Larry King (born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger) is an American television and radio host, actor, voice artist, and comedian whose work has been recognized with awards including two Peabodys and 10 Cable ACE Awards.
He began as a local Florida journalist and radio interviewer in the 1950s and 1960s and became prominent as an all-night national radio broadcaster starting in 1978. From 1985 to 2010, he hosted the nightly interview television program Larry King Live on CNN. He currently hosts Larry King Now on Hulu and RT America during the week, and on Thursdays he hosts Politicking with Larry King, a weekly political talk show which airs in the evening on the same two channels.
In 1989, King was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame, and in 1996 to the Broadcasters’ Hall of Fame. In 1994, King received the Scopus Award from the American Friends of Hebrew University. He was given the Golden Mike Award for Lifetime Achievement in January 2009, by the Radio & Television News Association of Southern California. King is the first recipient of the Arizona State University Hugh Downs Award for Communication Excellence.
In July 2009, King appeared on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, where he told host O’Brien about his wishes to be cryonically preserved upon death. When asked what he’d like his legacy to be, King, referring to himself, said “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.”