Jerry Springer
Gerald Norman Springer (February 13, 1944 – April 27, 2023) was an English-American broadcaster, journalist, actor, lawyer, and politician.[1] He was best known for hosting the controversial tabloid talk show Jerry Springer from 1991 to 2018. He was noted as a pioneer in the emergence of "trash TV"; his eponymous show was a "commercial smash and certifiable cultural phenomenon" in the 1990s.[2]
For other uses, see Jerry Springer (disambiguation).
Jerry Springer
April 27, 2023 (aged 79)
Memorial Park Cemetery, Skokie, Illinois, US
- British
- American
- Broadcaster
- journalist
- actor
- lawyer
- politician
1968–2022
- Jerry Springer (1991–2018)
- Judge Jerry (2019–2022)
1
Born in London during World War II to German Jewish refugees escaping the Holocaust, Springer was raised in Queens, New York City. He attended Northwestern University School of Law, qualified as a lawyer, and first became actively involved in politics working for the campaign of Robert Kennedy in 1968. A Cincinnati City Council member, Springer served as the 56th Mayor of Cincinnati from 1977 to 1978. He then worked as a local news anchor in Cincinnati where he won ten Regional Emmy Awards for commentary.
From 2005 to 2006, Springer hosted Springer on the Radio, a liberal talk show on Cincinnati's WCKY-AM. He was the host of the television talent show America's Got Talent from 2007 to 2008, and of the television courtroom show Judge Jerry from 2019 to 2022. He also hosted The Jerry Springer Podcast from 2015 to 2022. One year after he retired from his television career, Springer died of pancreatic cancer on April 27, 2023 at the age of 79.[3][4]
Early life[edit]
Gerald Norman Springer was born on February 13, 1944,[5] in the London Underground's Highgate station while the station was in use as a shelter from German bombing during World War II.[6][7] Springer grew up on Chandos Road, East Finchley. His parents, Margot
(née Kallmann; a bank clerk) and Richard Springer (owner of a shoe shop), were Jewish German refugees who escaped from Landsberg an der Warthe, Prussia (now Gorzów Wielkopolski, Poland).[8][9][10]
His maternal grandmother, Marie Kallmann, was killed in the gas vans of Chełmno extermination camp in German-occupied Poland. His paternal grandmother, Selma Springer (née Elkeles), died at the hospital in the Theresienstadt concentration camp in German-occupied Czechoslovakia. Selma Springer's brother, Hermann Elkeles, was a renowned Berlin doctor who also died at Theresienstadt concentration camp.[11]
In January 1949, when Springer was four, his family emigrated to the United States, settling in the Kew Gardens neighborhood of Queens, a borough of New York City. He attended nearby Forest Hills High School. One of his earliest memories about current events was when he was 12 and watching the 1956 Democratic National Convention on television where he saw and was impressed by then-Senator John F. Kennedy.[12][13]
Springer earned a Bachelor of Arts from Tulane University in 1965, majoring in political science.[14] He earned a Juris Doctor from Northwestern University in 1968.[9][15]
Career[edit]
Kennedy campaign and early law career[edit]
Springer worked as a political campaign adviser to Democrat Robert F. Kennedy in 1968.[15] Following Kennedy's assassination, he began practicing law at the Cincinnati law firm of Frost & Jacobs, now Frost Brown Todd.[16][17]
Springer was a partner in the law firm of Grinker, Sudman & Springer from 1973 to 1985,[18] alongside former NBA agent Ronnie Grinker (d. 1997) and current Butler County, Ohio, magistrate Harry Sudman.[19]
Political career[edit]
In 1970, Springer ran for the United States House of Representatives. He failed to unseat incumbent Republican Donald D. Clancy, but took 45% of the vote in a traditionally Republican district. He had previously spearheaded the effort to lower the voting age, including testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee in support of ratification of the 26th Amendment. Three days after announcing his candidacy, Springer, who was also an Army reservist at the time, was called to active duty and stationed at Fort Knox. He resumed his campaign after he was discharged.[20]
Springer was elected to the Cincinnati City Council in 1971.[15] On April 29, 1974, Springer resigned from the council after admitting to soliciting a prostitute.[15][21] He ran for the office in 1975, winning by a landslide.[22][23] He was reelected in 1977 and 1979.[24] Springer was considered a "gonzo" type politician with stunts such as staying a night in jail and commandeering a bus after the city took over bus service.[25] In 1977, Springer was chosen by the Cincinnati City Council to serve for one year as mayor.[15]
