Jerry Springer, Sarasota resident and famed daytime talk show host, dies at 79

Jerry Springer, one of daytime television's most famous personalities and a longtime Sarasota resident, has died. He was 79.

The death of the "Jerry Springer" talk show host was reported by the Herald-Tribune's sister publication USA TODAY and confirmed by his family. The statement obtained by USA TODAY said Springer, who served as mayor of Cincinnati before launching his talk show career, died peacefully Thursday at his home in suburban Chicago.

Springer lived in Sarasota for about two decades after purchasing a home on Bird Key in 2002. He could be seen at the many restaurants he favored on nearby St. Armands Circle and Main Street; or attending a show at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, where in 2013 he hosted “The Price is Right Live!”

Who lives here? Most famous celebrities with homes in Sarasota and Bradenton area

Sarasota County’s 100th anniversary The most important events from 1921 to 2021

“We love the area but we are pretty private; this is very rare I do anything public in Sarasota,” Springer told this reporter by phone in 2013 from his show’s studio in Stamford, Conn., shortly before taping another episode.Sarasota "is the one place I want to have a private life and try to keep pretty much to ourselves. This is family time to me, a place where I can be a regular person and not be involved with show business. If this wasn’t ‘The Price is Right,’ I wouldn’t be doing it.”

Following his controversial tabloid show airing for 27 seasons and 4,000 shows, from 1991-2018, Springer hosted "Judge Jerry" from 2019 to 2022. His numerous other television credits throughout the years include hosting "America's Got Talent" and he appeared as a contestant on "Dancing with the Stars. He also starred in the 1998 film "Ringmaster" and made a cameo in the 1999 hit movie "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me."

Jerry Springer was a columnist for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune

Springer served as mayor of Cincinnati in 1977 and '78 and wrote a political guest column for the Herald-Tribune that last ran in July 2022. Springer's bio for this publication noted that he was "a longtime nationally syndicated television talk show host who resides in Sarasota. Springer held a law degree from Northwestern University. He was the host of 'The Jerry Springer Podcast.'"

Springer's final column ran with the headline "Get the popcorn ready: The DeSantis-Trump battle will be fun viewing."

"Only a fool would try to predict the eventual outcome of the 2024 presidential election – assuming, of course, that we have a free election," Springer wrote. "After all, a number of Republican states are proposing to have their own legislatures pick a slate of presidential electors, rather than the voters."

USA TODAY noted that while his famous "Jerry Springer" show had a reputation for “trash TV,” Springer often "expressed empathy and compassion" for his guests, whose outlandish antics made the show a hit. The Associated Press noted that at its peak, the show was a ratings powerhouse and a U.S. cultural pariah, synonymous with lurid drama. Known for chair-throwing and bleep-filled arguments, the daytime talk show was a favorite American guilty pleasure, at one point topping Oprah Winfrey’s show.

“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,” said Jene Galvin, a family spokesperson and friend of Springer's since 1970, in a statement. “He’s irreplaceable and his loss hurts immensely, but memories of his intellect, heart and humor will live on.”

On his Twitter profile, Springer jokingly declared himself as “Talk show host, ringmaster of civilization’s end.” He also often had told people, tongue in cheek, that his wish for them was “may you never be on my show.”

In a “Too Hot For TV” video released as his daily show neared 7 million viewers in the late 1990s, Springer offered a defense against disgust.

“Look, television does not and must not create values, it’s merely a picture of all that’s out there — the good, the bad, the ugly,” Springer said, adding: “Believe this: The politicians and companies that seek to control what each of us may watch are a far greater danger to America and our treasured freedom than any of our guests ever were or could be.”

He also contended that the people on his show volunteered to be subjected to whatever ridicule or humiliation awaited them.

Springer was born Feb. 13, 1944, in a London underground railway station being used as a bomb shelter. His parents, Richard and Margot, were German Jews who fled to England during the Holocaust, in which other relatives were killed in Nazi gas chambers. They arrived in the United States when their son was 5 and settled in the Queens borough of New York City.

He studied political science at Tulane University and got a law degree from Northwestern University. He was active in politics much of his adult life, mulling a run for governor of Ohio as recently as 2017.

He entered the arena as an aide in Robert F. Kennedy’s ill-fated 1968 presidential campaign. Springer, working for a Cincinnati law firm, ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1970 before being elected to the city council in 1971.

In 1974 — in what The Cincinnati Enquirer reported as “an abrupt move that shook Cincinnati’s political community” — Springer resigned. He cited “very personal family considerations,” but what he didn’t mention was a vice probe involving prostitution. In a subsequent admission that could have been the basis for one of his future shows, Springer said he had paid prostitutes with personal checks.

Then 30, he had married Micki Velton the previous year. The couple had a daughter, Katie, and divorced in 1994.

Springer quickly bounced back politically, winning a council seat in 1975 and serving as mayor in 1977. He later became a local television politics reporter with popular evening commentaries.

Springer began his talk show in 1991 with more of a traditional format, but after he left WLWT in 1993, it got a sleazy makeover.

TV Guide ranked it No. 1 on a list of “Worst Shows in the History of Television,” but it was ratings gold.

Wade Tatangelo is Ticket Editor for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, and Florida-Georgia Regional Dining and Entertainment Editor for the USA TODAY Network. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. He can be reached by email at [email protected]. Support local journalism by subscribing.??????

This report includes material from the Associated Press.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Jerry Springer, Sarasota resident and talk show host, dies at 79