Legendary TV host Jerry Springer is dead, aged 79

• Jerry Springer died Thursday at his home, his family said in a statement shared with Insider.
• The legendary and controversial TV host was 79 years old.

The legendary TV host Jerry Springer has died, according to a statement shared with Insider. He was 79 years old.

According to the statement, Springer died peacefully in his home in suburban Chicago on Thursday. A representative for Springer told Insider his cause of death was pancreatic cancer.

"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 spokesman for Springer's family said, according to the statement.

"He's irreplaceable and his loss hurts immensely, but memories of his intellect, heart and humor will live on."

His family asked that "in lieu of flowers you consider following his spirit and make a donation or commit to an act of kindness to someone in need or a worthy advocacy organization."

The statement continued: "As he always said, 'Take care of yourself, and each other.'"

Jerry Springer's eponymous talk show aired almost 5,000 episodes between 1991 and 2018, when it was canceled.

Prior to becoming a daytime-television staple, Springer was the mayor of Cincinnati between 1977 and 1978.

Springer — whose birth name is Gerald Norman Springer — was born on February 13, 1944, in a London Underground station while his mother was taking refuge during a German air raid.

His Jewish parents had escaped from Nazi Germany just three days before the outbreak of World War II, and after spending his first four years in England, the family immigrated to New York City.

In 1965, he earned a degree in political science from Tulane University, and three years later he graduated from the Northwestern University School of Law.

By 26, he had worked on the presidential campaign of Robert F. Kennedy, settled in Cincinnati, Ohio, and made his own bid for Congress. While he failed to unseat the incumbent Republican candidate, a year later he was elected to the city council.

According to Slate, he was a popular but outspoken left-leaning leader and pushed through proposals to ban the drafting of Cincinnati residents for the Vietnam War — Springer himself had been called to active duty in 1970 but had been stationed at Fort Knox before being discharged.

Springer then set his sights on running for Ohio governor and proved with his television spots that he was not afraid of using sensationalist tactics to get audiences to pay attention to him.

For instance, in one he leaned into the fact that he had been fired from his role at Cincinnati city council for soliciting a prostitute. At the time, he told voters: ''This commercial should be proof. I'm not afraid, even of the truth, and even if it hurts.''

After his failed campaign, Springer then made the pivot to television. He was hired as a political commentator for Cincinnati's NBC affiliate, WLWT, which at the time, was the lowest-rated news program. Within two years he was one of the city's most popular anchors.

His talk show, which followed, was originally politically oriented and mimicked the format of "The Phil Donahue Show" until poor ratings convinced the team to change direction. They chose to go tabloid.

Some of the most memorable and outrageous episodes include a man who was living in marital bliss with his horse, a woman who had sex with 251 men in 10 hours to beat the world's sex record, and a mother and daughter who teamed up to be dominatrixes together.

Over the years, there were plenty of paternity tests, adultery accusations, and altercations between the guests, who were more than happy to send chairs flying in the name of entertainment.

It ran for three decades and 27 seasons before being taken off air in 2018. The short-lived courtroom show "Judge Jerry" followed a year later. In October 2022, Springer made one of his final television appearances on season eight of "The Masked Singer" in which he was unmasked as Beetle.

Speaking on David Yontef's "Behind the Velvet Rope" podcast in November, Springer reflected on the way in which he irreversibly changed the face of reality television.

Asked if he considers himself the "granddad of reality TV," Springer replied: "No, I just apologize. I'm so sorry. What have I done? I've ruined the culture."