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Jerry Springer, talk show host and former Cincinnati mayor, dies at 79

Talk show host and former Cincinnati mayor Jerry Springer died Thursday. He's pictured above in New York in 2010.
Richard Drew
/
AP
Talk show host and former Cincinnati mayor Jerry Springer died Thursday. He's pictured above in New York in 2010.

Jerry Springer, the talk show host and former mayor of Cincinnati has died. His death was confirmed by his longtime publicist Linda Shafran who said he died today at his home in suburban Chicago after a brief illness. He was 79 years old.

Springer was best known for The Jerry Springer Show which featured guests – real people from around the country – revealing shocking, often sordid details of their lives (cheating spouses, love triangles, incest). Fights were not uncommon on the show, with the audience often erupting into cheers of "Jerry, Jerry, Jerry!"

Jerry Springer greets supporters at a rally in Cincinnati, Ohio in June 1982.
Ed Reinke / AP
/
AP
Jerry Springer greets supporters at a rally in Cincinnati, Ohio in June 1982.

Born in London during World War II, Springer came to New York with his family as a child. In the 1970s he was elected to Cincinnati's city council and served a term as mayor.

Springer initially did not think he had much chance of success. "I remember when we announced the show in 1991," he once told the Cincinnati Enquirer, "and I was thinking: 'Who are we kidding? We'll be lucky to last 13 weeks!" The show ran for 27 years.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Jerry Springer appears on his show in December 1998.
/ Getty Images
/
Getty Images
Jerry Springer appears on his show in December 1998.

Eric Deggans is NPR's first full-time TV critic.