1:10 p.m. ET, April 27, 2023
Remembering Jerry Springer: A politician and news anchor turned "ringleader" of daytime drama
From CNN staff
Jerry Springer poses with a studio audience during taping for “The Jerry Springer Show” in 1992.
(Steve Kagan/Getty Images)
Jerry Springer, the longtime TV host and former Cincinnati mayor, has died at age 79, a family spokesperson said Thursday.
“Jerry’s ability to connect with people was at the heart of his success in everything he tried whether that was politics, broadcasting or just joking with people on the street who wanted a photo or a word,” Jene Galvin, a lifelong friend and spokesperson for the family, said in a statement.
Springer's work was considered by both critics and fans as
emblematic of the "trash TV" genre. He said in past interviews that
he had no delusions about his show, with its topics such as “Trick or Cheaters,” “Confront this Dominatrix” and “Lesbians Come Clean.”
“I think (the show is) silly, crazy and has no redeeming social value other than an hour of escapism,” he said in 2010. “There is never anything on our show that hasn’t been on the front pages of newspapers in America. The only difference is that the people on my show aren’t famous.”
“It’s a show about craziness,” he added. “I know that going in every day.”
The product of Jewish refugees who
fled Nazi Germany prior to World War II, Springer made his early career as a lawyer and politician. He served on Cincinnati’s City Council in 1971 and became the city’s mayor in 1977, serving one term.
In 1982, Springer ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for Ohio governor. After that he became a news anchor at WLWT in Cincinnati.
Springer’s anchor work led to a Cincinnati-based talk show that later became the nationally syndicated, “The Jerry Springer Show.”