By Toni Jaye Singer

Iconic US TV host Larry King has died at age 87 after being hospitalised with a Covid-19 infection.

King was best known for being the host of CNN’s Larry King Live, which ran from 1985 to 2010. Well, for that, and perhaps for his owl-like glasses and ever-present suspenders.

During his successful media career, which spanned over six decades, King interviewed countless world leaders and celebrities including SA’s very own Oscar-winner Charlize Theron and the late Nelson Mandela.

In fact, King once declared that interviewing the former president in 2000 was “one of the great moments of my life”.

“I regarded [Mandela] as the greatest figure of the 20th century, the years of imprisonment, fighting for apartheid, and then to lead his country as president was unbelievable to me,” explained King in a tribute video to mark Madiba’s death in 2013.

During the video — watch it below — King recalled how during a trip to SA in the early 2000s, Mandela invited him to his Johannesburg home.

“He was wearing suspenders in my honour,” said King, “We had a wonderful lunch and a great afternoon, and you had the feeling in his presence that I was sitting with a giant.”

Originally published at TimesLIVE