Larry King Revealed the Origin of His Name on Late Night with Conan O'Brien in 1995

Back in 1995, two years into the run of Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Larry King revealed how and why he got his professional name. 

"I was born with the name Lawrence Harvey Zeiger," King said, before explaining that he was called into his general manager's office before his first day as a broadcaster. "He says 'this is your big day, you're starting radio.' I was 22 years old. Yes! He says 'what name are you gonna use?' I say 'Larry Zeiger.' He says 'you can't use that.' I said 'why?' He said 'well, it's ethnic, people won't know how to spell it, they won't remember it.' I said 'wha-wha-wha-wha...' I'm nervous enough. And he had the Miami Herald open. It was an ad for King's Wholesale Liquors. That's what the ad was. King's Wholesale Liquors, 1925 Alton Road. He says 'why don't you take Larry King?'"

Conan O'Brien was incredulous. "So, you're named after a sale on booze?" 

"I am named after a fast liquor sale," King agreed. 

Andy Richter chimed in from the couch. "You could have been Larry Wholesale Liquors." 

King smiled, and then added fuel to the fire of his pretend feud with Richter. "You know I love you, Andy, and you know why your career hasn't bounced forward. Because you would have named the guy Larry Wholesale Liquor, and that would have been funny for a week. There never would've been a Larry Wholesale Liquor Live 10th anniversary."

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.