Jerry Springer, American Talk Show Legend, Dies Aged 79

Jerry Springer pictured in 2019

US talk show host Jerry Springer has died at the age of 79.

Jerry’s agent confirmed the news of his death to the PA news agency on Thursday.

A family spokesperson told TMZ that the broadcaster had been diagnosed with cancer months earlier, and died at his home in Chicago.

“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,” a representative said.

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

Before becoming a world famous television personality, Jerry served as the Mayor of Cincinnati between 1977 and 1978.

However, it’s his chaotic and divisive self-titled talk show, which ran for 27 years between 1991 and 2018, that most people will remember him for.

Jerry Springer on the set of his self-titled talk show in 1994

While Jerry’s show initially focussed on more political issues and current affairs when it launched, it pivoted to more controversial subject matters and featured guests with more extreme personal issues as the years went on, making the show notorious the world over.

His show became so famous – and polarising – that it even inspired an opera, infamous due its heavy use of profanity, in which the host was portrayed by David Soul.

Jerry also fronted America’s Got Talent for a number of years, and returned to the talk show format in 2019, when he began hosting a new show, Judge Jerry, which ran for three seasons.

Here in the UK, his on-screen credits have included a British version of his talk show, as well as guest hosting This Morning and covering the 2016 presidential election for Good Morning Britain.

Jerry in the Good Morning Britain studio in 2018

Jerry also competed on Dancing With The Stars in 2006, impersonated Elvis Presley on a celebrity edition of Stars In Their Eyes and appeared on the BBC genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are?.

Last year, he made one of his final TV appearances when he competed on the US version of The Masked Singer, in which he competed as “Beetle”.