Jerry Springer, the host of the controversial Jerry Springer show, has died. He was 79.
A family spokesperson said that Springer had been diagnosed with cancer a few months ago and had passed away at his home in the Chicago area on Thursday, according to TMZ.
“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,” Jene Galvin, a lifelong friend and spokesperson for Springer’s family, said in a statement. “He’s irreplaceable and his loss hurts immensely, but memories of his intellect, heart and humor will live on.”
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The statement was published by NBC affiliate WLWT, the Cincinnati TV station where Springer worked as a news anchor and commentator after his time in office as the city’s mayor and before working on the talk show that catapulted him to international stardom.
The outlet said his family have asked people to pay tribute—in the spirit of his mantra to “take care of yourself, and each other”—through acts of kindness to someone in need.
Born in a London Underground station used as a bomb shelter in 1944, Springer came to New York with his family at age 4. After graduating from Northwestern University Law School, he served as a campaign adviser to Robert F. Kennedy in 1968 before making his own—unsuccessful—run for Congress two years later.
In 1971, he was elected to the Cincinnati City Council but resigned after three years when a vice investigation found that he’d paid—with checks—for the services of a sex worker in Kentucky. At a press conference, he publicly acknowledged what he’d done. “It is my fondest wish to re-enter public life,” Springer said as he announced he was stepping down. In 1975, his wish came true as he was re-elected to his seat and was chosen to serve as Cincinnati’s mayor two years later.
After a failed bid to become the governor of Ohio in 1982, Springer decided to leave politics for television. He quickly rose to become the most popular news anchor in Cincinnati and, in 1991, was given his immortal talk show. Initially, the show was a far cry from the raucous circus it would become, focusing on social and political talking points. In an effort to boost ratings in the mid-90s, the show transformed to cover more controversial content, soon being watched by an audience of millions and inspiring a slew of copycat tabloid talk shows around the world.
Critics derided the Jerry Springer show as exploitative of its guests who fought—sometimes physically—for the entertainment of a baying studio audience. “My show is what it is,” Springer told the Daily Beast in 2018. “My show is stupid. The only defense I ever give to the show, when people are attacking it or whatever, is that they won’t admit their criticism is elitist.” He went on to argue that critics were often “hypocritical” because “famous people can do the exact same things as people do on my show, or even worse, and we put them on late night TV, we buy their albums and books, cheer them as heroes.”
After the notorious show ended in 2018, Springer starred in a reality court show, Judge Jerry, for three years beginning in 2019. He’d also made guest acting appearances in several TV series including The X-Files, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and had a cameo role in the 1998 Austin Powers movie, The Spy Who Shagged Me.
Springer married Micki Velton in 1973. Before their divorce in 1994 they had a child, Katie Springer, in 1976.
