Broadcaster, journalist, actor, producer, lawyer, and former mayor of Cincinnati, Jerry Springer has passed away at age 79. Springer died Thursday morning, peacefully at his home in suburban Chicago, publicist Linda Shafran confirmed. The cause of death was pancreatic cancer, according to Jene Galvin, a family spokesperson.
Gerald Norman Springer was born on February 13, 1944, in the Highgate tube station in London, England. At the time of his birth, his parents were taking shelter in the station from German bombing runs. His parents, Margo and Richard Springer, were Polish Jews who escaped from Germany during the Holocaust.
In January 1949, when Springer was four years old, his family immigrated to the United States, settling in the Kew Gardens neighborhood of Queens, New York. After graduating from Forest Hills High School, Springer moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in political science at Tulane University in 1965. He then received his law degree from Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois.
In 1968, Springer met New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy at a dinner party. Springer signed on with Kennedy’s presidential campaign shortly after. Following Kennedy’s assassination, he began practicing law.
When Springer was just 25, he spearheaded the movement in Ohio to lower the voting age from 21 to 18, which culminated in his Senate Judiciary Committee testimony supporting ratification of the 26th Amendment to the Constitution. He then ran for Congress in Ohio in 1970 (and lost). In 1971, he won a seat on the Cincinnati City Council and served five terms before becoming the city’s mayor at the age of 33. Springer served two terms as mayor of Cincinnati.
After an unsuccessful bid for governor of Ohio in 1982, Springer transitioned from a career in politics to television and signed with the Cincinnati NBC affiliate WLWT. Within two years he was Cincinnati’s number-one news anchor, along with partner Norma Rashid and for five years, he was the most popular news anchor in the city,
Riding on the success of his anchor position, Springer was given his own TV show. The first season of The Jerry Springer Show originally aired as a politically charged talk show, with episode topics including the social effects of rock ‘n’ roll, gun control, and homelessness, and featured high-profile guests such as Jesse Jackson and Oliver North. In an attempt to improve ratings, the network brought in a new producer for the 1994 season, and the show began targeting a younger audience. Shortly thereafter, the show moved filming to Chicago. The Jerry Springer Show was filmed in Chicago from 1991 to 2009. From 2009 to 2018 the show was filmed in Stamford, Connecticut. During the show’s most successful years, in several markets, it was beating The Oprah Winfrey Show, which was also filmed in Chicago, and was reaching more than 6.7 million viewers. On July 26, 2018, The Jerry Springer Show aired its final episode in syndication after 27 seasons.
After the success of The Jerry Springer Show, Springer was featured in a courtroom show called Judge Jerry, which gave him the opportunity to host a more “grown-up” program and to showcase his law school education. The show was canceled after 3 seasons.
Over the years Springer remained in the public eye hosting shows such as America’s Got Talent, The Price Is Right Live!, a dating game show called Baggage, WWE Raw, Miss World in 2000 and 2001, and the Miss Universe pageant in 2008.
Springer was also featured in popular movies and TV shows including Married… with Children, The Defender, Dancing with the Stars, Ringmaster, Days of Our Lives, the Netflix show Happy!, Roseanne, The X-Files, The Simpsons, and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, just to name a few. He most recently appeared on The Masked Singer, where he performed a Frank Sinatra classic while dressed as a beetle.
According to TMZ, Springer and his family chose to keep his cancer battle hidden from the public so his health struggle wouldn’t become a burden to many of those who cared so deeply about him.
Jene Galvin, a rep for the Springer family, informed TMZ that Springer was ill for several months and went through several diagnostic tests, which only confirmed how dire his pancreatic cancer diagnosis truly was.
Springer is survived by his daughter Katie Springer who he shares with his ex-wife Micki Velton, and his older sister Evelyn.
According to the family, funeral services and a memorial gathering are currently being planned. They ask that, in lieu of flowers, people make a donation or commit to an act of kindness for someone in need or a worthy advocacy organization.
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