Jerry Springer, the onetime mayor and news anchor whose namesake TV show featured a three-ring circus of dysfunctional families willing to bare all on weekday afternoons including brawls, obscenities and blurred images of nudity, died Thursday at 79.
More details about Jerry Springer's cause of death have been confirmed.
The legendary broadcast host, who helmed "The Jerry Springer Show" for 27 years, died of pancreatic cancer, his representative and friend Jean Galvin told NBC News.
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Springer passed away at his suburban Chicago home on April 27 following what his family described as a brief illness, per their statement to E! News. He was 79.
"Jerry's ability to connect with people was at the heart of his success in everything he tried whether that was politics, broadcasting or just joking with people on the street who wanted a photo or a word," Galvin said on behalf of Springer's family in a statement obtained by E! News. "He's irreplaceable and his loss hurts immensely, but memories of his intellect, heart and humor will live on."
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Following news of his death, Maury Povich paid tribute to the talk show host, describing him as a "joyful, smart and, in his own way, a unique showman."
Jerry Springer's Life in Pictures
"I am shocked and saddened by the passing of Jerry," Maury said in a statement to E! News. "He was not only a colleague but a friend. We worked for the same company for decades. I will miss him."
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Springer was also honored with a billboard outside his studio in Connecticut featuring his catchphrase, "Take care of yourself and each other."
The studio was one of the former filming locations for "The Jerry Springer Show," which ran from 1991 to 2018. The show saw Springer mediate confrontations and feuds in front of a live audience, who would chant "Jerry, Jerry, Jerry!" during tense moments.
While he once said he doesn't take his "silly" show that "seriously," he told Reuters in 2000 that he'll also defend its significance.
"When people argue about the show intellectually," he said at the time, per NBC, "then I'm prepared to answer about why I think it is OK to do it and why I think it's important that shows like that are on the air."
Springer also held hosting gigs at "Judge Jerry," "Tabloid With Jerry Springer," "Baggage" and "America's Got Talent." However, he stepped out of his hosting duties to compete in "Dancing With the Stars" in 2006 and "The Masked Singer" in 2022.
Before he became a television staple, Springer served as the mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio from 1977 to 1978 and anchored Cincinnati television station WLWT in the '80s and '90s.
Springer is survived by his 47-year-old daughter Katie Springer, who he shared with ex-wife Micki Velton.
