Larry King Once Admitted He Considered Himself Lucky to Be Working at Age 86 — Here's Why

During Larry King’s very last interview, the legendary anchor shared his gratitude for being able to work for so long. At the time of the interview, the television personality was four years shy of 90.

Larry King’s last interview was on the series "Dispatches From Quarantine.” The show was filmed in April 2020, at the height of the novel coronavirus pandemic that started showing its real impact the month before.

At the time, the television host was 86 years old and still working. During the interview, he opened up about how much gratitude he had to have a decades-long television career.

King confessed that he’d wanted to become a broadcaster when he was just five. He recalled how he’d never gone to college and found himself in Miami, where he tried to get a job by knocking on radio stations’ doors.

Luckily, the future star was hired by a small station in the city. At the time, the late host was going by his birth name, Lawrence Harvey Zeiger, and before his first broadcast in 1957, he was asked to use a different name.

The late star recalled how the station’s general manager happened to have the “Miami Herald” opened as they talked. The manager came across a King's Wholesale Liquors advert and used that.

The future anchor was asked what he thought about using the name “Larry King,” and he liked it so much he changed to that legally the following year. He recalled being nervous about going on air for the first time.

However, as if it was fate when he told his listeners his name, he never felt nervous again. He also later had a job hosting “Larry King Now” for Ora TV, and he shared how fortunate he felt to be working at his age.

King appreciated being able to do what he loved while staying with his son, Chance, amid the outbreak of COVID-19. The iconic television anchor shared his gratitude for his work, stating:

"I know most people my age, 86, are not working so I count that as a blessing. I feel very lucky."

During an interview with “People” magazine, King confessed that he planned on working until the end. He shared how proud he was of what he does and declared himself a good father while praising parenthood.

Then in May 2019, Larry King suffered a near-fatal stroke.

The late anchor shared sons Chance and Cannon with his estranged and last wife, Shawn Southwick King. He was also a father to another son, Larry King Jr., with ex-wife Annette Kaye.

Sadly, in 2020, he lost his other son Andy, 65, and his daughter Chaia, 51. He adopted Andy while married to Alene Akins, and Chaia was his biological child with her – the children died 23 days apart.

Besides his death on January 23, 2021, in April 2019, King had to get heart surgery to reopen a previous bypass from a heart attack he had in 1987. Then the following month, he suffered a near-fatal stroke.

According to his production company, Ora Media, the Brooklyn, New York-born star passed on at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles at age 87. In early January 2021, he caught COVID-19.