Talk Show Host Jerry Springer Dies at 79

Talk show host Jerry Springer speaks in New York on April 15, 2010. (Richard Drew/AP Photo)

Jerry Springer, the longtime daytime television host and former mayor, died on April 27 at age 79.

“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 family spokesperson, said in a statement to the media.

“He’s irreplaceable and his loss hurts immensely, but memories of his intellect, heart, and humor will live on.”

Springer died peacefully at his home in suburban Chicago after a brief illness, the statement said, according to The Associated Press. The former talk show host was reportedly diagnosed with pancreatic cancer several months ago.

At its peak, “The Jerry Springer Show” was a ratings powerhouse and a U.S. cultural pariah, synonymous with what were described as “trash television” shows that frequently aired in the 1990s and early 2000s. Known for chair-throwing and expletive-filled arguments, the daytime talk show at one point topped Oprah Winfrey’s show during its lengthy run.

Although Springer called it “escapist entertainment,” others saw the show as contributing to a decline in American social values and a dumbing-down of the population.

At one point, Springer said he doesn’t mind being called the “grandfather of trash TV,” telling CNN in 2010: “It’s probably accurate. I don’t know what the award for that is, but I think it is true that we were probably one of the first shows to present some of the outrageousness we have.”

“I think [the show is] silly, crazy, and has no redeeming social value other than an hour of escapism,” he added. “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.”

Springer’s Twitter profile biography reads, “Talk show host, ringmaster of civilization’s end.” He also often told people, tongue in cheek, that his wish for them was to “never be on my show.”

Over the years, Springer suggested that his show was merely a mirror of the decline in the United States’ social fabric. And he asserted that the people on his show volunteered to be subjected to whatever ridicule or humiliation awaited them.

“Look, television does not and must not create values, it’s merely a picture of all that’s out there—the good, the bad, the ugly,” Springer said in an interview. “Believe this: The politicians and companies that seek to control what each of us may watch are a far greater danger to America and our treasured freedom than any of our guests ever were or could be.”

Gerald Norman Springer was born on Feb. 13, 1944, in a London underground railway station being used as a bomb shelter. His parents, Richard and Margot, were Jews from Germany who had fled to England. They arrived in the United States when their son was 5 and settled in the Queens borough of New York City.

He studied political science at Tulane University and got a law degree from Northwestern University. He was active in politics much of his adult life, eventually becoming the mayor of Cincinnati in the late 1970s.

But it was television where Springer made a national name for himself, starting in the early 1990s. He started hosting a talk show in 1991 with a traditional format, and several years later, it became the program that long generated controversy and criticism.

Springer also competed on “Dancing with the Stars” and appeared in the film “Ringmaster.”

“With all the joking I do with the show, I’m fully aware and thank God every day that my life has taken this incredible turn because of this silly show,” Springer told the Cincinnati Enquirer in 2011.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.