Over the course of its 25-year run, which began in 1985, Larry King Live on CNN got the âgetsâ that no other talk show could. Aired five nights a week, Larry King Live in its heyday was the centerpiece of ratings champion CNNâs prime time line up. If you had something to plug, Larry King Live was on your itinerary.
Larry King passes away at 87
Presidents, newsmakers, authors, Hollywood legends, and contemporary A-listers in all fields sat for hour-long interviews. At his best, Kingâwho has died at the age of 87âwas masterful at creating moments that would be fodder for discussion at the workplace water cooler (the 20th century equivalent of going viral).
Bill Maher once called King the âMickey Mantle of broadcasters.â Itâs true that he struggled at the plate in his final yearsâon one show that reunited former Beatles Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney, King at one point called Ringo âGeorgeââbut still, nobody did it like King. Below, a representative sampling of 10 memorable interviews that display the Peabody Award-winner and Hall of Fame broadcasterâs versatility.
Frank Sinatra (1988)
Frank Sinatraâs last major interview before his death 10 years later finds the Chairman of the Board in âchatâ mode. Sinatra is at once easygoing and pugnacious, calling out the writers of âkiss-and-tellâ books as âpimps and whoresâ (heâs looking at you, Kitty Kelly!) He also talks about the re-release of The Manchurian Candidate and swears on his motherâs soul that he still got stage fright.
Elizabeth Taylor (1993)
âA rare one on one with a rare beautyâŚand sheâll take your phone calls.â Hollywood screen goddess Elizabeth Taylorâs first appearance with Larry King was this two-hour special broadcast on TNT. In 2000, the Queen would knight her as Dame Elizabethâbut here, she is an old school âbroadâ who reflects on her legendary career with an earthy candor. When King asks her about her ex-husband Richard Burton not getting his full due in Hollywood, and whether he took roles that were beneath him, she responds, âThatâs bullshit,â and indignantly adds, âI think he did fairly well.â
Marlon Brando (1994)
Marlon Brando chose Larry King Live as the sole interview to hype his memoir, Songs My Mother Taught Me. Unlike his 1972 appearance on The Dick Cavett Show, Brando is not focused on the plight of Native-Americans, but he is just as elusive and inscrutable. When asked if he would rather have been a musician, Brando replies, âIf the dog hadnât stopped to pee, he might have caught the rabbit.â
Before Brando bids, âGoodbye,â he engages Larry in an off-key duet on âGot a Date with an Angelâ and plants a kiss on Kingâs mouth. Two years later, he returned to Larry King Live and caused a firestorm when he proclaimed that âHollywood is run by Jews.â
Jerry Seinfeld (2007)
Jerry Seinfeld appeared on Larry King Live to promote his animated feature Bee Movie, in which King had a voice cameo. At one point, Seinfeld appeared to take mock (?) umbrage when King attempted to clarify whether Seinfeld or the network ended his NBC TV series. Seinfeld pushed back hard. âYou think I got cancelled?â he challenged King. When a flustered King responded, âDonât most shows go down a little?â Jerry hit back, âSo do most people, also.â
The O.J. Simpson Saga
âIf we had God booked and O.J. was available, weâd move God,â Larry King said on October 5, 1995. The day before, he controversially took a mid-broadcast phone call on his show from the disgraced former Hall of Fame football player who that week had been acquitted of killing his ex-wife and her friend Ronald Goldman.
âHe wanted to get a point across, and we’re the place he used,” King rationalized. Beginning on June 17, 1994, when Larry King Live cut to live coverage of the highway odyssey of the iconic white Ford Bronco, King owned the story that gripped America. A reported two-thirds of the nationâs television households watched that night. The first thing that Simpson said when he called in was to thank King for being âfair.â
Carrie Prejean (2009)
Carrie Prejeanâs story made her a Larry King Live natural. She was a beauty pageant winner stripped of her crown for vague reasons. Was it breach of contract issues? Was it her opposition to same-sex marriage, as she revealed during the nationally-televised Miss USA pageant? Or was it the partial nudes she had taken when she was a model that were then posted on the Internet?
Donald Trump, who owned the Miss USA pageant, defended her (âIn some cases, the pictures were lovelyâ). Larry asked her why she had settled her lawsuit against the pageant officials. She called his question âinappropriate.â They went back and forth until she finally removed her microphone and announced she was walking off the show. And then she just sat there.
Paris Hilton (2007)
ABC and NBC each chased first generation reality TV star Paris Hilton for her plum first televised interview following her release from prison for a parole violation. Larry got it.
Unlike David Letterman, who felt compelled to apologize to Hilton for his own contemptuous interview of her, King remained professional and an accommodating host when Hilton said things like, âI have a new outlook on life.â When King asked why she felt so many people followed her, she replied, âI have no idea.â
Al Gore and Ross Perot (1993)
It is a testament to Larry Kingâs platform that then-Vice President Al Gore and billionaire Ross Perot chose Larry King Live to debate the proposed North American Free Trade Agreement. According to Time magazine, support for NAFTA was at 34 percent prior to the broadcast and roughly 57 percent afterward.
It passed in the House that week. Such exchanges as Perotâs admonition of Goreâs perceived hogging the mic (âYou havenât quit talkingâ) surely gave Dana Carvey fresh material for her peerless Perot imitation. Just over 16 million people watched, then the highest ratings in CNN history.
Michael Moore and Dr. Sanjay Gupta (2007)
The release of a Michael Moore documentary is invariably accompanied by questions about his filmmaking methods and charges of fact-fudging. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, the chief medical correspondent for CNN, took a scalpel to Mooreâs then-newest film, Sicko, an autopsy of Americaâs health care system.
Moore went on Kingâs show to defend his film and challenge Dr. Gupta. Drinking game: Take a shot every time Michael Moore says a variant of, âThere you go again; thatâs not true.â
Lady Gaga (2010)
During Kingâs final year on air, international superstar and style icon Lady Gaga made an appearance. She came dressed in not one of her Gaga-esque outfits, but one that emulated King himself, including his signature suspenders. âShould I call you Larry or should I call you King Larry?â she opened.
King asked the obvious questions (âHow did you come up with Lady Gaga?â) but also pointedly asked about her health issues (âDo you have Lupus?â). A game Gaga gave him her family history with the disease; she also debuted her new video for âAlejandro.â