Jerry Springer, the former Cincinnati mayor, whose namesake TV show unleashed chaos on weekday afternoons, has died at 79.
Key points:
- The Jerry Springer Show ran for more than 4,000 episodes
- Springer was born in London, in a tube station being used as a bomb shelter
- He died at home in Chicago after a brief illness
After starting a career in politics, which was marred by a scandal he would go on to host the wildly successful television talk show named after him.
The show would often feature scandalous topics and devolve into fights between guests as the crowd would chant "Jerry Jerry, Jerry".
Springer died peacefully at home in suburban Chicago after a brief illness.
"Jerry's ability to connect with people was at the heart of his success in everything he tried whether that was politics, broadcasting or just joking with people on the street who wanted a photo or a word," said Jene Galvin, a family spokesperson and friend of Springer's since 1970, in a statement.
"He's irreplaceable and his loss hurts immensely, but memories of his intellect, heart and humour will live on."
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Springer Show stayed constant for thousands of episodes
At its peak, The Jerry Springer Show was a ratings powerhouse and a US cultural pariah, synonymous with lurid drama.
Known for chair-throwing and bleep-filled arguments, the daytime talk show was a favourite American guilty pleasure over its 27-year run, at one point topping Oprah Winfrey's show.
Springer would often close the show by giving his "final thought" and saying "till next time, take care of yourself and each other".
Springer called the show "escapist entertainment," while others saw the show as contributing to a dumbing-down decline in American social values.
During the height of his fame, Springer was featured on an episode of The Simpsons, where he played himself and sought to intervene in an argument between Homer and space alien Kang over Maggie's paternity.
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After more than 4,000 episodes, the show ended in 2018, never straying from its core salaciousness.
Some of its last episodes had such titles as "Stripper Sex Turned Me Straight," "Stop Pimpin' My Twin Sister," and "Hooking Up With My Therapist".
In a "Too Hot For TV" video released as his daily show neared 7 million viewers in the late 1990s, Springer offered a defence against disgust.
"Look, television does not and must not create values, it's merely a picture of all that's out there — the good, the bad, the ugly," Springer said
"Believe this — the politicians and companies that seek to control what each of us may watch are a far greater danger to America and our treasured freedom than any of our guests ever were or could be."
He also contended that the people on his show volunteered to be subjected to whatever ridicule or humiliation awaited them.
Born in a London blitz shelter
Gerald Norman Springer was born on February 13, 1944, in a London underground railway station being used as a bomb shelter.
His parents, Richard and Margot, were German Jews who fled to England during the Holocaust, in which other relatives were killed in Nazi gas chambers.
They arrived in the United States when their son was 5 and settled in the Queens borough of New York City, where Springer got his first Yankees baseball gear on his way to becoming a lifelong fan.
He studied political science at Tulane University and got a law degree from Northwestern University.
He was active in politics much of his adult life, mulling a run for governor of Ohio as recently as 2017.
He entered the arena as an aide in Robert F Kennedy's ill-fated 1968 presidential campaign.
Springer ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1970 before being elected to Cincinnati city council in 1971.
He resigned in 1974 then bounced back, winning a council seat in 1975 and serving as mayor in 1977.
He later became a local television politics reporter with popular evening commentaries.
Springer began his talk show in 1991 and the US TV Guide ranked it first on a list of "Worst Shows in the History of Television," but it was ratings gold.
It made Springer a celebrity who would go on to host a liberal radio talk show and America's Got Talent, star in a movie called Ringmaster, and compete on Dancing With the Stars.
AP/ABC
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2023-04-27 14:40:01Z
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