‘He’s a throwback’

July 4, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

CNN host Larry King will step away from his show this fall

By David Hiltbrand

The Philadelphia Inquirer

It’s said that if you stand in Times Square long enough, the whole world will eventually pass you by. Or you could achieve the same results in a fraction of the time simply by watching “Larry King Live.”

The CNN host famous for interviewing people from all walks of life, from Henry Kissinger to Kermit the Frog, from Stephen Hawking to contestants on “The Biggest Loser,” announced Tuesday that he would step away from his show in the fall after 25 years on the air.

“He’s a throwback,” says TV news analyst Andrew Tyndall, “the type of television personality that doesn’t exist anymore in that he’s a mainstream generalist — somebody who tries to cover politics, entertainment and human interest.”

An unlikely star — with his ovoid head, bay-window glasses, hunched posture, fog-cutter voice, and trademark suspenders, King, 76, became an icon the same way Johnny Carson did: by unobtrusively dropping into our living rooms every night until he seemed like one of the family.

King is so instantly recognizable that he’s been featured as himself in more than a dozen films, from “Ghostbusters” to “Swing Vote.”

During his 50-year career in broadcasting, King has conducted nearly 50,000 interviews with an astonishing array of newsmakers including athletes (Pete Rose to Michael Jordan), actors (Bette Davis to Angelina Jolie) and politicians (including every U.S. president since Richard Nixon).

Though he never gained a Barbara Walters-like reputation for landing the most controversial, sought-after figures at the peak of public interest, he always stayed topical, soliciting the opinions of experts and call-in viewers on breaking events from the death of Diana, Princess of Wales to the O.J. Simpson trial. The night after his acquittal on murder charges, Simpson called in to King’s show unexpectedly to complain about the way the media had covered his prosecution.

One of the reasons King has been able to attract such an array of willing guests over the years is that he’s an obliging host, more Merv Griffin than Mike Wallace. His style is conversational rather than inquisitorial. And he tends to accept almost any response, rarely boring in with that nasty follow-up question that is the journalist’s stock in trade.

In fact, King prides himself on his casual approach to research, refusing, for instance, to read any book prior to interviewing its author. His oft-stated contention is that not burdening himself with information prior to the show allows him to ask the more obvious questions that his viewers are interested in.

This preference for flying by the seat of his pants has frequently lead to criticism that he is clueless.

He once asked the Dalai Lama, “Do you pray? And, if so, who do you pray to?” In another infamous interview, his questions to Jerry Seinfeld were so ingenuous that the exasperated comic squawked, “Do you know who I am?”

King couldn’t even be counted on to tell The Beatles apart. He addressed Ringo on the show as the late George Harrison.

Born in Depression-era Brooklyn, the broadcaster, born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger, got his start in local radio, chatting up anyone who wandered into Pumpernik’s restaurant in Miami Beach.

He never really abandoned that original style. Even “Larry King Live,” which began on CNN in 1985, had the feeling of a deli encounter, with Larry assuming the role of the curious guy on the adjoining stool.

For the last 25 years, he’s been conducting what is essentially a relaxed radio show on television. Only the guests got bigger.

His personal life has always been surprisingly racy, given his low-key personality on the air.

A serial groom, King has been married eight times, to seven women. He proposed to his sixth wife, Philadelphia businesswoman Julie Alexander, on their first date in 1989.

His current spouse, Shawn Southwick, with whom he has two of his five children, filed for divorce earlier this year, but the couple have since reconciled.

King’s longest-lasting marriage has been with his first love, the microphone.

His retirement is not coming about unexpectedly. His ratings are down sharply this year, nearly 50 percent.

In the most recent quarter, his audience shrank to an average of 674,000, the smallest in the history of the show.

It’s one thing to get beaten by Sean Hannity and Rachel Maddow, but on some nights recently, King is even trailing Joy Behar on HLN.

Early speculation on who will succeed King has focused on candidates such as Katie Couric, Piers Morgan and Anderson Cooper. Surprisingly, the Suspendered One has designated “American Idol” announcer Ryan Seacrest as his preferred heir.

Good luck to whoever tries to fill his Hush Puppies.

For better or for worse, there will never be another Larry.

Are you there, Cleveland?