It was his dream since childhood; he fulfilled it in a way that he himself even couldn’t imagine. He was jobless when he arrived in Miami and by chance he got a job in a then small radio station WAHR now called WMBM. His job included miscellaneous tasks like cleaning up the studio, buying grocery and correcting records sometimes. He went On-Air for the first time accidentally when one of the announcers decided to quit all of a sudden, the management decided to invite Larry because of his paced voice and unique style.
From Larry Zeiger to Larry King:
The WAHR radio manager was impressed by Larry’s style of presentation and Larry was offered $50 per week only for going On-Air. Sooner Larry became a star among the radio station workers, and they offered him King instead of been called Zeiger as it was hard to be pronounced, two years later Larry himself decided to change his family name from Zeiger to King.
The career:
Larry interviewed anyone who walked into the radio would station, His voice and presentation style made him popular within months in Miami. The very first celebrity Larry interviewed was Bobby Darin the songwriter from Miami. This was the start only of a bright career of Larry King; He interviewed many local and national stars and celebrities on radio until he was introduced to Jackie Gleason in 1964. Larry King was turned into a TV host soon after being introduced to Jackie Gleason, initially he was a dedicated commentator for the Miami Dolphins at WTVJ.
Larry King turns into a Brand name:
In 1978 King hosted a talk show at Mutual Broadcasting System, beginning with Herb Jebko he interviewed and held gossip with many celebrities like John Nebel and others. His show earned him fame, and it was renamed as “The Larry King Show” which went On-Air for 90 minutes and was never felt boring by the viewers, here is what Larry turned his name into a Brand name.
In 1995 Larry left Mutual Broadcasting System and joined CNN where he hosted political figures like of Ross Perot, Al Gore, Marlon Brando, Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Gates, Carrie Prejean, Paris Hilton, Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Lady Gaga. His interviews with world renowned politicians like Bill Clinton, Vladimir Putin, Nelson Mandela, Norm MacDonald, Paul Newman, Indira Gandhi and Benazir Bhutto earned him fame around the globe.
Larry holds a world record of hosting more than 5100 interviews over his 25-year golden career. Unclear so far, but it’s been reported that his demise was a result of COVID-19 attack which Larry could not bear at the age of 87.
