C-SPAN Unearths Rare Footage of Larry King's Radio Show From 1982

Television broadcasting legend Larry King died Saturday at the age of 87 after testing positive for COVID-19.

King was the host of Larry King Live on CNN for 25 years, and Larry King Now on Ora TV for 8 years after that. Prior to (and concurrent with) his television work, though, King hosted a nationally syndicated call-in radio talk show simply called The Larry King Show. C-SPAN has unearthed some rare footage from an episode in 1982, so we can get a sense of what it was about King that gained him nationwide fame in the first place. The full episode is here.

On this particular episode, he interviews longtime White House correspondent Sarah McClendon, whom he describes as "irrepressible, incredible, if we did not have her we would have to invent her." His genuine curiosity about people and his affable interview style usually got the best out of his subjects.

Andy Hunsaker has a head full of sitcom gags and nerd-genre lore, and can be followed @AndyHunsaker if you're into that sort of thing.