A TRIBUTE TO A MEDIA GIANT-LARRY KING

Larry King, a longtime CNN talk-show host whose casual style of questioning landed him high-profile interviews with world leaders, celebrities and star athletes for decades, has died. He was 87. 

Mr. King died Saturday morning at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, according  to his production company, Ora Media. No cause of death was given, but CNN, where he  worked until 2010, reported earlier this month that he had been hospitalized with Covid-19. 

Mr. King weathered numerous health problems over the years. He suffered several heart  attacks, including a major one in 1987 that required quintuple bypass surgery and led him  to create the Larry King Cardiac Foundation. Once a heavy smoker, King was diagnosed  with lung cancer in 2017, underwent an angioplasty and suffered a stroke in 2019. 

Mr. King was married eight times to seven women and had five children. 

Known for his rolled-up shirt sleeves, suspenders and pompadour hairstyle, Mr. King had a gravelly baritone that gave off an authoritative, no-nonsense air. But his reputation for  gentle questioning made his show, “Larry King Live,” the go-to destination for anyone  embroiled in controversy.