Larry King, former star presenter of the American channel CNN with the legendary suspenders, died Saturday, January 23 in Los Angeles, announced his company, Ora Media.
“With deep sadness, Ora Media announces the passing of our co-founder and friend Larry King, who died at the age of 87 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles”, can we read in a press release from the company posted on Larry King’s official Twitter account. The cause of death was not specified, but CNN reported on January 2 that Larry King, having contracted Covid-19, had been hospitalized for more than a week.
“For sixty-three years on radio, television and digital media, Larry’s thousands of interviews and accolades and worldwide recognition are testament to his unique talent as a man of media.”, added Ora Media.
“Hang up my evening suspenders”
Known for his rolled up shirt sleeves, multicolored ties, suspenders and large glasses, he presented the show “Larry King Live” for twenty-five years. With a track record of more than forty thousand interviews, according to his official biography, Larry King ended in 2010 his program that made him famous: “It’s time to hang up my evening suspenders”, he then announced to viewers.
King prided himself on never preparing too much for an interview. His non-confrontational style relaxed his guests and made him easily identifiable by his audience. He was known to receive notoriously elusive guests. Frank Sinatra, who rarely gave interviews and often lashed out at journalists, spoke to him in 1988, during what was to be the singer’s last big television appearance.
A kiss exchanged with Marlon Brando
The journalist, for example, had never met Marlon Brando, who was even more difficult to invite and interview, when the comedy giant asked to appear on the King’s show in 1994. The two got on so well. that they ended their ninety-minute conversation with a song and a kiss on the mouth, an image that hit the media in the weeks that followed.
At a time when CNN, as the sole actor in cable news, was seen as politically neutral, and King embodied this moderate position, politicians and those at the center of controversy demanded to appear on his show. After “Larry King Live”, the presenter launched “Larry King Now” in 2012 on Ora TV, an on-demand Internet channel he co-founded. In 2013, he started hosting the “Politicking with Larry King” show there.
Arrangements for a funeral and a memorial service will be announced at a later date in coordination with the King family, “Who asks for the moment that his privacy be respected”, according to the Ora Media Tweet.
