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LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT
King of the Mike
Larry King’s Distinguished Career
By Allison J. Waldman
In a career spanning over five decades as a news professional, Larry
King has set a high water mark as the epitome of what a broadcast
journalist should be. With dogged determination, an attention to
detail and a commitment to excellence, he’s been a champion, having
earned the title of the “Muhammad Ali of the broadcast interview.”
Whether face to face with Marlon Brando or Bill Clinton, talking to
Barbra Streisand or Vladimir Putin, querying Mike Tyson or Lady Gaga,
Larry King has spoken to the famous and the infamous, bringing clarity,
focus and insight to every encounter. With the touch of his Brooklyn
roots, the wit of a member of the Algonquin round table, and the
probing questions of an Edward R. Murrow, King developed a unique
style that has served him well through the years. And always, always,
with the viewer as sidekick…taking calls and connecting in a way other
interviewers never could.
King has always possessed a combination of talents that have
contributed to his long and distinguished career: the street smarts of a
regular guy, the finger on the pulse of current events, a reporter’s hunger
for the truth, and the ability to be a storyteller. All these qualities have
added up to make Larry King one of the greatest television talkers of
all time. It is why the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
(NATAS) is honoring him with this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
“Over the course of his career Larry King has interviewed an
enormous number of public figures on a remarkable range of topics.
In his 25 years at CNN he helped build an audience for cable news and
hosted more than a few history-making broadcasts. NATAS is proud
to honor him for his distinguished broadcasting career,” said Malachy
Wienges, Chairman, National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
In the estimation of fellow CNN broadcaster Anderson Cooper,
“Larry King is the everyman who asks the questions we would all ask
if we found ourselves in front of a major celebrity or politician. He is
genuinely interested in people and I think that really comes across on
the television screen. Leaning forward, hand under his chin, always
ready with another question, he is a legend and is so deserving of this
recognition.”
He’s been called “the most remarkable talk-show host on TV ever,” by
TV Guide and “master of the mike” by Time magazine. “For the last halfcentury,
Larry King has given an amazing array of people the chance
to tell their stories and made them accessible to millions of people,”
summarized President Bill Clinton. “[He has a] unique combination
of a big heart, a fine mind, and an unquenchable desire to understand
everything and everybody.”
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It all began for King on the radio, but it wasn’t easy. King recalls, “I
worked on the United Parcel Service truck, I sold home delivery of milk.
But always, in the back of my mind, I wanted to get into radio.”
It was on May 1, 1957, WAHR in Miami Beach, when the 24-yearold
New Yorker finally got his chance on the air. The red light went
on and Larry King…froze. The station manager burst into the studio
and delivered a message: “This is the communications business, so
communicate!”
Once Larry King started talking, he didn’t stop. And he found his
voice by simply being himself. He told his listeners that it was his first
time ever on the radio, that he was scared and that his boss had just
screamed at him.
Since that day, Larry King was never afraid again because he had
learned to be himself. That was one important lesson. The other was
even more basic. He learned the fine art of listening. “I remind myself
every morning: Nothing I say this day will teach me anything. So if I’m
going to learn, I must do it by listening.”
He has a unique combination of a big heart,
a fine mind, and an unquenchable desire to
understand everything and everybody. —Bill Cosby
Fordham professor Paul Levinson, Communication and Media
Studies, puts his importance in historic perspective when he says, “King
is right up there with Walter Cronkite, Johnny Carson, and Oprah
Winfrey as being one of the most important, influential talkers in the
history of television. His interviews over the years have given viewers an
unforgettable encyclopedia of celebrities and news makers in all walks
of life.”
Tom Gilbert, entertainment journalist and author and editor at News
Corp.’s The Daily, describes King’s style succinctly, compared to other
talk show hosts: “His one-on-one, radio-style interviews at a desk,
coupled with his mensch next door quality, set him apart in a crowded
show field at a time when the talk show format was believed to have
reached full maturity. He’s one of a kind. There’s nobody alive who
doesn’t know who he is.”
In his long career, King claimed that his best guest ever was Frank
Sinatra. The worst was actor Robert Mitchum, who provided nothing
but monosyllabic responses. But from viewer’s perspectives, there are
episodes that stand out, the ones that remain unforgettable.
(continued on page 6)
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