Celebrating 50 years in broadcasting

Presidents, stars and the man on the street: Larry King has asked them all questions during his five decades in broadcasting.

The Larry King Cardiac Foundation

Learn more about theLarry King Cardiac Foundation,which provides funding for cardiac procedures for individuals in need.

Celebrating his 49th year in broadcasting in 2006, CNN's Larry King is the host of the network'sLarry King Live, the first worldwide phone-in television talk show and the network's highest-rated program. The Emmy Award-winning King and author of multiple books has been dubbed "the most remarkable talk-show host on TV ever" by TV Guide and "master of the mike" by TIME Magazine.

Larry King Live debuted on CNN in June 1985 with its now famous mix of celebrity interviews, political debates and topical discussions. Telecast each weeknight at 9 p.m. (ET), the program also features phone calls from viewers around the world. CNN's Larry King Weekend airs every Saturday and Sunday at 9 p.m. and offers in-depth profiles and career retrospectives of news and entertainment figures. In June 1994, King created the first daily radio/TV talk show by simulcasting CNN's Larry King Live on Mutual/Westwood One radio stations nationwide.

King has been asking famous people questions throughout his career, having accumulated more than 40,000 interviews, including every U.S. president since the Ford administration. King's famed NAFTA debate between Al Gore and Ross Perot in 1993 broke cable industry ratings records (outside of the first night of Gulf War coverage) and obtained the highest rating in CNN history--reaching more than 16.3 million viewers. In 1995, King showcased his extraordinary skill in international diplomacy when he hosted a historic hour on the Middle East Peace process with PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, King Hussein of Jordan and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. King's award-winning jailhouse interviews include: convicted murderers Sante Kimes and her son, Kenneth; Karla Faye Tucker, the first woman to be executed in Texas; and Mike Tyson.

In 2006, King has had several exclusive interviews with James Frey, Wynonna Judd, Howard Stern and Kathryn McDonald, wife of convicted murderer Jeffrey McDonald. In 2005, King had more than 60 exclusive prime-time interviews; including Jennifer Aniston, Kobe Bryant, former presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein on the day Deep Throat revealed himself, and former New York Times journalist Judy Miller. His 70 exclusives in 2004 included in-depth interviews with President George W. Bush, first lady Laura Bush, Sen. John Kerry, Teresa Heinz Kerry, Sen. John Edwards and Elizabeth Edwards. There was also a one-of-a-kind live interview with three generations of the Bush family at the Republican National Convention.

During the war with Iraq in 2003, King hosted live shows for 29 consecutive days hosting Generals Richard Myers and Hugh Shelton, Queen Noor of Jordan, captured Newsday journalist Matthew McCallester, families of POWs and ambassadors from Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Syria and Turkey. Other exclusive guests appearing on Larry King Live in 2003 include former President Bill Clinton, former British Prime Minister John Major, Elizabeth Taylor, Sean Penn, the "Central Park Jogger" Trisha Meili and Paul Burrell, butler to the late Princess to Diana. In 2002, King had more than 60 exclusive interviews. Those included the first television interview with then-Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott after Lott's remarks that caused him to resign his position; former President Jimmy Carter's first interview after being named the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize winner; interviews with the family of the D.C.-area snipers; actor Harry Belafonte regarding his controversial comments about Secretary of State Colin Powell; a sit down with Bill Clinton regarding his Sept. 11 scholarship fund; Erin Runnion, mother of murdered 5-year-old Samantha Runnion; multiple exclusive breaking news interviews the night Robert Blake was arrested; a live hour with Mariane Pearl, widow of slain journalist Danny Pearl; and former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling's first interview. After 2001's Sept. 11 attacks, King interviewed more than 700 guests, including more than 35 world leaders and dignitaries. In 2000, King's 37 consecutive days of political coverage during the election recount in Florida featured 348 guests, including George W. and Laura Bush and Al and Tipper Gore with both respective vice presidential candidates giving King their first interviews after being selected as running mates.

