Born 1930s.
Son of Aaron Zeiger
and Jennie (Gitlitz) Zeiger
[sibling(s) unknown]
Father of
Chaia King
Died 2020s.
Profile managers:
N Gauthier 
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Profile last modified
| Created 6 Jan 2021 | Last significant change: 9 Feb 2021
16:40: N Gauthier edited the Biography for Larry (Zeiger) King. [Thank N for this]
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Larry (Zeiger) King has Jewish Roots.
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Biography
Lawrence Harvey Zeiger was, better known the world over as Larry King. He was born on 19 Nov 1933 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA and his parents were Jennie Gitlitz and Aaron Zeiger (a restaurant owner and defense-plant worker). Both of his parents were Orthodox Jews. He attended Lafayette High School in Brooklyn.
He began as a local Florida journalist and radio interviewer. When his general manager claimed that Zeiger was too ethnic and difficult to remember, minutes before airtime, Larry chose the surname King, which he got from an advertisement in the Miami Herald newspaper for "King's Wholesale Liquor". Within two years, he had legally changed his name to "Larry King".
His first broadcast was on 01 May 1957, working as the disc jockey from 9 a.m. to noon. He also did two afternoon newscasts and a sportscast.
He gained prominence beginning in 1978 as the radio broadcasting host of "The Larry King Show".
From 1985 to 2010, he hosted the nightly interview television program "Larry King Live" on CNN.
On 24 Feb 1987 he suffered a major heart attack and then had successful quintuple-bypass surgery. He then went on to found the "Larry King Cardiac Foundation", which paid for life-saving cardiac procedures for people who otherwise would not be able to afford them. He also wrote 2 books about living with heart disease.
About 2009 he revealed his interest in cryonics [1] which was partly due to being a Jewish agnostic who did not believe in an afterlife or a higher power. He said that he was an atheist [2] and that he doubted religious claims, in part because of human suffering from natural disasters.
When asked what he would like his legacy to be, he replied, "His life led to more people having information that they didn't have before, and he taught us a lot and we learned a lot and enjoyed it at the same time. He brought a great deal of pride to his business."
From 2012 until 2020, he hosted "Larry King Now".
Larry King was married 8 times to 7 women (most still living).
During his 2017 annual examination, doctors discovered a cancerous tumor in his lung which was successfully removed with surgery.
On 27 Nov 2019 he revealed that he had suffered a stroke in March 2019 and was in a coma "for weeks".
On 02 Jan 2021 it was revealed that he had tested positive for COVID-19 and had been hospitalized [3] 10 days earlier at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, USA. [4] He passed away there on 23 Jan 2021. [5] [6] [7] [8]
Sources
- ↑ "Larry King: I want to be frozen"
- ↑ "The King gets candid about the origins of his atheistic beliefs"
- ↑ "Larry King Is Hospitalized With Coronavirus"
- ↑ Life Sketch for Lawrence Harvey Zeiger
- ↑ Obituary on Legacy.com
- ↑ "Larry King, television legend, dies at age 87"
- ↑ "Veteran Broadcaster Larry King Dies at 87"
- ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #221547219 for Larry King, b: 19 Nov 1933; d: 23 Jan 2021; as burial unknown
- Wikipedia: Larry King
- "My Remarkable Journey" autobiography by Larry King in 2009
- Broadcaster's Hall of Fame 1998/Feb/01 for "Larry King biography"
- WhyFame.com for "Larry King biography"
- FamilySearch.org Family Tree for Lawrence Harvey Zeiger
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- images (2)
- private children's names (1)
- spouse's name and marriage information
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Genealogist-to-Genealogist (G2G) Forum posts:
- Is anyone less than 19 degrees from Larry King? Jan 27, 2021.
- Which news broadcaster are you most closely connected to? Jan 25, 2021.
- Death of Larry King @87 Jan 23, 2021.
Larry is 23 degrees from John James Audubon, 28 degrees from Jacques-Yves Cousteau, 38 degrees from Gerald Durrell, 20 degrees from Dian Fossey, 22 degrees from Steve Irwin, 31 degrees from Ernest Just, 28 degrees from Ian Player, 21 degrees from Peter Scott, 36 degrees from Antoon van Hooff and 22 degrees from Marta Johnson on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.
Z > Zeiger | K > King > Larry (Zeiger) King
Categories: Lafayette High School, Brooklyn, New York | American Television Personalities | Radio Announcers | Disc Jockeys | Hollywood Walk of Fame | Jewish Roots | Brooklyn, New York | Miami, Florida | Los Angeles, California | Respiratory Failure | Notables
Located Andrew "Andy" by tracking through Chaia and someone forgot to link Larry King to his son, so I did that
edited by N Gauthier
We plan on featuring Larry as the Example Profile of the Week in the Connection finder on January 27th. Between now and then is a good time to take a look at the sources and biography to see if there are updates and improvements that need made, especially those that will bring it up to WikiTree Style Guide standards. We know it's short notice, so don't fret too much. Just do what you can. A Team member will check on the profile Tuesday and make changes as necessary.
Thanks! Abby