Who is the greatest television interviewer in the world? Oprah Winfrey, David Letterman, Jay Leno? No, says British journalist Piers Morgan, it is CNN’s legendary Larry King. But Morgan has a special interest here: he’s replacing Larry King on CNN. The final edition of Larry King Live aired on December 16th.

CELEBRITY GUESTS
King has interviewed over 40,000 people in his career. He’s interviewed Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama, and world leaders Mikhail Gorbachev and Yasser Arafat. His star guests include Tom Cruise, Madonna, Stephen Hawking, Bill Gates and many, many more. What’s King’s secret? He represents an American tradition. He looks like a 1940s . He wears and a tie. Suspenders is an American term: the British call them braces. . And he welcomes his guests with a deep, friendly voice.

MIAMI
King has lived the American dream. He was born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger in 1933 into a working-class family in Brooklyn, New York. After his father’s death in 1943, the family was very poor. King left school at 18. He worked as a postman and a milkman. But he had a dream: he wanted to work in radio. It was impossible in New York, so he moved to Miami in 1957. He got a job as a at WAHR, a local radio station. , he had his own music show.

LOCAL STAR
He made his first radio interviews in a local restaurant, Pumpernik’s. His guests included the restaurant’s and people off the street. The pop star Bobby Darin and gave him an exclusive interview. King quickly became famous. He made his television debut in 1960 with WPST-TV’s Miami Underground.

CRISIS
In December 1971 King’s world . Accused of by a business partner, he lost his radio and television shows. He lost everything. Three months later, , but it was too late. It took several years, but King recovered. By 1978 he had his own national radio show from midnight to 5.30 am. Finally, he started the Larry King Live show on CNN in June 1985. That program has finished, but King will continue to host special shows for CNN. His private life is colourful: he has been married eight times!


LARRY ZEIGER'S NEW NAME
It’s 1957. King is about to make his first for the Miami radio station. His boss Marshall Simmonds asks, “Are you ready?” He says, “I’m ready.” Simmonds asks, “What name are you using? You can’t use Zeiger. No one will remember it. You need another name.” King doesn’t have any ideas. A newspaper is open on the table and there is an for King’s . Simmonds points at the paper, “How about King?” “ ”, replies King. , “OK, Larry King. Good luck!”

LaRRY KING QUOTES
On success:
The secret of my success is brevity. Sincerity. And, above all, curiosity.
On retirement:
Retire? I’m not retiring. I’m just leaving the show. I could never retire.
On life:
If you do something, expect consequences.
On dreams:
When I was five years old I lay in bed, looked at the radio, and I wanted to be on the radio. I don’t know why.
On friends:
I have lifelong friends. My oldest friend, Herbie, has been a friend since I was 9.