Jerry Springer dies aged 79
TV host Jerry Springer has died aged 79, his agent has confirmed.
The former mayor of Cincinnati rose to fame as the host of The Jerry Springer Show in the US from 1991 until 2018. The tabloid talk show gained popularity for its outrageous moments, such as onstage fights. It was the inspiration behind similar shows such as The Jeremy Kyle Show in the UK.
Born in 1944 in Highgate, London, Springer’s family immigrated to the United States when he was five years old, taking up residence in New York City.
Jerry in a promo for his prime time Carlton TV series in the UK (2000, ITV)
He graduated in 1965 with a political science degree from Tulane University, and three years later he earned a law degree from the Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago.
Following graduation, he became a political campaign adviser to Robert F Kennedy. He went on to serve on Cincinnati’s City Council and was elected mayor of the city in 1977.
He moved into television in the early 1980s initially as a reporter for a local television station. However, his TV career really took off in 1991 with the debut of The Jerry Springer Show. After a lukewarm start when the topics were mainly political, the talk show underwent a revamp in the mid-1990s and became known for its controversial subject matter with guests thrashing out the likes of incest and adultery in front of a baying studio crowd.
Jerry makes a guest appearance on the BBC’s QI with Sandi Toksvig
For ITV he hosted a daytime version of his ‘people show’ alternating with Trisha Goddard at Anglia TV and later hosted a late-night version with Carlton TV. His popularity with UK viewers saw him pop up on shows such as BBC Two’s QI, ITV’s Elvis Mania, ITV2’s Through the Keyhole with Keith Lemon and Hell’s Kitchen and Hell’s Kitchen USA as a diner.
The stateside show inspired an opera, which debuted in London in 2003 and was later staged in various U.S. cities. When it ended Jerry hosted Judge Jerry for NBC. The American arbitration-based reality court show, inspired by Judge Judy, was presided over by Springer for three series.
