FRIARS CLUB
After Retirement His Next Gig
To Be ‘Larry King Still Alive’
STORY BY NINA BOXER
PHOTOS BY TIM BOXER
N the beginning no one in New
York radio wanted to take a chance with Brooklyn-born
Lawrence Harvey Zeiger. So he changed his name to
Larry King and got a break as a disc jockey at a small
station outside Miami.
Was a name like Zeiger too Jewish for
South Florida? Didn’t he know his market?
No matter, for Larry King went on to
reign as the nation’s most distinguished talk show host on
Larry King Live for the past 25 years on CNN. He
retired in December and is touring with his newly published
book, Truth Be Told, and regaling audiences with Larry
King: Standup.
"I’m annoyed Larry’s doing standup,"
Freddie Roman objected. "We don’t need more competition."
"Larry, if you’re any less in demand
now," Colin Quinn remarked, "your face would be on Greek
currency."
After 54 years of broadcasting, Larry
was feted at a Friars testimonial dinner jammed with 600 fawning
guests in November at the New York Sheraton which Freddie dubbed
"a night for retirees." Among the 600 fawning guests on the dais
and in the ballroom were Mathew Broderick, Al Roker, Wolf
Blitzer, Jonathan Tisch, Mark Simone,
Besides Larry King, 78, there was
emcee Katie Couric, 53, who was let go this year after
five years as anchor of CBS Evening News, and Regis Philbin,
80, who retired in November after 28 years with his syndicated
Live with Regis & Kelly.
Colin Quinn exclaimed, "This isn’t
a dais – it’s a death panel!"
Katie Couric said Larry stayed on CNN
so long they had to rename the show Larry King: Still Alive.
Several of the boldfacers on the dais
claimed they had dated Larry at some time or other, which amused
his seventh wife, Shawn Southwick-King, 52, married to
Larry for 14 years.
Wanda Sykes claimed that Larry had
one wife for every heart attack. "The only people Larry did not
interview were the wives before he married them."
Kathy Griffin greeted Donald
Trump: "Do you want to see my birth certificate or my pap
smear?"
The Donald presented Larry with a
crystal statuette of a friar created by Daum Crystal of France.
"He’s a special guy. There’ll never be another like him."
Larry strained to grasp his Excellence
in Entertainment Award with both hands. He kvetched, "This gift
is a hernia!"
