Benztown's Audio Tribute to the Late Larry King

RADIO ONLINE | Saturday, January 23, 2021

Benztown has put together an audio tribute to longtime CNN host and broadcasting icon Larry King, who died Saturday morning at 87 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. The audio tribute can be heard HERE.

King hosted "Larry King Live" on CNN for more than 25 years. Known for his easygoing and casual interview style, King interviewed the famous and not-so-famous alike, including every U.S. president from Gerald Ford to Barack Obama, and took thousands of phone calls from viewers. He retired in 2010 after taping over 6,000 episodes and conducting over 30,000 interviews. The show established King as one of the most famous television journalists in America. He also wrote a column for USA Today for 20 years, until 2001.

Born in Brooklyn, NY, on November 19, 1933, King started his broadcasting career in radio in 1957, when he took a job as a disc jockey at WAHR-AM in Miami. He was then hired as a columnist for the Miami Herald in 1965. In 1971, he was arrested in Miami on charges of grand larceny, which led to his suspension from the station and newspaper where he was employed. Although the charges were dismissed the following year, King was not re-hired. He then left Florida and moved to Louisiana, where he worked as a freelance journalist.

By 1978, King returned to Miami and to WIOD, the station where he was employed at the time of his arrest. That same year, "The Larry King Show" launched as a syndicated late-night radio show in 28 markets. Within five years, the radio program was broadcast in 118 markets. The show won a Peabody Award in 1982. In 1985, "Larry King Live" debuted on CNN and throughout its 25-year run, was routinely CNN's most-watched program, and King was the network's biggest star. King left CNN in 2011, but kept working until his death, hosting "Larry King Now", a program that aired on Ora TV, Hulu and RT America.

The Benztown audio tribute to Larry King was written and voiced by Bill Royal and produced by Adam Hood.