Legendary TV Host and Politician Jerry Springer Passes Away at 79

Jerry Springer, a former mayor and news anchor who was famous for his TV show which featured a lot of people with personal problems screaming and fighting each other, passed away at 79 years old.

The Jerry Springer Show was really popular for a long time, but also controversial. People used to fight on the show, throw chairs, and curse out loud. So people either enjoyed it as entertainment or thought it made society worse. It was so popular that at one point it even beat Oprah’s show in ratings! But overall, Jerry Springer said it’s just escapism and not meant as real life advice.

Jene Galvin, a family spokesperson and close friend of Jerry since 1970 said in a statement that his success was due to his gift for connecting with people. He could talk to politicians like he does on broadcasting or just joke around with strangers. Nobody can replace him and he’ll be greatly missed by everyone who knew him for his smarts, kind heart, and wit.

Jerry Springer has passed away at home after he got sick. He was known for his famous phrase on Twitter that said “Talk show host, ringmaster of civilization’s end” and always joked to people by wishing them “may you never be on my show.”

After over 4,000 episodes, the show ended in 2018. It always stuck to its main idea which was generally about impolite topics like: “Stripper Sex Turning me Straight,” “Stop Controlling My Twin Sister” and “Hooking Up With My Therapist”.

In a video from the late 90’s when his daily show was watched by 7 million viewers Jerry Springer tried to explain why it shouldn’t be labeled as disgusting. – TV’s Jerry Springer decides against Ohio governor run

Jerry Springer said that television shows us the good and bad in the world, but politicians and companies that try to control what we watch can be even more dangerous than any of our guests on his show. He also believes that people who come on his show do so willingly, not forced into anything.

Gerald Norman Springer was born on February 13th, 1944 in an unusual place – a London Underground train station that was being used as a bomb shelter! His parents Richard and Margot were Jewish people who had to leave Germany during the Holocaust, when some relatives tragically died in gas chambers. When Gerald was 5 years old, his family moved to the United States and settled in New York’s Queens borough. He even got his first Yankees baseball gear there at that time and it became one of his favorite sports ever since then.

He went to Tulane University and studied political science before earning a law degree from Northwestern University. He was involved in politics almost his entire adult life, including thinking about running for governor of Ohio in 2017.

His first political experience happened when he began working as an aide in Robert F. Kennedy’s Presidential campaign – which didn’t turn out well – back in 1968. At that time, Springer was employed at a Cincinnati law firm and ran (unsuccessfully) for Congress in 1970. However, he did succeed in getting elected to the city council later on in 1971.

In 1974, Cincinnati’s political community was shocked when Jerry Springer suddenly resigned. He said it was for “very personal family considerations”, but it later came out that he had actually paid prostitutes with his personal checks. This resulted in a police investigation.

Jerry Springer was 30 when he got married to Micki Velton and had a daughter named Katie. But, they split up in 1994.

He didn’t stay down for long and soon came back as a politician, winning a seat on the council in 1975 before becoming mayor in 1977. Later on, Jerry became a reporter for NBC’s local television station WLWT-TV, where he presented popular evening commentaries with Norma Rashid. This show eventually became the most watched news program in the Cincinnati market.

In 1991, Jerry Springer started his famous talk show which had a traditional format. But in 1993, something changed and it got what people labeled as “scandalous”. Then it suddenly became really popular even though TV Guide put it on the list of “Worst Shows in the History of Television”. It made Jerry Springer into a star. He hosted a radio talk show and judged shows like “America’s Got Talent”, made a movie called “Ringmaster”, and competed on another show called “Dancing With The Stars.”

Jerry Springer said in 2011 that he was very thankful that his life changed so much due to a show. In 2003, he had considered running for Senate and thought it could bring in people who do not normally like politics.

Jerry Springer once told the media that he connected more to everyday people than a normal politician would. He thought the war on Iraq was not right and wanted to expand public healthcare, so he considered running for office. However, in the end, he didn’t go through with it.

When Jerry came to America at age five, he loved this country and saw it as a place of light and hope in the world. He declared to a Democratic gathering one time that his only motivation was because he loved America so much.

In 2019, Jerry Springer hosted a famous television show called “Judge Jerry”. He also spoke up a lot on his podcast but his ability to shock people had decreased due to the emergence of aggressive talk shows and reality TV programs. According to David Bianculli, a professor at Monmouth University, he was unsuccessful as other people’s shows were better than him.

Jerry Springer’s show may have limited his political goals, but he still accepted its influence. In 2003, when he was considering running for a position in the US Senate, an infomercial was released as part of his fundraising campaign. Someone from National Review (a magazine) said new voters that Jerry attracted “included people like country folks, weird people, and creepy ones too.”

In the informercial, Springer mentioned a quote and spoke about how he wanted to help people who weren’t born into wealth. Sewell, an ex-journalist who retired this year, wrote this article and two other journalists – David Bauder in NY and Andrew Welsh-Huggins in Ohio – helped him with the reporting.