CNN fetes Larry King's 50th year in broadcasting

By Stone Martindale Jan 10, 2007, 16:27 GMT

Larry King is a CNN institution, the Brooklyn kid who has interviewed every conceivable celebrity, potentate and scalawag.  Larry was born to Jennie and Eddie Zeiger, Jews who had emigrated from Minsk and Pinsk, Belarus to Brooklyn, New York, where Larry was born.

Larry King hosts CNN's highest-rated program, and has been in broadcasting for 50 years, 22 of them at CNN.

"There's only one Larry King," says CNN president Jim Walton. "Larry has created this genre. Larry is our most recognizable face, and one of the most recognizable faces in this country."

In April, CNN celebrates King's 50th broadcast anniversary with a "King-Sized Week," including a two-hour pop culture special, a roast, and a special Larry King Live with Katie Couric interviewing King.

King was unaware of CNN when he agreed to host a show for the then new network. But he told journalists at television's winter press gathering Tuesday, "I knew the first night that I loved that show."

King worried that the emphasis on celebrity fodder and keeping a younger audience, means avoiding older and more interesting guests. "It bothers me because I'm 73. Technically what we're saying is I don't appeal to myself."

King is slated to interview Sen. Barack Obama to follow Bush's speech.   Obama, says King, is "the flavor of the month. … He's become a major force through the sheer energy of becoming a major force."

Hosting a show is not all King does. King, whose media reach extends way beyond TV and radio has appeared in 21 movies including the upcoming Shrek 3, and dreams of someday having a one-man stand-up show on Broadway.

The key to King's success is his eveness.  King continues to see himself as "a conduit" who asks questions and allows the audience to draw conclusions. "I don't give my own opinions. I don't get into arguments with the guests."