Tributes pour in for 'giant of broadcasting'

The iconic talk show host Larry King, one of the most recognizable figures on US television as he interviewed everyone who was anyone over a career spanning 60 years, died Saturday at the age of 87.

Reports said he had been battling Covid and had suffered health problems in recent years.

King, with his trademark suspenders, black rim glasses and deep voice, was best known for a 25-year run as a talkshow host on CNN's Larry King Live.

"For 63 years and across the platforms of radio, TV and digital media, Larry's many thousands of interviews, awards, and global acclaim stand as a testament to his unique and lasting talent as a broadcaster," the company he cofounded, Ora Media, said.

King's interviewees included every US president since 1974, world leaders Yasser Arafat and Vladimir Putin, and celebrities such as Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando and Barbra Streisand.

In his last show in 2010, tributes included one from president Barack Obama, who called him "one of the giants of broadcasting".

Tributes from the media, politicians and Hollywood stars poured in, led by Putin, who hailed his "great professionalism and unquestioned journalistic authority."

Born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger on November 19, 1933, to poor Russian Jewish immigrants in Brooklyn, New York, King says he never wanted to be anything but a radio broadcaster.

Larry King Live, which ran from 1985 to 2010, broadcast six nights a week to more than 200 countries. CNN puts his total number of interviews at 30,000.

At the height of its success the show attracted over a million viewers a night, making King the star of cable television, on the back of which he negotiated an annual salary of more than US$7 million (HK$54.6 million).