Larry King live: 'I'm a conduit' -- by Andrew Ryan THE GLOBE & MAIL

[applegrove]

Larry King live: 'I'm a conduit'
ANDREW RYAN

From Friday's Globe and Mail


PASADENA, CALIF. — "Interviewing the super-famous — or anyone else whose name might be in the news — has become Larry King's life mission, and he takes his job very seriously. After 22 years, Larry King Live is still CNN's top-rated hour, and it's impossible to imagine anyone other than a holiday fill-in sitting in his chair. Like a little bespectacled news owl, the 73-year-old is on the set five nights a week in his trademark suspenders and rolled-up shirt sleeves. His non-confrontational interview style ensures that the big names show up. In a single week last month, King talked to Angelina Jolie, Robert De Niro, Donald Trump and Dr. Phil.

On occasion, breaking news has worked its way into King's time slot, which has made his name synonymous with iconic events over the past two decades. In 1992, oil mogul Ross Perot chose Larry King Live to announce his presidential run. Two years later, King was in the middle of a show when news broke that police were pursuing former football great O.J. Simpson in connection to his ex-wife's killing — which left the host to provide three hours of commentary over the slow-motion Bronco chase on an L.A. freeway. “In this business,” King understates, “that's called a fill.”

Sometimes it's much less serious. In a fabled 1995 interview with Marlon Brando, the addled acting legend kissed him right on the mouth. King was shaken, but kept right on asking questions.

And the King's staying power is impressive. Entire TV news careers have come and gone during his time on CNN. After a half-century in broadcasting, Larry King knows his role: “I'm a conduit,” he says simply. “I ask the best questions I can, I listen to the answers and I try to follow up. I'm not a soapbox talk-show host ... If you look at old tapes of Edward R. Murrow, you see that he never knocked anyone. He just let each story tell itself.”

..........SNIP"

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070126.wquestions26/BNStory/Entertainment/?cid=al_gam_nletter_newsUp

[The Count]

1. To Katherine Harris: What dress will you wear at the innaugural?

[ClusterFreak]

2. Well said.

Droll, very droll.;-)

[librechik]

3. Larry King is a Tube.

you know, like the internets.

[TrogL]

4. How dare he compare himself to Edward R. Murrow

King is a sock puppet.