Fun Facts You Didn't Know About Talk Show Host Jerry Springer!

Talk show host Jerry Springer passed away on Thursday, April 27, at the age of 79, after a battle with cancer.

The former politician was best known for “The Jerry Springer Show," which ran for 27 seasons, and “Judge Jerry," which ran for only 3 seasons.

However, fans may not know that he was once the former Mayor of Cincinnati, that he once ran for Congress, or that he was born in the London Underground station of Highgate while the station was being used as a shelter during World War II.

Jerry Springer was actually born Gerald Norman Springer on February 13, 1944. He was born in the Highgate station of the London Underground when it was used as a shelter as German forces bombed the city during World War II.

After the war ended, he grew up on Chandos Road in East Finchley. His mother, Margot Kallman, was a bank clerk and his father, Richard Springer, was the owner of a shoe spot. They both were German-Jewish refugees who escaped from Prussia during the war, which would now be considered modern-day Poland.

His grandmother, Marie Kallman, was left behind and died in the gas vans at the Chelmno extermination camp in German-occupied Poland. His other grandmother, Selma Springer, passed away in the hospital at the Theresienstadt concentration camp in German-occupied Czechoslovakia.

When he was only four, his parents relocated to the Kew Gardens neighborhood of Queens in New York City. One of his earliest memories was watching the 1958 Democratic National Convention on TV when he was 12 and was greatly impressed by John F. Kennedy.

After attending the local Forest Hills High School, Jerry earned a Bachelor of Arts from Tulane University in 1965. He majored in political science. In 1968, he earned a Juris Doctor degree from Northwestern University.

Jerry served as a political campaign advisor to Robert F. Kennedy, but following his assassination, he started practicing law at the Cincinnati law firm of Forest & Jacobs, which is now known as Frost Brown Todd. Jerry was a partner in the law firm Grinker, Sudman & Springer from 1973 to 1985, but during that time, his political ambitions began to take route.

Jerry ran for Congress in 1970 but failed to unseat incumbent Republican Donald D. Clancy. Still, he manages to take approximately 45% of the vote. Only three days after he had announced his candidacy, Jerry was called into active duty and stationed at Fort Knox, as he had also been in the Army Reserve at the time.

In 1971, he was elected to the Cincinnati City Council but resigned three years later after he confessed to soliciting a prostitute. Although some declared that his career in politics was over, Jerry’s honesty and transparency regarding the incident won him back his seat in a landslide vote in 1975.

In 1982, Jerry sought the nomination to become the governor of Ohio. He finished a distant third, and although “The Jerry Springer Show” began in 1991, he didn’t give up on his political aspirations entirely. He considered running for the U.S. Senate in 2000 and 2004, but decided against it due to potential negative influences from “The Jerry Springer Show.”

The iconic show first began on September 30, 1991, and was originally designed to mimic “The Phil Donahue Show.” Both shows were produced by Multimedia Entertainment. The show began by talking about serious issues, like homelessness and gun control, but the format was revamped in 1994 to get higher ratings.

“The Jerry Springer Show” became known for people confronting their family members or friends about topics like homosexuality, adultery, prostitution, or other controversial memberships. By 1998, the show was so popular that it reached more than 6.7 million viewers and was even more popular than “The Oprah Winfrey Show” in some cities.

On July 26, 2018, the show aired its final episode after 27 seasons. The CW began airing reruns of the show on September 10, 2018, but a year later, Jerry was back on-air in “Judge Jerry,” which debuted on September 9, 2019.

Unfortunately, the show only lasted three seasons.

That being said, he also made several TV and film appearances, like in 1999’s “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.” He appeared in an episode of “Married… with Children” and the 1998 film “Ringmaster.” He played the US President in 2004’s “The Defender” and appeared in several episodes of “George Lopez.”

The pop culture icon also made an appearance in Netflix’s “Happy!,” “Roseanne,” “The X-Files,” and voiced a cartoon version of himself in The Simpsons’ “Treehouse of Horror IX.” He also made appearances in “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” and “Space Ghost Coast to Coast.”

Most recently, in 2022, Jerry Springer competed in season eight of “The Masked Singer” dressed as a giant beetle. He was eliminated on “Muppet Night” along with “The Vampire Diaries” star, Kat Graham, who performed as “Robo-Girl.”

Although Jerry might be gone, his mark on pop culture will never be forgotten.