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Jerry Springer, politician-turned-TV ringmaster, dies at 79

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CINCINNATI (AP) — Jerry Springer, the former Cincinnati mayor and news anchor whose namesake TV show unleashed strippers, homewreckers and skinheads to brawl and spew obscenities on weekday afternoons, has died.

He was 79.

A family spokesperson died Thursday at home in suburban Chicago.

At its peak, “The Jerry Springer Show” that ran for 27 years ending in 2018 was a ratings powerhouse and a U.S. cultural pariah.

The show known for chair-throwing and bleep-filled arguments was a favorite American guilty pleasure, at one point topping Oprah Winfrey’s show.

The Jewish immigrants’ son who was born in a World War II London underground bomb shelter was active in politics most his adult life.