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Jerry Springer, the ex-mayor of Cincinnati who gained a national profile with his eponymous, fight-filled TV show, has died at 79 after a “brief illness,” according to TMZ.
Springer was born during the Blitz in the underground Highgate train station. His parents were German-Jewish refugees, who escaped the Nazis with the help of World Jewish Relief. At the organization’s 2017 business dinner, he told his family’s story before quipping, “ this is a general rule that I always follow: if somebody saves my life I’ll always show up at their dinner.”
When he was 4, Springer relocated with his family to Kew Gardens, Queens. After graduating from Tulane, Springer worked in Democratic politics as a lawyer and ran for Congress. He later served in Cincinnati’s City Council (he resigned after admitting to soliciting a sex worker), served one year as the city’s mayor, from 1977 to 1978 and later anchored the news for the local NBC affiliate. (A run for governor of Ohio in 1981 was unsuccessful — his campaign ads featured him admitting to writing a personal check to a sex worker.)
It wasn’t until 1991 that Jerry’s name became the stuff of live studio audience chants. That year, Springer launched Jerry Springer, a TV tabloid talk show which quickly gained notoriety for showcasing odd characters. Early guests, when the show was still taped in Chicago, included disgraced Reagan aide Oliver North and civil rights leader Jesse Jackson.
But Jerry Springer would gain syndication, and a devoted audience with guests like “The Kung-Fu Hillbilly” and people with strange love lifes (a man married to a horse; incestuous families). In 2002 the show, known for trashiness and necessary security guards, was ranked by TV Guide as the “worst TV show of all time.”
But Springer, famous for equanimity amid the bizarre parade of humanity, was undeterred and the show became a phenomenon, even inspiring an opera.
Springer’s show ended in 2018, leaving room for Springer to appear on The Masked Singer (he previously appeared on Broadway in Chicago and Dancing with the Stars) and, in a return to his legal roots, a courtroom show called Judge Jerry.
In 2022, Springer said he regretted his show’s legacy.
On the Behind the Velvet Rope podcast, the longtime host said “I’ve ruined the culture,” adding, as a joke, “I just hope hell isn’t that hot, because I burn real easy. I’m very light-complected.”
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