Remembering Jerry Springer
24 videos • 1,698 views • by WLWT Jerry Springer, legendary talk show host and former mayor of Cincinnati, has died, according to a statement from his family. He was 79. According to a family statement, Springer died peacefully Thursday at his home in suburban Chicago after a brief illness. Springer’s namesake TV show was a ratings powerhouse, but often a cultural pariah, knows for its chair-throwing and tabloid-style drama. “The Jerry Springer Show” ran for 27 years – with more than 4,000 episodes – before coming to an end in 2018. But in Cincinnati, Springer was known equally for his political chops and his tenure on the WLWT anchor desk in the 1980s and early 1990s. Springer entered politics with an unsuccessful congressional race in 1970. He was elected to Cincinnati Council the following year, resigned in disgrace three years later in a Northern Kentucky sex scandal, then was re-elected a year later, demonstrating his popular appeal despite the fresh baggage. He served as Cincinnati's 56th mayor in 1977. His lone attempt at higher office came in 1982, when he took a run at the Democratic nomination for Ohio governor and lost. After that, he left the political candidate track and became a news anchor and commentator at WLWT in Cincinnati After serving the city of Cincinnati as a newsman, Springer bid farewell to the Queen City in 1993.