Source: Speak Up
English level: Pre-intermediate
Standardard: American accent
Who is the greatest television interviewer in the world? Oprah Winfrey, David Letterman, Jay Leno? No, says British journalist Piers Morgan, it is CNN’s legendary Larry King. But Morgan has a special interest here: he’s replacing Larry King on CNN. The final edition of Larry King Live aired on December 16th.
CELEBRITY GUESTS
King has interviewed over 40.000 people in his career. He’s interviewed President Clinton, Bush and Obama, and world leaders Mikhail Gorbachev and Yasser Arafat. His star guests include Tom Cruise, Madonna, Stephen Hawking, Bill Gates and many, many more. What’s king’s secret? He represents an American tradition. He looks like a 1940s newsman. He wears suspenders and a tie. Suspenders is (are) an American term: the British call them braces. He rolls his shirt sleeves up. And he welcomes his guests with a deep, friendly voice.
MIAMI
King has lived the American dream. He was born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger in 1933 into a working-class family in Brooklyn, New York. After his father’s death in 1943, the family was very poor. King left school at 18. He worked as a postman and a milkman. But he had a dream: he wanted to work in radio. It was impossible in New York, so he moved to Miami in 1957. He got a job as a cleaner at WAHR, local radio station. Several months later, he had his onw music show.
LOCAL STAR
He made his fist radio interviews in a local restaurant, Pumpernik’s. his guests included the restaurant’s waiters and people off the street. The pop star Bobby Darin walked in and gave him an exclusive interview. King quickly became famous. He made his television debut in 1960 with WPST-TV’s Miami Underground.
CRISIS
In December 1971 King’s world collapsed. Accused of grand larceny by a business partner, he lost his radio and television shows. He lost everything. Three months later, he was exonerated, but it was too late. It took several years, but King recovered. By 1978 he had his own national radio show from midnight to 5.30 am. Finally, he started the Larry King Live Show on CNN in June 1985. That program has finished, but King will continue to host special shows for CNN. His private life is colourful: he has been married eight times.
LARRY ZEIGER’S NEW NAME no audio available
It’s 1957. King is about to make his first broadcast for the Miami station. His boss Marshall Simmonds asks, “Ar you ready?” he says, “I1m ready.” Simmonds asks, “What name are using? You can’t use Zeiger. No one will remember it. You need another name.” King doesn’t have any ideas. A newspaper is open on the table and there is an advert for King’s Wholesale Liquors. Simmonds points at the paper. “How about King?” “It sounds good to me, “replies King. His boss laughs, “OK, Larry King. Good luck.
LARRY KING QUOTES
On success:
The secret of my success is brevity. Sincerity. And, above all, curiosity.
On retirement:
Retire? I’m not retiring. I’m just leaving the show. I could never retire.
On life?
If you do something expect consequences.
On dreams:
When I was five years old I lay in bed, looked at the radio, and I wanted to be on the radio. I don’t know why.
On friends:
I have lifelong friends. My oldest friend, Herbie, has been a friend I was 9.
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