Jerry Springer Biography (Courtesy Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Gerald Norman "Jerry" Springer (born February 13, 1944) is a former politician-turned daytime talk show host. British-born American television personality, a former Democratic mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio, musician and host of the tabloid talk show bearing his name, The Jerry Springer Show, since its debut in 1991. He is also the current host of America's Got Talent.

Biography

Early life

Springer was born in London, England, in the East Finchley tube station. His parents, Margot (a bank clerk) and Richard Springer (a taxidermist), were Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany. In January 1949, Springer emigrated with his parents to the United States, settling in Kew Gardens, Queens, New York. He and his sister Evelyn were raised in a small four room apartment. Jerry's parents loved to talk politics, and even at a young age, he too became interested in the subject. In fact, one of his earliest memories about current events was when he was 12 and watching the Democratic convention on television where he saw, and was impressed by John F. Kennedy. (Powers and Johnson, 1998; also, Waldman, 2006) Springer attended Forest Hills High School. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Tulane University in 1965, majoring in political science. He earned a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from Northwestern University in 1968.

Springer became a political campaign aide to Robert F. Kennedy. After Kennedy's assassination, he joined the Cincinnati law firm of Frost & Jacobs, now Frost Brown Todd.

Political career

In 1970, Springer ran for Congress, but failed to unseat incumbent Republican Donald D. Clancy, garnering 45% of the vote. He had previously spearheaded the effort to lower the voting age, including testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee in support of ratification of the 26th Amendment.

Springer was elected to the Cincinnati city council in 1971. He was forced to resign in 1974 after admitting to hiring a prostitute. The episode was uncovered when a police raid on a Fort Wright, Kentucky "massage parlor" unearthed a check Jerry Springer had written for its "services". Jerry Springer came clean at a press conference. His honesty helped him win back his seat in 1975. In 1977, he was chosen to serve one year as mayor by the City Council.

In 1982, Springer sought the Democratic nomination for Governor of Ohio. TV commercials for Springer's campaign referenced his use of a check to pay a prostitute, saying that he wasn't afraid of the truth "even if it hurts". He failed to win the Democratic party's nomination, and his political career was put on hiatus. Springer considered running for the United States Senate in 2003, but backed down due to negative affiliations with The Jerry Springer Show.

Politics to journalism

Springer's broadcast career started while he was still mayor of Cincinnati with album-oriented rock radio station WEBN FM, noted for its laid-back and irreverent radio format. The station featured commentaries by Springer under the banner "The Springer Memorandum". The popularity of these commentaries helped launch his broadcasting career.

Springer was hired as a political reporter and commentator on Cincinnati's NBC affiliate, WLWT TV, which had, at the time, the lowest-rated news program. Later, having been named primary news anchor and Managing Editor, he needed a broadcast "catch phrase" in the model of other great newsmen. With the help of some others at WLWT, he created his signature line: "Take care of yourself, and each other". Within two years he was Cincinnati's number one news anchor, along with partner Norma Rashid, and for five years, the most popular one in the city, garnering 10 local Emmy Awards in the process. It was a position he held until January 1993.

Springer's commentaries on WLWT were frequently satirized by Cincinnati radio personality Gary Burbank.

The Jerry Springer Show

The Jerry Springer Show debuted on 20 September 1991. It was developed by WLWT-TV to replace its Phil Donahue Show. It started as a politically oriented talk show, a longer version of Springer's commentaries. Guests included Oliver North and Jesse Jackson, and topics included homelessness and gun politics.

In the spring of 1994, Springer and his new producer Richard Dominick revamped the format of the show in order to garner higher ratings. The show became more and more successful as it became more and more lowbrow, with an emphasis on infidelity. Its guests are typically lower class, minimally-educated, blue collar people confronted on a television stage with a spouse or family member's adultery, homosexuality, prostitution, transvestism, hate group membership, or other controversial situations. These confrontations often lead to profane shouting, chair-throwing, fist-fights, and removal of clothing. Female guests also receive 'Jerry Beads' (basically just another name for a set of beads) when exposing their breasts to the crowd . The show picked up and garnered huge ratings and lots of attention. By 1998, it was even beating Oprah Winfrey in many cities, and was reaching more than 6.7 million viewers. (Waxman, 1998)

On 10 July 2002, the sons of guest Nancy Campbell-Panitz - who was murdered by her ex-husband after they appeared on a May 2000 episode with his girlfriend - filed suit in Sarasota County against Springer, his producers and his distributor, claiming he created "a mood that led to murder."

In 2005, a UK version was shown on ITV1 entitled The Springer Show. It beat its talkshow rival Trisha Goddard five to one in the ratings, despite being a subdued version of the US show.

The VH-1 "celebreality" series The Springer Hustle, taking a look at how The Jerry Springer Show is produced, premiered in April 2007.

TV shows

In addition to hosting America's Got Talent on NBC in the U.S., Springer has hosted several shows in the UK. In 2001, he hosted Greed on the UK's Channel 5. In 2007, he began hosting Nothing But the Truth, the UK version of Nada más que la verdad. He also had a latenight talk show several years ago.

Other appearances

• Springer portrayed his own talk show host character in the 1998 movie Ringmaster, though his character's name is Jerry Farrelly. Ringmaster offers a behind-the-scenes look at would-be guests who apply to a Springer-like show. The same year, Springer also released an unrelated autobiography named Ringmaster; he claimed "I can only think of one title a year."

