Jerry Springer

Somebody once said I had a face for radio and a voice for newspapers. 

-Jerry Springer

Jerry Springer

February 13, 1944 – April 27, 2023

Gerald Norman Springer was born on February 13, 1944, in the London Underground station of Highgate while the station was in use as a shelter from German bombing during World War II, and was raised in Queens, New York City. He attended Northwestern University School of Law, qualified as a lawyer, and first became actively involved in politics working for the campaign of Robert Kennedy in 1968.

Springer was elected to the Cincinnati City Council in 1971. On April 29, 1974, Springer resigned from the council after admitting to soliciting a prostitute. He ran for the office in 1975, winning by a landslide. He was reelected in 1977 and 1979. Springer was considered a "gonzo" type politician with stunts such as staying a night in jail and commandeering a bus after the city took over bus service.

In 1977, Springer was chosen by the Cincinnati City Council to serve for one year as mayor. The one-year term was due to a political arrangement at the time that required the Democrats to split the mayoral term with a local third party group, the Charter Committee, with whom the Democrats governed in an electoral alliance. (Cincinnati has since changed to direct election of its mayor.) In the city council and as mayor, Springer supported changing the local election system so that council members would be elected by districts (thus better representing neighborhood interests) instead of "9X" at-large system, but his efforts (as well as those of everyone else, to date, who has supported such a change) did not meet with success.

Springer considered running for the United States Senate in 2000 and 2004, but he backed down due to negative associations with the Jerry Springer talk show. He also considered running in the 2018 Ohio gubernatorial election, but decided against it due to his age. Even after his departure from politics, he was the largest contributor to the Hamilton County Democratic Party from 1993 to 2018.

Springer's broadcast career started while he was an undergraduate at Tulane University, on WTUL New Orleans FM, a progressive format college radio station. It continued while he was still mayor of Cincinnati, with album-oriented rock radio station WEBN-FM, which was 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 launched his broadcasting career.

Springer was hired as a political reporter and commentator on Cincinnati's NBC affiliate, WLWT, which had, at the time, the lowest-rated news program. Later, having been named primary news anchor and managing editor, he needed a broadcast catchphrase 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. For five years, he was the most popular news anchor in the city,^[13] garnering ten local Emmy Awards for his nightly commentaries, which were frequently satirized by Cincinnati radio personality Gary Burbank. Those commentaries would eventually become his "Final Thought" on Jerry Springer. Springer would remain commentator at WLWT until January 1993. He resided in Loveland, Ohio, during this time.

In 1997, the Chicago-based NBC-owned station WMAQ-TV hired Springer to serve as a news commentator. However, this proved to be unpopular among viewers, as it resulted in the resignation of long-time news anchors Ron Magers and Carol Marin due to Springer's talk show. After performing only two commentaries, Springer resigned as commentator.

Jerry Springer debuted on September 30, 1991. It started as a politically oriented talk show, a longer version of Springer's commentaries. Guests on the show included Oliver North and Jesse Jackson, and topics included homelessness and gun politics.

In early 1994, Springer and his new producer, Richard Dominick, revamped the show's format in order to garner higher ratings. The show became more successful as it became targeted toward tabloidish sensationalism. Guests were everyday people confronted on a television stage by a spouse or family member's adultery, homosexuality, transsexuality, prostitution, transvestism, hate group membership, or other controversial situations. These confrontations were often promoted by scripted shouting or violence on stage. The show received substantial ratings and much attention. By 1998, it was beating The Oprah Winfrey Show in many cities, and was reaching more than 6.7 million viewers.

On July 10, 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". Ultimately, the estate of Campbell-Panitz dropped all monetary claims against Jerry Springer and the show agreed to waive its claims for malicious prosecution against the personal representative of the estate of Campbell-Panitz and his counsel.

In 2005, a UK version of the show aired on Britain's ITV network titled The Springer Show. A subdued and more tongue-in-cheek version of the U.S. show, it beat its talk-show rival Trisha Goddard five to one in the ratings.

The VH1 "celebreality" series The Springer Hustle, which took a look at how Jerry Springer is produced, premiered in April 2007.

In April 2015, Springer debuted The Jerry Springer Podcast on his website, JerrySpringer.com. He later partnered with Westwood One to stream the podcast. It was also broadcast in the UK on Talkradio, on Sundays at midnight. Springer was the second American talk show host to travel to Cuba, after Conan O'Brien, for The Jerry Springer Podcast. The podcast ended in 2022.

On July 26, 2018, Jerry Springer aired its final episode in syndication after 27 seasons before it began airing reruns on The CW on September 10, 2018.

Springer debuted a new courtroom show, Judge Jerry, on September 9, 2019. The show gave him the opportunity to host a more "grown-up" program and to use his law school education. On March 9, 2022, the series was canceled after three seasons.

Springer hosted America's Got Talent on NBC for its second and third seasons, replacing Regis Philbin, before leaving to concentrate on other projects.

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, Ohio on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays, and in Chicago (where his television show taped at the time) on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Air America Radio syndicated the program for most of the show's run.

Good Night Jerry

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Take Care of Yourselves

and Each Other