Jerry Springer, the father of trash tv and longtime television host has died at the age of 79. His representatives confirmed later that he passed away from pancreatic cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute, pancreatic cancer causes 8% of cancer deaths each year and has a relative survival rate of five years. Jerry Springer’s close friends and family say they were not aware of his diagnosis. Steve Wilko who was his security guard on the Jerry Springer Show for t 13 episodes before Springer made him the host of a more serious show, “The Steve Wilko Show” said that Jerry Springer did not tell him about the diagnosis, but he believes the last time they spoke Springer was saying his goodbyes. Wilko along with other tv host legends like Rickie Lake, Piers Morgan, and Megan Kelly have all paid tribute to the late talk show host.
By. Nisie
When you hear Jerry Springer’s name the first thing that comes to mind might be wildly inappropriate cake fights and extreme confessions that left you draw dropped but he was a lot more than that. In 1977, Springer was chosen by the Cincinnati City Council to serve for one year as mayor. He was known as a wild card politician who always stayed true to his democratic beliefs. For example, he stole a public bus and drove it around the block in protest of the city taking over the local bus service in 1973. And spent the night in a prison to understand what prisoners’ lives were like. Unfortunately, despite his passion for politics he was no longer taken seriously as a candidate for any political position because of The Jerry Springer Show. In 2003 he officially announced that he wouldn’t run for US Senate and said at the time, “As long as I’m doing that show, my message, no matter how sincere and no matter how heartfelt, does not get through to the people I need to reach,”. But the next year he was named Ohio Democrat of the Year for personally donating nearly $250,000 to party causes and for speaking at about 50 county and local Democratic gatherings across the state.
Despite the loss of his political career, he still had his groundbreaking daytime talk show The Jerry Springer Show and would go on to produce other shows like Judge Jerry and even a movie called The Ringmaster. He became a permanent fixture in American Pop Culture and was featured in other movies and shows like Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, The Simpsons, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, The X- Files and so many more notable shows and movies. He was even parodied by Weird Al” Yankovic with his hilarious song “Jerry Springer”.
Despite the often-ridiculous storylines on The Jerry Springer Show, he was one of the first talk show hosts open to disusing controversial topics that everyone else wanted to avoid. He talked about racism, sexuality, abuse, and everything in between. But after all the chaos and vulgarity he would sign off to his viewers, “Take care of yourselves, and others”.
An innovator, community leader, and legendary television talk show host host has passed away, but he will live on in television history.