Jerry Springer, Former Talk Show Host And Mayor, Dead At 79
Jerry Springer has passed away at the age of 79 following a brief illness.
Earlier today, Jerry Springer, the famous talk show host and former mayor of Cincinnati, passed away at the age of 79. He had a “brief illness,” according to People, and died in a suburb of Chicago. Since his death was fairly sudden, the funeral services and memorial gathering are being coordinated but are not confirmed yet.
Jerry Springer, whose full name was Gerald Norman Springer, was born in London during World War II. His parents were German-Jewish refugees who worked as a bank clerk and as a shoe shop owner before they immigrated to the United States in 1949, settling in Queens, New York. Unfortunately, both Jerry Springer’s grandmother and her brother were left behind and tragically died in the Nazi concentration camps.
At only 12 years old, Jerry Springer was inspired by John F. Kennedy after seeing the president on television. This motivated him to study political science at Tulane University before going on to earn his Doctor of Jurisprudence from Northwestern University.
After being a political advisor to JFK for a brief time, Jerry Springer then went on to practice law at a Cincinnati law firm. His experience in the political world led him to become the mayor of Cincinnati for one year (1977-1978).
Jerry Springer has been known for his outlandish reputation for decades, but it all started back in 1974 when he was caught soliciting a prostitute. He immediately fessed up to the encounter and used his honesty in political campaigns to gain trust with the people. He even used the incident in a political TV commercial by paying a prostitute with a check and saying that he was not afraid of the truth.
After his political career, he started The Jerry Springer Show, which ran for a remarkable 27 years from 1991 to 2018, mostly airing on daytime TV. The show originally started as a political talk show that explored topics of homelessness and issues with guns, but it eventually turned into a purely entertaining debacle of chaos.
Guests on The Jerry Springer Show were ordinary people who confronted their lovers, family, and friends about significant drama that ranged from dating to infidelity and beyond. Most disputes ended with a lot of profanity and hair-pulling with a wild crowd shouting “Jerry! Jerry! Jerry” at the screen. It’s no wonder the show got so much attention, even briefly surpassing The Oprah Winfrey Show in 1998 with over 6 million views.
Jerry Springer certainly had a long and storied career with lots of entertaining events. He was once a judge on the TV show America’s Got Talent, appeared in one episode of Married… with Children, and even had a fun cameo in Austin Powers. He also hosted a courtroom show Judge Jerry that allowed him to finally use his knowledge of the law, but it was canceled in 2022 after just three seasons.
Jerry Springer’s death comes within just one week of two other popular TV show figures: the Dancing with the Stars judge Len Goodman and fan-favorite Survivor contestant Keith Nale. Both passed away after battling different forms of cancer.
