Jerry Springer, a TV host best known for his boisterous chat shows, passed away at the age of 79.
The Jerry Springer Show, which began airing in 1991 and lasted over three decades, exposed a large global audience to fights, flying chairs, and the margins of US society.
Springer passed away quietly on Thursday at his Chicago home, according to his publicists.
Springer was referred to as “irreplaceable” by Jene Galvin, a friend of his and a representative for the family.
In 1944, during World War Two, Springer was born in the Highgate Underground Station in London. His parents were taking sanctuary in the station at the time of a German bombing raid. His parents were Jewish refugees from a region of Germany that is now a part of Poland.
With his parents and older sister, Springer relocated to Queens, New York, when he was four years old.
Having studied both political science and law in college, he began his professional career working in politics.
He was Robert F. Kennedy’s advisor and Cincinnati’s mayor from 1977 to 1978. However, following a failed run for governor of Ohio, he decided to pursue a career in TV news.
He started as a reporter for a neighborhood TV station and eventually advanced to anchor.
When The Jerry Springer program first debuted in 1991, it was just a regular discussion program hosted by the then-polite Springer that focused on social concerns and US politics.
But after a few years, Springer drastically changed course, concentrating on scandalous and controversial programming to increase viewers. Springer frequently refuted claims that his program was overly crude in his defense.
The program outperformed Oprah in the US daytime television ratings in the late 1990s. In 2018, it came to an end amid declining viewership.
A musical based on the disorganized TV series debuted in 2003. Before going on tour in the UK in 2006, Jerry Springer: The Opera played 609 performances in London between April 2003 and February 2005.
The best new musical award was one of its four Olivier wins. Its BBC Two broadcast in the UK in January 2005 drew 55,000 complaints.
In honor of the way Springer would end each of his chat shows: “Take care of yourself, and each other,” the Springer family suggested that in lieu of flowers, individuals perform a kind deed for a stranger or charitable organization.
