Larry King's wives: Who was the legend married to? A look at scandalous love life, seven wives and eight marriages
Legendary TV personality and former CNN host Larry King died at 87 after being hospitalized in Los Angeles. “With profound sadness, Ora Media announces the death of our co-founder, host, and friend Larry King, who passed away this morning at age 87 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles,” King’s official Twitter announced Saturday, January 23, 2021, morning.
He has faced a series of medical issues over the years, including several heart attacks and quintuple bypass surgery in 1987.
The renowned radio host was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2017 but had a successful surgery. Then in 2019, he underwent a procedure to address angina. The Emmy award-winning personality also runs the Larry King Cardiac Foundation, a non-profit aimed at helping those without health insurance afford medical care. King’s three sons have not been able to meet him due to the strict Covid protocols, as reported by CNN.
Larry King started his career as a local Florida journalist and radio interviewer in the 1950’s and 1960’s and rose to fame in 1978 as host of ‘The Larry King Show,’ an all-night nationwide call-in radio program heard on the Mutual Broadcasting System. He hosted the nightly interview television program ‘Larry King Live’ on CNN from 1985 to 2010. He retired in 2010 after filming more than 6,000 episodes of the show.
In 2012, he became the host of ‘Larry King Now,’ a thrice-weekly show on Ora TV, an on-demand digital network he co-founded with Mexican telecommunications mogul Carlos Slim.
Apart from his much-celebrated and much-discussed career, Larry King has also made headlines for his eight marriages. Here’s how the list looks like:
Freda Miller
King was only 19 years old when walked down the aisle for the very first time. He got married to his high school sweetheart Freda Miller in 1952. However, the love between the two soon disappeared as the union ended after a year at the behest of their parents, who reportedly had the marriage annulled.
Annette Kaye
The acclaimed TV celebrity then got hitched to Annette Kaye in 1961 but his second marriage lasted less than a year. His first son, Larry Jr, was born from the same. King did not meet Larry Jr until the latter was in his thirties.
Alene Akins
Larry King again got lucky in love and married for the third time in 1961. He walked down the aisle with former Playboy bunny Alene Akins. Interestingly, he got married to her twice, first in 1963 and then in 1971, as reported by Distractify. The two had a daughter named Chaia and he also adopted Akins’ son when they got married for the first time. Their daughter was born when they married for the second time.
Mary Francis “Mickey” Sutphin
Cupid struck again when Larry King fell in love with Mickey Sutphin. Their wedlock lasted from 1964 to 1967, as published by Distractify. The duo had a daughter named Kelly from their marriage. After parting ways, he again got married to Alene Akins, as mentioned earlier.
Sharon Lepore
After Alene Akins, Larry King married Sharon Lepore. They were married from 1976 to 1983. Sharon Lepore is a former Math teacher and has also been a production assistant early in her career. It also marked his second-longest marriage to date.
Julie Alexander
Julie Alexander became Larry King’s sixth wife. King met businesswoman Julie Alexander in 1989 and proposed to her on the couple's first date in August of that year. The two got married in Washington, D.C. King and Alexander parted their ways in 1990 and got divorced in 1992. After the divorce, King also got engaged to actress Deanna Lund in 1995, after five weeks of dating, but they never got married.
Shawn King
Larry King then again got lucky in love for the seventh time. The celebrated TV host got married to actress Shawn in September 1997. Shawn has also worked as a producer. They have two kids from their marriage, Chance, born in 1999 and Cannon, born in 2000. Their marriage lasted for 22 years and in 2019, Larry King filed for divorce in Los Angeles Superior Court citing irreconcilable differences.