LOS ANGELES: Veteran CNN talk show host Larry King hangs up his famous suspenders on Thursday, after a quarter of a century of interviewing the powerful and the famous. The 77-year-old, who will be succeeded by former British journalist Piers Morgan, is finally retiring from “Larry King Live,” The show he has presented on the Atlanta-based news network since 1985.
Typically combining high politics with showbiz, news and gossip, interviewees on his final shows this week have included Barbra Streisand and former British premier Tony Blair.
Born in Brooklyn, the CNN icon has become one of the most recognizable figures on US television, after previously anchoring a national radio show for seven years.
Over the decades the gravel-voiced broadcaster has quizzed everyone who is anyone on his nightly programme, including every US president since Gerald Ford, Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, Mike Tyson Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and many more.
The Emmy award-winner has conducted over 40,000 interviews over the years, and recently broke the world record for the same television interview show in the same time slot with the same presenter.
To celebrate his 40th anniversary in broadcasting, Tinsel Town honored King with a star on the Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulevard in 1997.
However,after living through 25 years of fame King announced the closing season of his show in July and it was decided that the final episode of CNN’s “Larry King Live” will end much the same way it began nearly 26 years ago.
“[My final interview] is the same person I started the show off with. [It will be 52nd Governor of New York] Mario Cuomo, the first guest I had 25-and-a-half years ago. We’re flying him out to LA to do the show,” said the host.
The grand finale episode of “Larry King Live” struck television screens with a bang. More than 2.2 million tuned in to watch King’s last show on Thursday night. The veteran host was sent off in style, with tributes from two presidents, and a farewell party attended by Jane Fonda, Jane Seymour and a host of his show business pals.
The 77-year-old attracted a female-heavy guest list, with Suzanne Somers, Debi Mazer, Cheryl Hines, and Julie Bowen all dressing up for the occasion. Seymour went up to the extent to match oufits to with the chat show host arriving in a red satin cocktail dress.
While celebrities came to bid the host a final farewell, not one but two presidents - Barack Obama and Bill Clinton - joined in to pay tribute. In a message recorded at the White House President Obama told viewers, “I want to join all of you in congratulating Larry King.”
But perhaps the guests who meant the most to King were his family- wife Shawn Southwick and sons Chace and Cannon, who joined him to watch as crooner Tony Bennett, sing “The Best Is Yet To Come” as a tribute to the star for his years of excellence on television.
Guests that paid tribute to Larry King included
- Jane Fonda
- Jane Seymour
- Richard Perry
- Julie Bowen
- Cheryl Hines
- Debi Mazer
- Adrienne Maloof
- Terri Seymour
- Leeza Gibbons
- Tony Bennett
- Arnold Schwarzenegger
- Barbara Walters
- Diane Sawyers
- Dr Phil
- Katie Couric
- Ryan Seacrest
- Bill Maher
With additional information from reuters, mail online and afp.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 19th, 2010.
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