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Marjorie Gottlieb Wolfe
Syosset, New York
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Larry King, 76, is leaving CNN this "harbst" (fall/autumn). He says that declining ratings are not the reason. He wants to do some "nayes" (news) specials and spend more time with his family. His current (Mormon) wife recently tried to commit suicide ("zelbstmord") and there have been rumors of infidelity about them both.
Shown below is a Yiddish guide to the guy who almost everyone says is "frayndlekh" (kind) and considerate.
"baleydikung" (insult)
Shock jock, Howard Stern, engaged in mud
slinging: "Larry's a loser and he lost his
entire audience. Let's be honest, he didn't
retire willingly. The man had one foot in the grave. It's obvious,
he is no longer relevant." (King's publicist, Howard J.
Rubenstein, had no comment.)
Bar Mitzvah
King's Bar MItzvah took place at a synagogue in Borough Park at 55th
St. and 14th Avenue. He read his long haftorah,
and realized, standing at the pulpit that
day, that he was going to be on radio ("radyo".
"barimtrayt" (celebrity)
King has conducted thousands of interviews
on "Larry King Live," which devuted in
1985. His guests included
Paul McCartney, Marlon Brando, Yasser
Arafat, Tony Blair, Jerry Seinfeld, Ross Perot, Sarah Palin, Paris
Hilton, and every
president since Gerald Ford. (Paris Hilton
gve her first post-jail interview with King.)
"bikher" (books)
King wrote the following books:
"Tell It To The King" with Peter Occhiogrosso
"Mr. King, You're Having a Heart Attack"
"Tell Me More" with Peter Occhiogrosso
"When You're From Brooklyn Everything
Else Is Tokyo" with Marty Appel
"ergst" (worst)
"I'm the worst person to be stuck with in a
traffic jam."
Quote by Larry King
"esn" (to eat)
King said that he would "kill for matzo brei.
Kasha varnishkas he could eat forever
("oyf eybik"). With bow ties."
"farbay" (gone)
When Larry King returned--as an adult--
to his childhood area in Brooklyn, what had
changed?
"The Famous Restaurant--gone.
The Feedbox--gone.
The Davega appliance store, where he
watched the magical invention of television
enter the store windows--gone.
Maltz's Candy Store--gone.
"I thought of the Benson Theater, where
my mother would go on dish night, and
faithfully collect a full set."
Source: "When You're From Brooklyn,
Everything Else is Tokyo"
"farbaytn" (to replace)
The 3 most discussed replacements for
Larry King are Katie Couric, Piers Morgan,
and Ryan Seacrest. A wild card: Anderson
Cooper.
If Larry King could choose ("oys klaybn") his successor, he'd pick Ryan Seacrest.
"fayndlekh" (hostile)
Johnson, the former CNN chief, says King's
style of interviewing was the softball
approach. He did not ambush guests in the
style of a hostile questioner.
"fuftsik" (50th) celebration In 2007, King celebrated his 50th year in broadcasting.
"gas" (street)
The street surrounding the CNN
building was christened "Larry King Square" in his honor.
"geboyrn" (birthday)
King was born on Nov. 19, 1933, in Brooklyn,
New York.
"gyresh" (divorced man)
King has been divorced 7 times. The complete list of his wives:
Freda Miller, 1952, marriage annulled
Annette Kaye, 1960, divorced 1961
Alene Akins, 1961, divorced 1963
Mickey Sutphin, 1964, divorced 1966
Alene Akins, remarried, 1967, divorced 1971
Sharon Lepore/Sharon Dorl, 1976,
divorced 1982
Julia Alexander, 1989, divorced 1992
Shawn Southwick, 1997, filed for divorce,
2010. King and Shawn have officially
decided to stay together and dismissed the
divorce ("der get") papers filed in April of
2010.
"hun" (chicken)
"lokshn" (noodled)
Chicken Noodles News
Tom Rosenstiel said that Larry King Live
"Emerged as the most successful program
very quickly not only because of King's
reputation--he could get top people at a
time when CNN was derided as Chicken
Noodle News--but because his "was the
only program on CNN that wasn't tied to
news of the day."
"Internets" (internet)
In 2006, Larry King confessed to Roseanne
Barr that he's never used the Internet. King
expressed doubt that the Internet was a
viable political medium because "There's 80
billion things on it...The wife loves it. What
do you punch little buttons and things?"
"katsev" (butcher)
King wrote that during his childhood days
in Brooklyn, "the butcher would give you free liver if you spent
$10 with him."
"nomen" (name)
King was born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger. He
used Larry King as a stage name on the
advice that his original surname sounded
"too Jewish."
"onheyb" (beginning)
King began his broadcasting career in
Miami, Florida, in 1975, as a DJ. He also
wrote a column for the Miami Herald.
"plastik" (plastic)
In King's childhood home, everything in the
living room was covered in plastic slipcovers. The apartment was always
spotless and his mother was famous for her
highly waxed "linolynen" (linoleum).
In other words, she was a "baleboste."
quote
"I was always telling everyone, I want to be a broadcaster. They'd
say, 'What are you
crazy? What, you're going to be Arthur
Godfrey?'"
"radyo" (radio)
King was inducted into the Radio Hall of
Fame in 1989. He once said, "I worked on the United Parcel Service
truck. I sold home
delivery of milk. But always, in the back of
my mind, I wanted to get into radio."
"raykh" (wealthy)
King says, "We weren't wealthy, but not
once did I ever think of us as poor ("orem"),
nor did I ever hear my father suggest as
much. In fact, he thought we had more
wealth than he could ever have imagined,
what with owning his own business."
"tate" (father)
"muter" (mother)
Larry King's father was Edward Aaron Zeiger, who was born in Russia
in 1900.
When he came to New York, he quickly
assimilated, and became Eddie. He was a
"tummler," who owned a bar and grill
called "Eddie's." He was a gregarious,
outgoing fellow. His mother was Jeanie
Gitlitz.
"restoran" (restaurant)
King talks about a restaurant in Brooklyn
called Junior's. "It was a date place. It was
our answer to Lindy's, which was the big
place to go in the City."
telethon
Larry King's telethon raised $1.8 "milyon"
for Gulf relief.
"shleykes" (suspenders)
King is best known as the "suspender-clad"
chat show host on CNN.
"tsukerkrenk" (diabetes)
Larry King is a Type II diabetic.
"zup" and "sendvitsh" (soup and sandwich)
David Sax ("Save the Deli - In Search of
Perfect Pastrami, Crusty Rye, and the Heart
of Jewish Delicatessen") says that Larry
King eats breakfast at Nate n' Al daily.
(Nate n' Al is the gathering spot for the
upper echelons of Hollywood money and
studio heads, who are rewarded with some
of the finest chicken soup known to man...)
Larry King (and Mel Brooks) grew up
around kosher delis in New York, and
reconnected to their roots via soup and a
sandwich.
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