Pallade Veneta - Legendary US talk show host Jerry Springer dies aged 79: US media

Legendary US talk show host Jerry Springer dies aged 79: US media


Legendary US talk show host Jerry Springer dies aged 79: US media
Legendary US talk show host Jerry Springer dies aged 79: US media / Photo: Alberto E. Rodriguez - GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/File

Longtime US talk show host Jerry Springer, whose program became a symbol of low brow television with its on-air fights, swearing and infidelity revelations, has died at the age of 79, US media reported Thursday.

Change text size:

Springer, whose show became an international hit that ran for 27 years, died peacefully at his home in Chicago after "a brief illness," TMZ cited a family spokesperson as saying.

The spokesman did not give further details. TMZ reported that Springer had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer a few months ago, citing anonymous sources.

Launched in 1991, "The Jerry Springer Show" began life as an ordinary talk show focusing on social issues and US politics, led by the-then mild mannered lawyer and former politician Springer, who briefly served as the mayor of Cincinnati in 1977.

But in an effort to boost ratings, the son of Jewish German immigrants switched things up dramatically after a few years, focusing on salacious and outrageous content.

In most episodes, guests came to talk about family problems and expose adultery and other transgressions.

Springer would supposedly try to mediate but the encounters often ended up in fisticuffs, with guests being held back by security guards.

In the late 1990s the show topped the daytime television ratings in the US, beating out even Oprah.

It ended its run in 2018.

S.Urciuoli--PV

Featured

Jersey Boys Anniversary Tour Opens in Birmingham With Gritty Account of Crime and Fame

The 20th-anniversary tour of Jersey Boys has opened at Birmingham’s Alexandra Theatre, offering a gritty and unvarnished look at the Four Seasons’ journey. The production details the band's turbulent rise from New Jersey petty criminals to international rock stars, highlighting the complex personal costs behind their musical success.

UBC professor describes police call after Galloway remark as act of care

VANCOUVER — A University of British Columbia professor has testified about a colleague’s decision to call police to visit Steven Galloway after he was accused of sexual assault, describing it as an “act of care” toward the author, who had spoken of killing himself. Galloway, who is suing his accuser and others in a defamation trial centred on the unproven allegations, has described his subsequent committal to a hospital in the United States as “terrifying.

The Cat in the Hat expands its stakes to cosmic scale in animated reboot

The folks behind the new animated “The Cat in the Hat” are pretty confident they’ve got the cat in the bag. It hasn’t even opened yet and there are onscreen references to possible movie spinoffs for the jet-powered magical couch and The Things.

Lettermen co-founder Tony Butala dies at 87

NEW YORK (AP) — Tony Butala, co-founder of the Grammy-nominated trio The Lettermen, whose lush vocal harmonies made them one of the most popular vocal groups of the 1960s, died Sunday. He was 87.

Change text size: