Jerry Springer, the onetime mayor and news anchor whose namesake TV show featured a three-ring circus of dysfunctional families willing to bare all on weekday afternoons including brawls, obscenities and blurred images of nudity, died Thursday at 79.

At its peak, B次元官网网址淭he Jerry Springer ShowB次元官网网址� was a ratings powerhouse and a U.S. cultural pariah, synonymous with lurid drama. Known for chair-throwing and bleep-filled arguments, the daytime talk show was a favorite American guilty pleasure over its 27-year run, at one point topping Oprah WinfreyB次元官网网址檚 show.

Springer called it B次元官网网址渆scapist entertainment,B次元官网网址� while others saw the show as contributing to a dumbing-down decline in American social values.

B次元官网网址淛erryB次元官网网址檚 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,B次元官网网址� said Jene Galvin, a family spokesperson and friend of SpringerB次元官网网址檚 since 1970, in a statement. B次元官网网址淗eB次元官网网址檚 irreplaceable and his loss hurts immensely, but memories of his intellect, heart and humor will live on.B次元官网网址�

Springer died peacefully at home in suburban Chicago after a brief illness, the statement said

On his Twitter profile, Springer jokingly declared himself as B次元官网网址淭alk show host, ringmaster of civilizationB次元官网网址檚 end.B次元官网网址� He also often had told people, tongue in cheek, that his wish for them was B次元官网网址渕ay you never be on my show.B次元官网网址�

After more than 4,000 episodes, the show ended in 2018, never straying from its core salaciousness: Some of its last episodes had such titles as B次元官网网址淪tripper Sex Turned Me Straight,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淪top PimpinB次元官网网址� My Twin Sister,B次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淗ooking Up With My Therapist.B次元官网网址�

In a B次元官网网址淭oo Hot For TVB次元官网网址� video released as his daily show neared 7 million viewers in the late 1990s, Springer offered a defense against disgust.

B次元官网网址淟ook, television does not and must not create values, itB次元官网网址檚 merely a picture of all thatB次元官网网址檚 out there B次元官网网址� the good, the bad, the ugly,B次元官网网址� Springer said, adding: B次元官网网址淏elieve this: The politicians and companies that seek to control what each of us may watch are a far greater danger to America and our treasured freedom than any of our guests ever were or could be.B次元官网网址�

He also contended that the people on his show volunteered to be subjected to whatever ridicule or humiliation awaited them.

Gerald Norman Springer was born Feb. 13, 1944, in a London underground railway station being used as a bomb shelter. His parents, Richard and Margot, were German Jews who fled to England during the Holocaust, in which other relatives were killed in Nazi gas chambers. They arrived in the United States when their son was 5 and settled in the Queens borough of New York City, where Springer got his first Yankees baseball gear on his way to becoming a lifelong fan.

He studied political science at Tulane University and got a law degree from Northwestern University. He was active in politics much of his adult life, mulling a run for governor of Ohio as recently as 2017.

He entered the arena as an aide in Robert F. KennedyB次元官网网址檚 ill-fated 1968 presidential campaign. Springer, working for a Cincinnati law firm, ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1970 before being elected to city council in 1971.

In 1974 B次元官网网址� in what The Cincinnati Enquirer reported as B次元官网网址渁n abrupt move that shook CincinnatiB次元官网网址檚 political communityB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� Springer resigned. He cited B次元官网网址渧ery personal family considerations,B次元官网网址� but what he didnB次元官网网址檛 mention was a vice probe involving prostitution. In a subsequent admission that could have been the basis for one of his future shows, Springer said he had paid prostitutes with personal checks.

Then 30, he had married Micki Velton the previous year. The couple had a daughter, Katie, and divorced in 1994.

Springer quickly bounced back politically, winning a council seat in 1975 and serving as mayor in 1977. He later became a local television politics reporter with popular evening commentaries. He and co-anchor Norma Rashid eventually helped build NBC affiliate WLWT-TVB次元官网网址檚 broadcast into the Cincinnati marketB次元官网网址檚 top-rated news show.

Springer began his talk show in 1991 with more of a traditional format, but after he left WLWT in 1993, it got a sleazy makeover.

TV Guide ranked it No. 1 on a list of B次元官网网址淲orst Shows in the History of Television,B次元官网网址� but it was ratings gold. It made Springer a celebrity who would go on to host a liberal radio talk show and B次元官网网址淎mericaB次元官网网址檚 Got Talent,B次元官网网址� star in a movie called B次元官网网址淩ingmaster,B次元官网网址� and compete on B次元官网网址淒ancing With the Stars.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淲ith all the joking I do with the show, IB次元官网网址檓 fully aware and thank God every day that my life has taken this incredible turn because of this silly show,B次元官网网址� Springer told Cincinnati Enquirer media reporter John Kiesewetter in 2011.

Well in advance of Donald TrumpB次元官网网址檚 political rise from reality TV stardom, Springer mulled a Senate run in 2003 that he surmised could draw on B次元官网网址渘ontraditional voters,B次元官网网址� people B次元官网网址渨ho believe most politics are bull.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淚 connect with a whole bunch of people who probably connect more to me right now than to a traditional politician,B次元官网网址� Springer told the AP at the time. He opposed the war on Iraq and favored expanding public healthcare, but ultimately did not run.

Springer also spoke often of the country he came to age 5 as B次元官网网址渁 beacon of light for the rest of world.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淚 have no other motivation but to say I love this country,B次元官网网址� Springer said to a Democratic gathering in 2003.

Springer hosted a nationally syndicated B次元官网网址淛udge JerryB次元官网网址� show in 2019 and continued to speak out on whatever was on his mind in a podcast, but his power to shock had dimmed in the new era of reality television and combative cable TV talk shows.

B次元官网网址淗e was lapped not only by other programs but by real life,B次元官网网址� David Bianculli, a television historian and professor at Monmouth University, said in 2018.

Despite the limits SpringerB次元官网网址檚 show put on his political aspirations, he embraced its legacy. In a 2003 fund-raising infomercial ahead of a possible U.S. Senate run the following year, Springer referenced a quote by then National Review commentator Jonah Goldberg, who warned of new people brought to the polls by Springer, including B次元官网网址渟lack-jawed yokels, hicks, weirdos, pervs and whatnots.B次元官网网址�

In the informercial, Springer referred to the quote and talked about wanting to reach out to B次元官网网址渞egular folks B次元官网网址� who werenB次元官网网址檛 born with a silver spoon in your mouth.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址擠an Sewell, The Associated Press

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