Lawrence Harvey Zeiger
12 min read
Reading time
2,206
Words
Published
152
Film credits
15
Books
2
Awards
Larry King died on January 23, 2021 at age 87 from sepsis. He acted in Ghostbusters 1984, Enemy of the State 1998, and Bee Movie 2007. He hosted a long-running talk show, interviewing thousands without preparing in advance. He received a Hollywood Walk of Fame star in 1997 and a Peabody Award.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Larry King — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Larry King by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Larry King — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
Larry King was born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger in Brooklyn, New York City on November 19, 1933. His parents were Jewish immigrants from Ukraine and Lithuania. His father, Aaron Zeiger, died when Larry was 10 years old, forcing him to work at a young age. He attended Lafayette High School in Brooklyn. After graduating, he changed his surname to King on a manager’s advice that Zeiger sounded too Jewish, adopting the name from an ad for King’s Wholesale Liquor.
King started as a CBS announcer at WAHR in Miami Beach. He moved into interviewing, adopting a conversational style; he said he never prepared so he could learn alongside the audience. In film, King played roles in Ghostbusters 1984, Enemy of the State 1998, and voiced in Bee Movie 2007. He made guest appearances on The Simpsons and Frasier. His talk show ran for decades, and he earned a Hollywood Walk of Fame star on May 8, 1997.
King married seven times to six different women. His first marriage was to Freda Miller in 1955; his last to Shawn Ora Engemann in 1997. He had five children: Larry King Jr., Chaia, Andy, Chance Armstrong, and Cannon Edward King. He smoked three packs a day for 30 years until a heart attack in February 1987 required quintuple-bypass surgery, after which he quit. He also had angioplasty in 1997, surgery for a blocked carotid artery in 2007, and lung cancer surgery in April 2017.
King received a Hollywood Walk of Fame star for Television on May 8, 1997, marking 40 years in broadcasting. He was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1989 and the Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 1996. A Peabody Award honored his broadcasting excellence. His interview style—short, conversational questions asked without preparation—influenced later talk show hosts. He conducted over 50,000 interviews.
The complete filmography of Larry King — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
Every award, honor, and recognition received by Larry King — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
Larry King's bibliography — every authored, edited, and co-written book, ranked by edition count.
A wall of memorable lines from Larry King — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
I Never Think of Access or Good Will. I Just Want a Good Interview. I Want Guests to Be Informative and Entertaining. I’ve Never Been Concerned About Someone’s Liking Me Tomorrow.
I’m from Brooklyn. in Brooklyn, If You Say, ‘I’m Dangerous’, You’d Better Be Dangerous.
If at First You Don’t Succeed, Punt.
I Thought I Was Just Going to Bite the Bullet. I Didn’t Want to Live This Way. I Didn’t Want to Live Dependent on Others. I’ve Had a Full Career. There Is Nothing I Could Add to It Except Just to Do More. and I Thought … I Don’t Know How to Commit Suicide. How Do You Commit Suicide?
Little-known facts about Larry King — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
King never prepared for interviews, believing the average audience member knew little about a guest. He preferred to learn about them during the show, starting from the same point as the viewers.
For 30 years, King smoked three packs a day. He quit entirely after suffering a heart attack in February 1987 and undergoing quintuple-bypass surgery.
He adopted the professional name Larry King after being advised that his birth surname Zeiger sounded too Jewish. He chose the name from an advertisement for King’s Wholesale Liquor.
King had seven hobbies: listening to the radio, golfing, collecting suspenders, reading, watching movies, theater, and dancing.
He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television at 6616 Hollywood Boulevard on May 8, 1997, coinciding with his 40th anniversary in broadcasting.
On March 16, 2007, King underwent surgery to unblock a carotid artery at Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, California.
He features in the 1996 paperback Mug Shots, which includes other celebrities who have been arrested.
King was son-in-law of Karl Engemann and Jerri Engemann, brother-in-law of Shannon Engemann, and stepfather of Danny Southwick Jr. born 1981. He and Shawn Ora Engemann filed for divorce on April 14, 2010, reconciled in July, and both filed to dismiss the divorce. Their sons Chance Armstrong King born March 9, 1999 and Cannon Edward King born May 22, 2000.
His favorite quote was a put-down: Before they made you they broke the mold.
The King-Southwick Mormon-Jewish wedding was celebrated in actress Deborah Raffin’s Beverly Hills garden. Guests included Ted Turner Best Man, Jane Fonda, Al Pacino, Beverly D’Angelo, and Don Rickles.
King’s father Aaron Zeiger passed away when Larry was 10 years old.
He was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1989 and the Broadcasting Hall of Fame of the National Association of Broadcasters in 1996.
King had a son, Larry King Jr., with Annette Kaye, and a daughter, Chaia King born 1969, with Alene Akins; he adopted her son Andy King from a previous marriage in 1962.
He was named King of Brooklyn at the Welcome Back to Brooklyn Festival in 1995.
King was engaged to Deanna Lund in 1995.
He was referenced in Weird Al Yankovic’s song Couch Potato a parody of Eminem’s Lose Yourself, about a person who spends eternity watching television.
He dated Angie Dickinson for a few years in the 1980s.
King was mentioned in the Mojo Nixon song 619-239-KING.
He was engaged to minister Rama Fox from 1992 to 1995.
King attended Brooklyn’s Lafayette High School.
He paid tribute to fellow talk show hosts Regis Philbin and Joan Rivers after their deaths.
King passed away exactly 16 years to the day after fellow television host Johnny Carson.
He went on one date with Katie Couric in the 1980s; they did not consummate.
King didn’t consume eggs.
In June 1997, he underwent angioplasty to repair a blocked vein.
He chaired the Larry King Cardiac Foundation, which awards grants to individuals with heart disease to help pay for medical treatment.
He acquired the name Larry King when a general manager found Zeiger too difficult to remember; minutes before airtime, he chose King from an ad for King’s Wholesale Liquor in the Miami Herald.
His younger brother, Martin Hoppy Zeiger, died at age 80 on August 8, 2007.
King underwent surgery for lung cancer in April 2017.
He was friends with the late Della Reese and listened to her music when he was already grown up.
At his death, he was in the process of divorcing Shawn Ora Engemann, but died before the divorce was finalized, making her nominally his widow.
Before his talk show success, King was a CBS announcer at WAHR now WMBM in Miami Beach, Florida.
His parents were Jewish emigrants: his father born in Kolomyya, Ukraine, and his mother born in Vilna, Lithuania.
King passed away one day after baseball legend Hank Aaron, whom he interviewed a few times. In late 2021, a blogger noted that at least 50 figures King interviewed on CNN also died in the same year.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Larry King.
Celebrities similar to Larry King — same craft, ranked by reach.
🇺🇸 United States
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
🇷🇺 Russia
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
🇨🇦 Canada
