Award-winning TV and radio host Larry King died on Saturday morning, Jan. 23, at age 87.
His death was confirmed in an announcement posted on his official Twitter account: “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 cause of death was not revealed, but King was recently hospitalized in critical condition after he tested positive for COVID-19.
Born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger in New York City, King began his career as a local Florida journalist and radio interviewer in the 1950s and 1960s.
He gained prominence beginning in 1978 as host of The Larry King Show, an all-night nationwide call-in radio program heard on the Mutual Broadcasting System.
King became a household name when his iconic Larry King Live aired between 1985 and 2010. His guests included politicians, celebrities, sports stars and well-known conspiracy theorists.
King battled numerous health problems over the years, including prostate cancer and type-two diabetes. In 1987, he suffered a heart attack that required quintuple-bypass surgery, and in 2017 he underwent surgery to remove a malignant tumor in his lung.
Last year, two of King’s five children – son Andy and daughter Chaia – died within weeks of each other.
