Jerry Springer passed away at the age of 79 in his home in suburban Chicago on April 27 due to his battle with pancreatic cancer, per People. After Jerry’s family had initially revealed that he died following a “brief illness,” the outlet confirmed his cause of death was the cancer. It is unclear, however, when the former mayor of Cincinnati, who was best known for his chaotic and controversial talk show The Jerry Springer Show, had been diagnosed with it.
Family friend and religious leader, Rabbi Sandford Kopnick, told People that Jerry’s illness came on very quickly. “He hasn’t been sick for a long time,” Kopnick said of Jerry, whom he visited just last week. “He died of cancer, and he didn’t have cancer for very long.”
Jerry’s family confirmed his death with a heartfelt message on April 27. “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,” Jene Galvin, a lifelong friend and spokesman for the family said in a statement. “He’s irreplaceable and his loss hurts immensely, but memories of his intellect, heart and humor will live on.”
In addition to hosting his eponymous show for 27 seasons, where he once interviewed a man “married” to a horse and in 1998, at the height of its popularity, beat The Oprah Winfrey Show in ratings, Jerry was the 56th mayor of Cincinnati from 1977 to 1978. The Jewish immigrant, born in London, certainly made a name for himself in both politics and journalism after moving to America at the age of 5 and graduating from Tulane with a B.A. in political science and from Northwestern with a journalism degree, per Variety.
More recently, Jerry spoke EXCLUSIVELY with HollywoodLife about his turn on the Masked Singer where he sang his heart out as the Beetle. “I’m at a point in life where I’m lucky I don’t need to make a living anymore, so this was a fun thing to do. Why not?” Jerry told us in October 2022. “I figured my grandson would be laughing at me as well as my daughter and my wife and everybody else when they saw me.”
Just a month before, Jerry joined the HollywoodLife Podcast to chat about his latest venture as a small claims court judge on Judge Jerry and revealed if he’s ever regretted one of his rulings. “I do admit, there are times that I give a decision, because I have to… I can’t say, ‘I don’t know, go to someone else!’” Jerry explained. “The dilemma for me is, there is the moral answer and there is the legal answer, and they’re not always the same. Because laws are not always passed based on moral reasons, but I realize I have to fit within the law.”
In the same sit-down interview with HollywoodLife, Jerry also slammed the Conservative judges on the Supreme Court, calling them ‘secretive’, ‘gutless’ and ’disrespectful’ of women, after they refused to stay or overturn Texas’s 6-week abortion ban.
RIP to the late entertainer whose Twitter bio reads: “Talk show host, ringmaster of civilization’s end.”