Jerry Springer: Iconic talk show host was born inside tube station during WWII
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: Jerry Springer, the influential talk show host has died at age 79. The British-born American talk show host for close to three decades was with family at his Chicago home during the last moments on Thursday, April 27. In a statement released, the family shared that Springer died ‘peacefully’ with loved ones around him. “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,” it read. “He’s irreplaceable and his loss hurts immensely, but memories of his intellect, heart, and humor will live on.” He died after a brief illness and was diagnosed with cancer.
The former mayor of Cincinnati told once that he was born on the London Underground. The station at the Highgate Tube in 1944 was then used as a shelter from the bombs during Second World War. Jerry’s family were German-Jewish refugees and lived in East Finchley during those days. They arrived in Britain in 1939, and his mother Margot was spending the night in the shelter and suddenly went into labor, giving birth to Jerry there. In an interview with BBC in 2012, he described his birth as “a little bit out of the ordinary”.
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'Obsessed’ with London buses
“During the war women who were in their ninth month would often spend the night at the subway stations because those were the bomb shelters,” he elaborated. His birth name was Gerald Norman Springer, as a child he was ‘obsessed’ with London buses and loved watching them out of the window. However, he loved Britain at age four, after his family chose to settle in the Queens area, New York, according to Yahoo News.
'Controversial guests and subject'
His legacy includes serving as the Mayor of Cincinnati and hosting ‘the Jerry Springer Show’ for 27 seasons, mostly with outrageous guests and titles. The show which ran between 1991 and 2018, hosted controversial guests over the years, including a man marrying a horse to a mother-and-daughter sex domination duo.