Larry King’s heartbroken wife, Shawn, claims the TV icon died of sepsis and was ‘ready to go’.
The legendary night host died Saturday at the age of 87 after a recent battle with Covid that left him hospitalized.
King’s seventh wife Shawn Southwick, whom he married in 1997 and was in the middle of a divorce at the time of his death, says he was unable to overcome an infection after beating the coronavirus.
Larry King’s wife, Shawn, claims the TV icon died of sepsis and was ‘ready to go’ after a recent fight with Covid (photo in 1997)
The legendary night host died Saturday at the age of 87, but his cause of death has not been officially announced
She told Entertainment Tonight: ‘It was an infection, it was sepsis. Well he was finally ready to go, I’ll tell you that.
‘You know, he never wanted to go, but his sweet little body was ordinary, it was so often hit with so many things and once we heard the word Covid our hearts just sank.
“But he beat it, you know, he beat it, but it took its toll and then the unrelated infection is finally what took him, but boy, he didn’t go down easily.”
Shawn said she was grateful to be able to talk to Larry, the father of her sons Chance, 21, and Cannon, 20, before his death via video call.
King married his seventh wife Shawn Southwick in 1997 (pictured together in 2018), but the couple were in the middle of a divorce at the time of his death
His production company, Ora Media, which he founded with ex-wife Shawn in 2012, confirmed his death in a statement on Saturday.
She added that the presenter includes his family, including his oldest child Larry Jr. from a previous marriage, wanted to share that he loved them.
Larry had filed for divorce from Shawn in August 2019, nine years after they originally split before reconciling.
But she claims they were life partners and their divorce was never finalized.
Larry had two other children, Andy and Chaia, but they tragically died last summer weeks apart at 65 and 51 years, respectively.
King’s production company announced his death in a statement on Saturday.
King is pictured with sons Cannon and Chance on Thanksgiving last November. King was reportedly removed from the ICU on Jan. 4 after being hospitalized for more than 10 days with COVID-19, according to reports
“It is with deep sadness that Ora Media announces the death of our co-founder, host and friend Larry King, who passed away this morning at the age of 87 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles,” the company said.
Ora Media offers our condolences to his surviving children Larry, Jr., Chance, Cannon and the entire King family.
No cause of death has yet been given, but it came three weeks after it was revealed that King had been hospitalized 10 days earlier with the coronavirus.
He was said to have been transferred from the ICU on January 4, but remained in the hospital for treatment.
Shawn (pictured in 2014) said she was grateful to be able to talk to Larry, the father of her sons Chance, 21, and Cannon, 20, before his death via video call
King is believed to have contracted the virus from a health worker visiting his home, a source told NBC. One of his sons, who has not been named, has also tested positive, they said.
Due to his advanced age and poor health, he was at increased risk. He had had numerous health problems in the past, including heart attack, prostate and lung cancer, stroke and type 2 diabetes.
Despite his ailing health, he continued to run the weekly talk show, Politicking with Larry King, until his death.
Larry had filed for divorce from Shawn in August 2019, nine years after they originally split before reconciling (pictured in 2010)
“For 63 years and across the platforms of radio, television and digital media, Larry’s many thousands of interviews, awards and worldwide acclaim are a testament to his unique and enduring talent as a broadcaster,” said Ora Media.
Funeral arrangements and a memorial service will be announced later in consultation with the King family, who are currently asking for their privacy.
Described as the ‘Muhammad Ali of the broadcast interview’, King held more than 50,000 high profile conversations with presidents, world leaders, Hollywood royalty and sports stars over the course of his career spanning more than six decades.
He was also known for his string of high-profile romances and botched marriages, eight to seven different women in all, including Playboy Bunny Alene Akins.
THE HIGH-PROFILE ROMANCES AND UNSUCCESSFUL MARRIAGES OF LARRY KING
Larry was known for his string of high-profile romances and botched marriages, eight to seven different women in all.
In his 1982 autobiography, Larry King described himself as a great date, but a crappy husband. Part of his problem was due to a continuing need to be seen with models and celebrated beauties.
1. FREDA MILLER (1952-1953; annulled)
King’s first walk down the aisle was with his high school sweetheart Freda Miller at the age of 18, but the union was dissolved the following year at the request of her parents.
2. ANNETTE KAYE (1961-1961)
King then married his second wife, Annette Kaye in 1961, but they split up within months.
Their relationship was brief but fruitful and resulted in a son whom King didn’t meet until 33 years later.
“I knew there was a Larry King Jr, I’d heard that, but I didn’t know it was mine. The marriage was very short and she told me if it’s a boy I’m going to call him Larry King Jr, ” the elder King explained to The New York Post in 2009. ‘ Then I never heard it again. ‘
3. ALENE AKINS (1961-1963) (1967-1972)
Larry King (right) stands next to Playboy Bunny Alene Akins
Shortly after his relationship with Kaye ended, King married Playboy Bunny Alene Akins with whom he adopted a son named Andy and had a daughter named Chaia.
King and Akins separated after a few years, to remarry again in 1967 and for a second, last time in 1972.
4. MARY ‘MICKEY’ SUTPHIN
During his four-year divorce from Akins, King found time to marry his fourth wife, Mary “Mickey” Sutphin, with whom he had a daughter named Kelly.
Kelly was later formally adopted by Sutphin’s second husband.
SHARON LEPORE (1976-1983)
Larry King and Sharon Lepore’s fifth wife
In 1976, King tied the knot with a former math teacher and production assistant named Sharon Lepore.
The union lasted for seven years, making it King’s second longest marriage to date.
Two years after the marriage, King declared bankruptcy and owed more than $ 300,000. He and Sharon divorced in 1982.
6. JULIE ALEXANDER (1989-1992)
Larry King is pictured with his sixth wife (and seventh marriage), Julie Alexander in 1990
He remained single for six years between his sixth and seventh marriages to Philadelphia-based businesswoman Julie Alexander.
In the summer of 1989, King met Julie and proposed to him on the very first date. They married three months later, separated in 1990, and formally divorced two years later. “I love to be in love,” he told Anderson Cooper in an interview in 2009.
7. SHAWN SOUTHWICK (1997-2019)
King was last married to Shawn Southwick, with whom he shares two sons, Chance and Cannon
In 1997, King married his seventh and last wife, Shawn Southwick – a singer, actress and TV host who was 26 years younger than him.
The couple married in a Los Angeles hospital room three days before King underwent heart surgery to remove a blocked blood vessel. They welcomed two sons, Chance, born in March 1999, and Cannon, born in May 2000.
On their tenth wedding anniversary in 2007, Southwick joked that she was “the only woman who had made it to two digits.” Three years later, in 2010, the couple filed for divorce after Shawn had an affair with her son’s much younger baseball coach. At the same time, rumors were circulating that King was having an affair with Shawn’s sister, which both sides vehemently denied.
The couple reconciled, but eventually disbanded after 22 years of marriage in August 2019. Southwick said she was “seen totally blind” by King’s bombshell court.