For more than four decades, King has consistently made headlines night after night with such high-profile guests as Tony Blair, Marlon Brando, Barbara Bush, Johnny Carson, Bette Davis, Sammy Davis Jr., Jackie Gleason, Mikhail Gorbachev, Billy Graham, Audrey Hepburn, Bob Hope, L.Ron Hubbard, Michael Jordan, Bobby Kennedy, John F. Kennedy, Jr., Dr. Martin Luther King, Monica Lewinsky, Madonna, Paul McCartney, Al Pacino, Prince, Nancy Reagan, Eleanor Roosevelt, Pete Rose, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand,

Margaret Thatcher, Oprah Winfrey and Malcolm X.

Described as the "Muhammad Ali of the broadcast interview," King has been inducted into five of the nation's leading broadcasting halls of fame and is the recipient of the prestigious Allen H. Neuharth Award for Excellence in Journalism. Both his radio and television shows have won the George Foster Peabody Award for Excellence in Broadcasting. King also has won a News and Documentary Emmy Award for Outstanding Interview/Interviewer and 10 CableACE awards for Best Interviewer and for best Talk Show Series.

In 2006, King won the prestigious Gracie Allen Award by American Women in Radio and Television for his interview with Melanie Bloom, widow of NBC's David Bloom. Larry King Live was also awarded the Genesis Award from the Humane Society of the United States in 2006 for Outstanding Talk Show. In 2003, King was an Emmy nominee in the Outstanding Interview category for his interview with child poet Mattie Stapenek

In 2003, King won a Gracie Allen Award for his interview with former first lady of Texas Nellie Connally. In 2002, King was nominated for an Emmy Award for his interview with Sir Paul McCartney in addition to receiving two New York Festival Awards for his Sept. 11 coverage and again for his interview with McCartney. King was also selected to be an Olympic Torch bearer for the 2002 Winter Games. King received the Unity Award for excellence in public affairs, reporting on minority issues from Lincoln University of Missouri and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention's Public Service Award for his programming on depression in 2001.

King was also crowned Bacchus XXXIII at the 2001 Mardi Gras in New Orleans and was presented the keys to the city. In 2000, King received Harvard University's Mahoney Award for increasing public awareness about neuroscience and the March of Dimes' Franklin Delano Roosevelt Award for his efforts on behalf of community volunteerism. In celebration of 40th anniversary in the broadcasting industry, Hollywood honored King in 1997 with a star on the Walk of Fame for his life's work. In 1996, the American Academy of Achievement honored him with the Golden Plate Award for his life's work in the broadcasting industry. In 1994, he received the Scopus Award from the American Friends of Hebrew University and in 1993, the National Association of Radio Talk Show Hosts named King "Talk Show Host of the Year." He has received honorary degrees from George Washington University, the New England Institute of Technology, Brooklyn College and the Pratt Institute and was a recent commencement speaker at Columbia University Medical School.

Entertainment Tonight called him the "master interviewer," and King has made cameo appearances in 21 movies including Ghostbusters, Primary Colors, Contact, The Kid, The Contender, America's Sweethearts and John Q. King has appeared in such television series as The Practice, Arliss, Murphy Brown, Frasier and Murder One.

Before broadcasting to an international audience, King was a popular media personality in Miami where he hosted interview programs for WIOD-Radio and WTVJ-TV. From 1978-1994, King's voice was heard by millions of radio listeners on Mutual Radio's The Larry King Show.

In addition to his broadcast credits, King founded the Larry King Cardiac Foundation, which has raised millions of dollars and provided life-saving cardiac procedures for nearly 60 needy children and adults. King also recently established a $1 million journalism scholarship at George Washington University's School of Media and Affairs for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

King is married to singer/actress Shawn Southwick-King and is the father of Andy, Larry Jr., Chaia, Chance and Cannon.