Jerry Springer, host of the The Jerry Springer Show, has died at age 79. Springer died peacefully on Thursday at his home in Chicago after a brief illness, his publicists told news outlets.
“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,” Jene Galvin, a family friend and executive producer of Springer’s podcast, said in a statement.
Born in 1944, Springer began his unconventional career as a politician, unsuccessfully running for Congress in 1970 and then getting elected to Cincinnati’s City Council in 1971. In 1977, he served one term as the mayor of Cincinnati. During his political career, Springer also served as a political reporter and commentator, and political campaign adviser to Robert F. Kennedy.
However, Springer rose to national prominence not via politics, but via television, as host of the talk show, The Jerry Springer Show. Premiering in 1991, The Jerry Springer Show quickly became a lowbrow cultural phenomenon for its salacious topics and in-studio guest brawls. The live studio audience would often break out in spontaneous chants of “Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!” and Springer would end each segment with his signature sign-off: “Take care of yourself, and each other.” The Jerry Springer Show ran for nearly 30 years, finally coming off air in 2018.
In recent years, Springer had been hosting a folk music show on a local radio station in Cincinnati, according to TMZ. His last television appearance came last year, when he performed as “Beetle” on NBC’s The Masked Singer. “He’s irreplaceable and his loss hurts immensely, but memories of his intellect, heart, and humor will live on,” said Galvin.
He is reportedly survived by his daughter, Katie Springer, and his older sister, Evelyn.