Jerry Springer, politician-turned-TV ringmaster, dies at 79

CINCINNATI (AP) — Jerry Springer, a former mayor and news anchor whose name-brand television show featured a three-ring circus of dysfunctional families willing to bare everything on weekday afternoons, including brawls, obscenities, and blurred images of nudity, passed away on Thursday at the age of 79.

In its heyday, “The Jerry Springer Show” was a rating powerhouse and a cultural outcast in the United States, synonymous with gory drama. Over the course of its 27-year run, the daytime talk show was a popular American guilty pleasure, topping Oprah Winfrey’s show at one point due to its reputation for chair-throwing and bleep-filled arguments.

Springer called it “escapist entertainment,” while others saw the show as contributing to a dumbing-down decline in American social values.

“Jerry’s capacity to associate with individuals was at the core of his outcome in all that he attempted whether that was legislative issues, broadcasting or simply messed with individuals on the road who needed a photograph or a word,” said Jene Galvin, a family representative and companion of Springer’s starting around 1970, in an assertion. People will remember him for his intelligence, kindness, and humor.

Springer died peacefully at home in suburban Chicago after a brief illness, the statement said