In 1981, Springer stepped down from his seat on the City Council to focus on running for governor of Ohio,[26] seeking the Democratic nomination in the 1982 Ohio gubernatorial election. Television commercials for Springer's campaign referenced his use of a check to pay a prostitute, saying that he was not afraid of the truth "even if it hurts."[27][28] He failed to win the Democratic party's nomination—finishing a distant third behind former lieutenant governor Richard F. Celeste and Ohio Attorney General William J. Brown—and his political career was put on hold.[29] In the late 1980s, he played a major role in saving the historic Cincinnati Union Terminal.[29]
Springer considered running for the United States Senate in 2000[30] and 2004,[31] but he backed down due to negative associations with the Jerry Springer talk show.[32] He also considered running in the 2018 Ohio gubernatorial election, but decided against it due to his age.[33] Even after his departure from politics, he was the largest contributor to the Hamilton County Democratic Party from 1993 to 2018.[25]
Broadcast career[edit]
Springer was hired as a political reporter and commentator on Cincinnati's NBC affiliate, WLWT, which had, at the time, the lowest-rated news program. Later, having been named primary news anchor and managing editor, he needed a broadcast catchphrase in the model of other great newsmen. With the help of some others at WLWT, he created his signature line: "Take care of yourself, and each other." Within two years he was Cincinnati's number-one news anchor, along with partner Norma Rashid. For five years, he was the most popular news anchor in the city,[15] garnering ten local Emmy Awards for his nightly commentaries, which were frequently satirized by Cincinnati radio personality Gary Burbank. Those commentaries would eventually become his "Final Thought" on Jerry Springer. Springer would remain commentator at WLWT until January 1993. He resided in Loveland, Ohio, during this time.[34]
In 1997, the Chicago-based NBC-owned station WMAQ-TV hired Springer to serve as a news commentator. However, this proved to be unpopular among viewers, as it resulted in the resignation of long-time news anchors Ron Magers and Carol Marin due to Springer's talk show. After performing only two commentaries, Springer resigned as commentator.[35][36]
Personal life[edit]
Springer married Micki Velton in 1973; though it is sometimes reported they divorced in 1994, a spokesperson said they were still married at the time of his death. The couple had a daughter, Katie, in 1976.[103] She was born without nasal passages, for which she required immediate surgery after birth, and is blind, as well as deaf in one ear. In a 2006 interview, Katie stated that her parents were always supportive despite her health complications and that they did not raise her differently.[104] In 2006, Springer donated $230,000 to Park School in Chicago, where his daughter worked as an assistant teacher, to help construct a high-tech facility called "Katie's Corner" for students with disabilities.[103]
Death and legacy[edit]
Springer died at his home in Evanston, Illinois, on April 27, 2023, at the age of 79.[105][106][107][108] A family spokesperson said that he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer a few months prior to his death.[109] Steve Wilkos, former Jerry Springer show bodyguard, paid tribute to his colleague, saying "Other than my father, Jerry was the most influential man in my life. Everything I have today I owe to Jerry. He was the smartest, most generous, kindest person I've ever known. My wife and I are devastated. We will miss him terribly." He was buried at Memorial Park Cemetery, Skokie, Illinois, U.S.[110]
During and after his career, Springer and his program quickly became a cultural phenomenon, with commentators describing the show as central to the emergence of trash TV.[2] After his death, The Guardian said that Springer "changed US television for better and worse".[111] Despite his controversial career, he had a large fanbase from millennials, as his show gained popularity throughout their childhoods, leading the Los Angeles Times to dub him the "millennials' babysitter".[112]
At the time of his death, Springer was credited for creating a new television format which encouraged conflict among its guests. USA Today cited him as an inspiration for other tabloid talk shows such as Maury and The Steve Wilkos Show, with the latter program being hosted by a former security guard and guest host for Springer's show. The Associated Press said that Springer's show was "a US cultural pariah, synonymous with lurid drama".
In an obituary for Springer, The Irish Times said that Springer had changed the "television medium" through "The Jerry Springer Formula", which was "straightforward, despicable and ingenious".[113] The BBC noted that Springer had televised the "fringes of [American] society to a global audience" and called him an "era-defining TV host".[51]
