Controversial TV host Jerry Springer dies

New York, Apr 27 (EFE).- Jerry Springer, for decades one of the most recognized US television personalities, as well as being one of the most controversial, died Thursday at his home in Chicago. He was 79.

Springer died after several months ago being diagnosed with cancer, according to several US media outlets.

For decades, his program “The Jerry Springer Show” was one of the most-watched US TV shows, with millions of viewers, and at some points it exceeded the talk shows hosted by mega-star competitors like Oprah Winfrey.

Springer’s show, which started out focusing on the day’s political events, morphed over the next few years into one of the pioneering projects for the successful daytime TV format whereby dysfunctional guests were questioned – some would say egged on – about controversial issues in their lives and the audience of millions was often treated to the spectacle of them coming to blows with each other onstage.

On the program, where it was regular fare to see relatives prodded into verbal brawls with one another or unfaithful couples ranting and railing at one another on camera, it was not unusual for the guests to physically attack one another and having to be separated by Springer’s beefy and no-nonsense security personnel while the fired up audience chanted the host’s name.

“The Jerry Springer Show” ran from 1991 to 2018 and transformed Springer into a huge celebrity even as his critics accused him of being one of the key figures responsible for the growth in popularity of “trash television.”

Before making the jump to television, Springer had pursued a political career, serving as mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio, for a year and making several failed attempts to get elected to the US Congress and running – as a Democrat – for the Ohio governorship.

After “The Jerry Springer Show” ended, Springer hosted another television program for the next three years, and last October he appeared as an invited star on “The Masked Singer.”

EFE

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