US media announced on Thursday that Jerry Springer, a longtime US talk show presenter, had passed away at the age of 79. His show became a symbol of low-brow television due to its on-air fights, profanity, and adultery expose.
According to a family spokesman who spoke to TMZ, Springer quietly passed away at his Chicago home after “a brief illness.”Springer’s show was a global phenomenon that aired for 27 years. The spokesperson did not provide any additional information. Anonymous sources told TMZ that Springer was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer a few months ago.
Jerry Springer, a mild-mannered lawyer and former politician who had previously served as Cincinnati’s mayor for a brief period in 1977, hosted The Jerry Springer Show when it made its debut in 1991. After a few years, however, the son of Jewish German immigrants made a drastic shift, focusing on scandalous and controversial content in an effort to raise ratings.
Most episodes involved guests discussing or exposing issues inside their own families, such as infidelity or other forms of wrongdoing. Although Springer would ostensibly attempt to mediate, the conflicts frequently escalated into physical altercations that required security personnel to restrain the participants. During the late ’90s, the show dominated the US daytime television ratings, even surpassing Oprah. In 2018, it was canceled.