TV’s most prodigious interviewer tells of his own life

By Sara Appel-Lennon

LA JOLLA, California-He appeared last Sunday at the San Diego Jewish Book Fair to promote his book, My Remarkable Journey. Brooklyn boyhood friends called him “Zeke the Creek the Mouthpiece” since he loved to talk. To this day he refers to himself as the little Jewish kid from Brooklyn. He said “I left Brooklyn but Brooklyn never left me.”

From age five, he loved listening to the radio and yearned to be a radio star. His suspenders became his trademark. He has been married eight times to seven women. His birthday was November 19, 1933.

His full name is Lawrence Harvey Zeiger… He became known as Larry King because he was told his last name sounded “too ethnic.”

King has been a broadcast journalist for 52 years. He conducted more than 40,000 interviews, which equals 88 interviews per year. He interviewed every United States president since Gerald Ford. His nickname is” The Mohamed Ali of Broadcast News.” 

When King was age 10, his father died of a heart attack at age 44. Regardless, King smoked for 35 years, including in the shower, the bath, and on the air. The night of his heart attack was the same night when the Surgeon General was on his show. After three people told him he didn’t look so good he went to the hospital. He even smoked on his way to the hospital as he was having a heart attack. On February 20, 1987 he quit smoking.

As far as religion, King said… “I’m an agnostic…I just don’t know…I see a lot of it as superstition.” He said that he never received answers about God or the Holocaust. King said that if he were to interview God, he would ask God if he had a son.

To King, being Jewish is all cultural. Jerusalem, Israel is his favorite place in the world. King is now married to a devout Mormon woman and they have two sons, nine and ten years old.

In regards to humor King said… “I think the Jew has a remarkable ability to laugh” He said that Jews can think funny, say, and deliver funny lines.

Jackie Gleason helped King to become famous. King and Jackie Gleason were friends. Gleason often took King to the Honeymooner shows. One night, King served as the Master of Ceremonies at a welcome dinner for Gleason.

He asked King “What in your profession is impossible?” King responded that it would be impossible for Frank Sinatra to be a guest on his show for three hours from 9 p.m. to midnight.

Gleason told King that Sinatra would be on his show the following Monday night. The media took out a full page ad in the Miami Herald for $25,000 stating that Sinatra would be on King’s show the following Monday. King called Gleason for reassurance.

Sinatra showed up the following Monday and asked ‘Who’s Larry King?” King told the audience that he never lies to his listeners. He introduced Sinatra and asked Sinatra on the air why he was there.

I admire that King did not pretend to be friends with Sinatra. From that day forward, the two became friends.

What motivated Sinatra to appear on King’s show?  It turns out that three years before  Sinatra had lost his voice and was unable to entertain at a scheduled show. Sinatra asked Gleason if he would fill in for him. He told Gleason that he owed him a favor, and King’s show was it. This favor helped King to reach fame and fortune.

King mentioned he has become wealthy and he followed that financial fact with this story:

King went to New York to see a tailor to make a suit for him. The tailor said he couldn’t do it since he didn’t have enough material. He asked a tailor in Chicago and received the same response. He went to Miami and again received the same answer. He returned to his hometown of Brooklyn. He went to a little tailor shop and made his request. The tailor said that he could make him a suit, two pairs of pants, and a vest. King was amazed and asked how it was possible. The tailor smiled and said that in Brooklyn he’s not that big. 

Appel-Lennon is a San Diego-based freelance writer. Her email: appels@jewishsightseeing.com