 - Jul 21, 1992) Zeiger, Gustav (Feb 5, 1895 - Oct 1980)
Zeiger, Martin (May 6, 1905 - Oct 1969) Zeiger, Belle (Mar 3, 1901 - Jul 1988) Zeiger, Lena (Feb 22, 1915 - Jun 14, 2004) Zeiger, Abraham (Oct 26, 1907 - Feb 21, 1988) Zeiger, Kenneth (Jul 27, 1947 - Dec 24, 2002) Zeiger, Carl (Nov 24, 1912 - Dec 2, 1992) Zeiger, Jennie (Apr 24, 1900 - Jul 1976) Zeiger, Goldie (Apr 25, 1895 - Nov 1979) Zeiger, Evelyn (Jun 11, 1924 - Sep 10, 2005) Zeiger, Nettie (Mar 2, 1901 - Dec 1973)
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