Larry King, Famed Broadcaster Who Appeared In ‘Ghostbusters’ And More, Has Died At 87
Larry Kingconducted over 50,000 interviews with celebrities, world leaders, athletes, and average citizens caught up in extraordinary situations with a career that spans a half-century. Because of his fame as a radio and television broadcaster, King often appeared as himself in movies likeGhostbusters,The Contender,Enemy of the State,Bulworth,Contactand more. Unfortunately, the legendary television personality’s career has come to an end, because Larry King has died at 87.
Larry King’s son Chance confirmed the passing of the man who hosted his ownLarry King Liveon CNN for over 25 years, resulting in over 6,000 episodes that aired until 2010 when he retired from television. An official statement was also posted onLarry King’s Facebook page:
“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. For 63 years and across the platforms of radio, television and digital media, Larry’s many thousands of interviews, awards, and global acclaim stand as a testament to his unique and lasting talent as a broadcaster.”
CNNsays a cause of death was not provided, but they reminded us King has struggled with a number of health issues over the years. In addition to suffering several heart attacks, he was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2017 and also underwent a procedure to for angina in 2019. More recently, King contracted COVID-19 and was receiving supplemental oxygen, but he’d been moved out of intensive care.
Throughout his career, King received plenty of accolades, including several Daytime Emmys and News & Documentary Emmys for his interviews and news discussions. Even after retiring fromLarry King Liveand television broadcasting, he took his talents online withLarry King Nowon YouTube,Ora TV, Hulu and RT America, where he continued to conduct interviews withnewsmakers, celebrities, world leaders, and Internet stars.
Even if you never watched King’s programs, you likely saw him in the many appearances he made as himself over the years.Ghostbustersmarked his first major feature film appearance as a radio broadcaster chronicling the rise in fame of the paranormal exterminators, and he would appear in more movies likeDave,The Long Kiss Good Night,Contact,The Jackal,Bulworth,Primary Colors,Enemy of the State,The Contender,John Q,The Stepford Wives, andBee Movie, in which he played a bee version of himself. The animatedShrekfranchise also used King, not as a broadcaster, but as the ugly stepsister Doris.
King also appeared as himself in a variety of TV shows, includingThe Simpsons,The Larry Sanders Show,Murphy Brown,Spin City,The Practice,Boston Legal,Ugly Betty, andAmerican Crime Story. But perhaps my favorite appearance of his came in a series of scenes from the NBC comedy30 Rock:
Our thoughts go out to the family and friends of Larry King during this difficult time. He leaves behind a plethora of inspiring work for future generations of broadcasters, and his legacy will live on for many years.Rest in peace.
If you’d like to see some of the recent work Larry King had done, including an outstandinginterview with Ben SchwartzaboutSonic the Hedgehogand more, head over tohis YouTube channel.
