December 11, 2019 | Scott Mazza

23 Live Facts About Larry King


“I remind myself every morning: Nothing I say this day will teach me anything. So if I'm going to learn, I must do it by listening.”—Larry King.

Those are the wise words of a man who has done more listening in his life than most of us can ever imagine. For decades, Larry King sat behind the microphone and invited us to join him in hearing some of the people most worth listening to in this world. From celebrities to world leaders to death row inmates, King was the intermediary between millions of people and information—a role that he never took lightly.

At the same time, King’s life has been full of ups and downs, trials and tribulations, and of course, scandals and controversy. There is a lot more to this guy than meets the eye, and it’s all definitely worth reading about.

Here are 24 live facts about the one and only Larry King.

Larry King facts


Larry King Facts

23. Commitment Problems

King has been married a total of eight times in his life. If at first you don’t succeed…

Larry King facts Getty Images

22. Second Time’s a Charm...Or Not

Of Larry’s eight marriages, two were actually to the same woman. Former Playboy bunny Alene Akins was both his third and fifth wife, yet the two were only together for a combined total of under seven years.

Larry King facts

21. Kingmaker

The idea for Larry’s new last name came from an unlikely source—his first boss happened to have looked down at an ad for a liquor company called King’s and thought the name was a perfect fit. The rest, as they say, is history.

Larry King facts

20. Humble Beginnings

Larry’s first job in broadcasting was as a disc jockey for a local Miami area radio station.

Larry King facts Metrospect Events

19. Familiar Voice

Any Miami Dolphins fans out there? Well, if you had been watching in the early ‘70s, you would have heard a familiar voice as the voice of your team—King was the play-by-play announcer from 1969 to 1971, and again in 1977.

Larry King facts WLRN

18. Man of Many Talents

King has published an original novel, titled Moon Over Manhattan: Mystery and Mayhem. The farcical caper was co-written with veteran mystery author Thomas H. Cook. Obviously set in New York City, it follows the daughter of a political commentator who fakes an elopement in order to get more freedom, and her father’s rivals, who try to use her disappearance to take him down. Amazon reviews for the book range from “WHAT A WILDLY FUN BOOK!” to “Quite possibly the worst book I have ever read.”

Larry King facts

17. Comeback

Despite a rough ending to the Dolphins chapter of his broadcasting career, forgive and forget seems to be the team motto—they invited Larry back to the broadcast booth to relive old times in 2009.

Larry King facts Sun Sentinel

16. Gutsy Trademark

One of King’s unique methods of journalism is that he purposely does little to no preparation or research going into his shows, often being completely ignorant about the person and subject matter while conducting his interviews. He does this in order so that he is learning things along with the audience, in the hopes that this will create a different feel and effect. I guess it works, but it’s got to be weird if you’re a famous guest!

Larry King facts Haiku Deck

15. What’s the Deal With Larry?

As you can imagine, King’s habit of not preparing for interviews can sometimes come with some unintended consequences—and sometimes things can escalate quickly. For example, it once got him into a little on-air spat with none other than comedy legend Jerry Seinfeld. When King’s ignorance about his guest led to him asking whether or not Seinfeld had been canceled, Jerry went all out in roasting his host for living under a rock and not realizing how popular the show was.

Larry King facts Pinterest

14. Winging It

Another example of King’s lack of preparation leading to some awkward encounters took place in 2007 when he interviewed popular American Idol contestant Sanjaya Malakar, only to then reveal that he had no idea who the guy even was! Must have been awkward for Sanjaya…

Larry King facts Celebrity Net Worth

13. Health Issues

King has recently struggled with lung cancer and had to go through surgery to remove a malignant tumor in the summer of 2017. We’re glad it was successful!

Larry King facts Getty Images

12. Making History

Larry King Live was the first ever TV show to take calls from all over the world.

Larry King facts Naples Herald

11. Early Struggles

King’s father died when Larry was only nine years old, and Larry did not react well—he became emotionally unstable, lost interest in school, and gave up on his broadcasting aspirations to take a job as a mail clerk. It would be a while before he felt ready to pursue his dreams once again.

Larry King facts Wallpaper Cave

10. Strange Bedfellows

One of the characters/victim involved in the financial transaction that saw Larry King booked and taken downtown was a man named Jim Garrison, who had participated in the investigation into the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Maybe stealing from a high-profile government investigator wasn’t the most well thought-out idea…

Larry King facts Rolex Magazine

9. Big Shoes to Fill

King’s long-running column in the Miami Herald replaced the column of legendary journalist Walter Winchell. Maybe picking up some of Winchell’s remaining audience didn’t hurt in propeling Larry to success.

Larry King facts Tralfaz

8. Auspicious Start

When King was getting married for the eighth time back in 1997, he was scheduled to have heart surgery just a few days later. So they did what any normal people would do in that situation—got married in the hospital room. It must have been some kind of good omen because unlike his seven previous ones, this marriage has actually survived to this day. We wish them all the best!

Larry King facts Bustle

7. The Other Dream

Long before CNN came into the picture, King’s original dream job was to be a standup comedian.

Larry King facts Ekimogun Mirror

6. Russian Interference in Larry’s Career

King surprised, upset, and puzzled a lot of people in 2012 by deciding to host a show on a controversial station called RT America—a station believed by many to be a propaganda outlet for the Russian government. King has been thought of as many unflattering things over the years, but secret Russian puppet is a new one.

Larry King facts Observer

5. A Sign of Things to Come?

In a 2013 documentary, King revealed that he lost his virginity to a married woman while working as a busboy at a resort. Is that where he got his idea of what a marriage should be like?

Larry King facts Meow Aum!

4. The Real Reason

Most people assumed that King’s long-running CNN show Larry King Live went off the air in 2010 due to low ratings, but the real reason was that King was apparently dealing with a “personal mess” in his private life and asked the network to end the show in order to devote more time to it.

Larry King facts McCovey Chronicles

3. Busted

The darkest point in King’s career was likely his 1971 arrest for grand larceny. He had received $5,000 from a financier to give to someone else but instead used it to pay his own back taxes. Although the case was eventually dismissed due to a statute of limitations, he lost all of the major broadcasting jobs he had at that time.

Larry King facts UNB

2. Unfaithful

Larry’s eighth marriage almost ended in divorce in 2010 when it was alleged that he was having an affair with his own sister-in-law, Shannon Engemann. King and Engemann have since gone on record as saying that the reports were false, with King saying that it was "just a flirtation" and that they "never made love." Still, this news reportedly threw his wife into a distraught state where she threatened to inflict self-harm in response. Heavy stuff…

Larry King facts Pinterest

1. The Name Game

Larry’s real name was Larry Zeiger, but he changed it to King early in his broadcasting career because the name Zeiger was thought of as “too ethnic.” It was…a different time.

Larry King facts iZodiaque

Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 1213


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