Jerry Springer dead at 79: Legendary talk show host dies peacefully in his home months after cancer diagnosis
LEGENDARY talk show host Jerry Springer has died at age 79, just months after being diagnosed with cancer.
Springer died at his home in suburban Chicago on Thursday, his family confirmed to local NBC News affiliate WLWT.
“Jerry’s ability to connect with people was at the heart of his success in everything he tried whether that was politics, broadcasting or just joking with people on the street who wanted a photo or a word,” Jene Galvin, a lifelong friend and spokesman for the family, told the outlet.
“He’s irreplaceable and his loss hurts immensely, but memories of his intellect, heart and humor will live on.”
The iconic talk show host was diagnosed with cancer just months before his death, and the diagnosis took a turn for the worse this week, a family spokesperson told TMZ.
A cause of death was not immediately disclosed.
Springer was born on February 13, 1994, in the London tube station of Highgate while it was being used as a shelter from German bombing during World War II.
His parents were German-Jewish refugees who managed to escape from Landsberg an der Warthe, Prussia, now Gorzów Wielkopolski, Poland.
Before his name became a worldwide television sensation, Springer was a politician who ran a failed campaign for US Congress in 1970.
‘JERRY! JERRY!’
Springer hosted the hit syndicated and controversial talk show The Jerry Spring Show, which ran for 27 years from 1991 to 2018 on NBC and CW.
After receiving low ratings during its first season in 1991 due to its focus on political issues, the show’s structure took a complete turn in the mid-1990s, ushering in a new style of television content.
The Jerry Springer Show became highly popular for its topics on incest and adultery, featuring moments of profanity and guests participating in fights and nudity.
Each episode began with a brisk Springer entering the stage and being greeted by an exuberant standing audience pumping their fists in the air, chanting “Jerry!, Jerry!, Jerry!”
Springer would shake hands with some audience members, mainly college kids, before introducing the episode’s topic and guests of the day.
Often, the guests would be emotionally overwhelmed and get involved in heated arguments that escalated into outbursts and rows.
On-screen security guards would then jolt towards the stage and separate the guests.
The show received blowback from some viewers, who dubbed the program “trash TV.”
Nevertheless, The Jerry Springer Show was a homerun, smashing TV ratings, with Springer taking a jab at the critics at the start of each episode by introducing the program as the “worst TV show of all time.”
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