If I had a chance to do it all over again . . .
I’d do just what I’m going to do now.
Be a stand-up comic.
There’s no more exhilarating feeling than walking out on a stage and making people laugh. It’s orgasmic. I’ve always dreamed of doing a one-man show on Broadway. Who knows? Maybe in the future it’ll be one more thing that I can’t believe ever happened to me. For now, I’m taking a comedy show on the road. A guy asked me if I’m going to wear suspenders. What did he expect? A cape and a Phantom of the Opera mask? I’m not going to reinvent myself. I’m just going to show the world another side of me.
Thứ Năm, 8 tháng 1, 2015
The Finale
The columnist Art Buchwald once introduced me at an awards ceremony like this: “The great thing about Larry King is that he doesn’t know he’s Larry King.” I always thought a good title for my autobiography would be What Am I Doing Here? because I can’t believe it all happened to me. The final night of my show was no exception.
Larry King Live was going down as the longest-running show with the same host at the same time on the same network in the history of television. But there was no time to sit around and get nostalgic about it. Family and friends had come in from all over the country for the party after the show. Plus, I was dealing with ten- and eleven-year-old boys.
Larry King Live was going down as the longest-running show with the same host at the same time on the same network in the history of television. But there was no time to sit around and get nostalgic about it. Family and friends had come in from all over the country for the party after the show. Plus, I was dealing with ten- and eleven-year-old boys.
The Replacement
When Bill Clinton was in office we taped a show in which we toured the White House around Christmas. Our timing was great because a holiday party was scheduled for later in the day.
I returned for the festivities with Shawn, the broadcaster Tim Russert, and the sportscaster Jim Gray and his wife, Frann. The guards out in front of the White House checked Shawn in. They checked in Tim. They checked in Jim and Frann. Then I stepped up.
I returned for the festivities with Shawn, the broadcaster Tim Russert, and the sportscaster Jim Gray and his wife, Frann. The guards out in front of the White House checked Shawn in. They checked in Tim. They checked in Jim and Frann. Then I stepped up.
Getting and Giving
Not many people realize that the final show of Larry King Live was not really the final show. We taped a show that aired two days after the finale. It was among a series of favorites that filled out the last two weeks of the year and was called “The War on Cancer.”
The principal guest was a man who’d been told he had only twelve months to live . . . eighteen years ago—Mike Milken. The former junk-bond king is now known as the man who changed medicine. As the show unfolded, we ran clips showed Lance Armstrong, Colin Powell, Sheryl Crow, Olivia Newton-John, Joe Torre, General Norman Schwarzkopf, and others discussing the disease. Nobody knew it, but there easily could have been a clip of me among that group. You would have heard me describe what it was like to be laughing over breakfast with my buddies when a call came from my urologist, asking to see me face-to- face. That’s how I found out that I had prostate cancer. It was the start of 2010—yet another layer to the wildest year of my life.
The principal guest was a man who’d been told he had only twelve months to live . . . eighteen years ago—Mike Milken. The former junk-bond king is now known as the man who changed medicine. As the show unfolded, we ran clips showed Lance Armstrong, Colin Powell, Sheryl Crow, Olivia Newton-John, Joe Torre, General Norman Schwarzkopf, and others discussing the disease. Nobody knew it, but there easily could have been a clip of me among that group. You would have heard me describe what it was like to be laughing over breakfast with my buddies when a call came from my urologist, asking to see me face-to- face. That’s how I found out that I had prostate cancer. It was the start of 2010—yet another layer to the wildest year of my life.
The Middle East
“ I don’t want to say Larry King has a lot of experience in the Middle East,” a guy once said, needling me at a roast, “but his first interview was with Moses.”
Not exactly the kind of compliment you look forward to in life. But the guy had a point. I’ve seen a lot. As a kid I dropped pennies into a little blue cardboard box to support Israel. As a young radio broadcaster in Miami I got into arguments when I opened the microphone to the Young Egyptian League. Jews picketed the station. When it came to Israel, they didn’t believe an Egyptian point of view had a right to exist.
Not exactly the kind of compliment you look forward to in life. But the guy had a point. I’ve seen a lot. As a kid I dropped pennies into a little blue cardboard box to support Israel. As a young radio broadcaster in Miami I got into arguments when I opened the microphone to the Young Egyptian League. Jews picketed the station. When it came to Israel, they didn’t believe an Egyptian point of view had a right to exist.
Politics
A little tip to my replacement. If you’re ever going to interview Barbra Streisand—do it live. At least then you’ll know when you’re going to start.
I learned my lesson years ago when we set up a taped interview with Barbra at the Plaza in New York. She tried on many different dresses, changing over and over for hours, checking how each one looked not only in the mirror, but on camera.
I learned my lesson years ago when we set up a taped interview with Barbra at the Plaza in New York. She tried on many different dresses, changing over and over for hours, checking how each one looked not only in the mirror, but on camera.
Broadcasting
Very often people are disappointed when they get to meet their heroes. Their heroes just can’t live up to their expectations. I’m lucky—that’s never happened to me. Mine have always treated me in a way that made me proud. I went to visit one of them at the beginning of my final year on the show. He was ninety-one at the time and in a wheelchair. But whenever I see Mike Wallace, I picture myself as a young man in Brooklyn racing home to watch his show. The show was called Night Beat.
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