Jerry Springer, a broadcaster, author, politician, journalist, actor, lawyer, and TV host died on Thursday in his home in Chicago, after a brief illness.
According to a family spokesperson, Springer had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer a few months earlier.
“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,” said Jene Galvin, a longtime friend and spokesman for the family. “He’s irreplaceable and his loss hurts immensely, but memories of his intellect, heart, and humor will live on.”
As memorial services and funeral arrangements are been organized, his family has requested that in lieu of sending/buying flowers, people can pay their respects to him by considering following his spirit and making a donation or committing to an act of kindness to someone in need or a worthy advocacy organization.
As he would say, “Take care of yourself, and each other.”
Jerry Springer, real name, Gerald Norman Springer was born to refugees escaping the holocaust on February 13, 1944, in the London Underground station of Highgate while the station was in use as a shelter from German bombing during World War II.
His family immigrated to the United States in January 1949, when Jerry Springer was four years old. They settled in the Kew Gardens neighborhood of Queens, a borough of New York City, where he attended nearby Forest Hills High School.
Springer earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Arts from Tulane University in 1965, majoring in political science, and a Juris Doctor from Northwestern University in 1968.
He then attended Northwestern University School of Law and actively got involved in politics working for the campaign of Robert Kennedy in 1968.
Jerry Springer served as the 56th Mayor of Cincinnati from 1977 to 1978. He then worked as a local news anchor in Cincinnati where he won several Regional Emmy Awards for his unique style of commentary.
Jerry Springer became very popular for hosting his talk showJerry Springerfrom 1991 to 2018.
He also hosted America’s Got Talent from 2007 to 2008, and the courtroom show Judge Jerry from 2019 to 2022. Off television, he hostedJerry Springer Podcastfrom 2015 to 2022.
Jerry Springer is survived by a daughter whom he had with his former wife, Micki Velton. They got married in 1973 and divorced in 1994.