• He appeared on an episode of Married... With Children as the masculine feminist, in which he was for women getting a bowling night at a bowling alley. Al Bundy and his friends tie Springer to a chair and take over his show with a stripper who jumps up and down for the crowds delight.

• He also appeared on an episode of Roseanne during its ninth season.

• On 25 October 1998, Springer appeared in a Halloween episode of The Simpsons entitled Starship Poopers. Springer provided the voice himself.

• Jerry Springer made a cameo appearance in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me as himself during an episode of his show featuring Dr. Evil and his estranged son Scott Evil.

• Jerry Springer appeared on two episodes of Whose Line is it Anyway?

• On 23 January 2004, Springer was featured in an episode of This American Life titled "Leaving the Fold".

• From January 17 2005 to December 5 2006, Springer hosted Springer on the Radio, a liberal talk show on Cincinnati's WCKY-AM. He did the show from the Clear Channel studios in Kenwood on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays, and in Chicago (where his television show tapes) on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

• On 16 April 2006, Springer hosted the opening show for the third series of The Friday Night Project for Channel 4 in the UK as the Guest Host.

• In the autumn of 2006, Springer was a contestant on the third season of Dancing with the Stars, with his professional dance partner, Kym Johnson. He wanted to appear on the show so he could learn the waltz for the wedding of his daughter, Katie. Springer and Johnson were eliminated in the seventh week of competition.

• In March 2007, NBC announced that Springer would be the host of America's Got Talent in its second season, replacing Regis Philbin.

• In July 2007, Springer made a guest appearance on Days of our Lives as "Pete," a high roller in Las Vegas who helped Nick Fallon win $50,000.

• On 20 October 2007, Jerry made a cameo appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien as a "random" audience member.

• Springer is also now the host of Nothing but the Truth, a UK based quiz show where contestants win money by simply telling the truth. Previously he hosted the UK version of Greed.

• Jerry has previously taken his show format to the UK under the Jerry Springer title.

• Jerry has co presented UK daytime programme This Morning on ITV.

• Jerry was a guest on UK daytime programme The Paul O'Grady Show on Channel 4 on 12 November 2007.

• In 2007 he appeared on episode #1301 of MADtv as himself.

• Jerry appeared on several episodes of George Lopez as Benny Lopez's ex-boyfriend Wayne.

Scandals

In May 1998, a photo story about Springer having sex with porn star Kendra Jade in Chicago's Executive Plaza Hotel appeared in the tabloids News of the World and The Globe. Kendra's stepmother Kelly Jade was also present in the hotel room, and Kendra, Kelly, and porn director John Bowen appeared on Springer's show the next day, discussing a 350 person gang bang. Another tabloid reported that Springer's wife Micki left him because of this event. But they subsequently seem to have reconciled, because a January 2006 cover story in Sarasota Magazine, "If You Knew Jerry." by Kay Kipling, stated that Jerry and Micki are together, living part-time in a home in Sarasota FL. Kelly Jade later alleged that the sexual escapade had been set up by Bowen who would receive several hundred thousand dollars from Springer to suppress a video tape of the romp shot with a hidden camera. Bowen denied the payoff and said that he had signed an agreement with Springer's lawyers not to discuss the matter.

2008 Northwestern University School of Law Commencement Speech

On May 16, 2008, Springer addressed the 2008 class of Northwestern University School of Law at their commencement ceremony. His selection as graduation speaker was widely protested by the student body in the month leading up to graduation. Rising to the occasion, Springer directly addressed the controversy in his speech, weaving it into his theme. In a speech repeatedly punctuated by applause, Springer admitted his frailties as an "imperfect being." In making perhaps the most powerful point of the speech, Springer told the graduates that he was not superior to the guests on his show, and reminded them that they were not superior to the clients they would soon represent either. He admonished the graduates to give thanks to God, in recognition of the fact that their tremendous accomplishments were nevertheless largely due to the random chance of being born in good health and into good families, in one of the richest countries in the world. Springer pointed out that the smartest, most accomplished human being in America - if instead born in Darfur - would have likely been dead by the age of five. In closing, Springer recounted his family's escape from Nazi Germany and arrival in New York City aboard the Queen Mary. As his mother had told him at the sight of the Statute of Liberty, Springer closed by telling the Class of 2008: "One day, everything." The student body - which weeks earlier had been calling for the law school to rescind Springer's invitation to speak - gave him a standing ovation.

Inspired by Springer

• A musical by Stewart Lee and Richard Thomas, Jerry Springer - The Opera, is based on his show. It first became popular at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2002 . It has since played at the Royal National Theatre in London, and London's West End before embarking on a UK Tour in 2006. It has recently opened in Chicago, in the US, and will be moving onto regional productions throughout the United States. It was also screened on BBC 2 Television, causing some controversy. The televised version is now available on DVD.
  David Pannick QC appeared and won the case for BBC director-general Mark Thompson. The High Court ruled that the cult musical Jerry Springer - The Opera is not blasphemous, and Pannick stated that: "Judge Tubbs had acted within her powers and made the only decision she could lawfully have made; while religious beliefs were integral to British society, so is freedom of expression, especially to matters of social and moral importance."
• Springer and his television program are mentioned in Mark Knopfler's song Devil Baby.
• Inspired the song "Jerry Springer" by "Weird Al" Yankovic
• Inspired the song "Mr Springer" by Fascinating Aida

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