Larry King

===Marriages and children===
King was married eight times to seven women.<ref name="NYP">{{cite news | url=https://people.com/tv/larry-king-wives-and-marriages-a-history/ | title=A Look at Larry King's Ups and Downs over His 8 Marriages — A Complete Relationship Timeline | newspaper=People }}</ref> 

King married high school sweetheart Freda Miller in 1952 at the age of 19.<ref name=dailynews4/> That union ended the following year at the behest of their parents, who reportedly had the marriage [[annulled]].<ref name=dailynews4>[http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/galleries/the_many_women_of_larry_king/the_many_women_of_larry_king.html "Larry King divorces Shawn Southwick: Meet the TV icon's slew of ex-wives"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100418031131/http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/galleries/the_many_women_of_larry_king/the_many_women_of_larry_king.html |date=April 18, 2010 }}. ''[[Daily News (New York)|Daily News]]''. April 16, 2010. p. 4 of 25.</ref> 

King was married to Annette Kaye,<ref name=dailynews4/> who gave birth to his son, Larry Jr., in November 1961. King did not meet Larry Jr. until the latter was in his 30s.<ref name="ac360">{{Cite news|url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0905/21/acd.01.html|title=Transcript: Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees|date= May 21, 2009|publisher= CNN|access-date= June 6, 2009}}</ref>

In 1961, King married his third wife, [[Playboy Bunny]] Alene Akins, at one of the magazine's [[Playboy Club|eponymous nightclubs]]. He adopted Akins' son Andy in 1962; the couple divorced the following year.<ref name=dailynews4/> 

In 1963, King married his fourth wife, Mary Francis "Mickey" Sutphin, who divorced him in 1967.<ref name=dailynews4/> 

King remarried Akins in 1969; the couple had a daughter, Chaia, before divorcing again in 1972.<ref name=dailynews4/> In 1997, Dove Books published a book written by King and Chaia, ''Daddy Day, Daughter Day''. Aimed at young children, it tells each of their accounts of his divorce from Akins.{{cn|date=October 2023}}
[[File:Larry King and Shawn Southwick feed Gilbert Gottfried.jpg|thumb|Comedian [[Gilbert Gottfried]] fed by King's seventh wife, Shawn Southwick, in 1999]]
[[File:Larry King with his wife and children.jpg|thumb|King with Southwick and their children, Chance and Cannon, in 2002]]

On September 25, 1976, King married his fifth wife, mathematics teacher and production assistant Sharon Lepore. The couple divorced in 1983.<ref name=dailynews5-6>[http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/galleries/the_many_women_of_larry_king/the_many_women_of_larry_king.html ''Daily News'', slide show] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100418031131/http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/galleries/the_many_women_of_larry_king/the_many_women_of_larry_king.html |date=April 18, 2010 }}.  ''[[Daily News (New York)|Daily News]]''. pp. 5–6.</ref>

On August 1, 1989, King proposed to businesswoman Julie Alexander on their first date.<ref>''[[Cedar Rapids Gazette]],'' August 23, 1989.</ref> Alexander became King's sixth wife on October 7, 1989, when the two were married in Washington, D.C.<ref name=dailynews7-8>[http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/galleries/the_many_women_of_larry_king/the_many_women_of_larry_king.html ''Daily News'', slide show] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100418031131/http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/galleries/the_many_women_of_larry_king/the_many_women_of_larry_king.html |date=April 18, 2010 }}. ''[[Daily News (New York)|Daily News]]''. pp. 7–8.</ref> They lived in different cities, however, with Alexander in Philadelphia and King in Washington, D.C., where he worked. The couple separated in 1990 and divorced in 1992.<ref name=dailynews7-8/> 

King became engaged to actress [[Deanna Lund]] in 1995 after five weeks of dating, but they did not marry.<ref name=dailynews10>[http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/galleries/the_many_women_of_larry_king/the_many_women_of_larry_king.html ''Daily News,'' slide show] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100418031131/http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/galleries/the_many_women_of_larry_king/the_many_women_of_larry_king.html |date=April 18, 2010 }}.  ''[[Daily News (New York)|Daily News]]''. p. 10.</ref>

In 1997, King married his seventh wife, Shawn Southwick,<ref name=dailynews11>[http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/galleries/the_many_women_of_larry_king/the_many_women_of_larry_king.html ''Daily News'', slide show] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100418031131/http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/galleries/the_many_women_of_larry_king/the_many_women_of_larry_king.html |date=April 18, 2010 }}, ibid., p. 11 of 25</ref> a singer, actress, and TV host who is the sister of musician [[Paul Engemann]].<ref name="nydailynews.com">{{cite news|author=Rush & Molloy|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2008/06/30/2008-06-30_the_skinny_on_larry_kings_wife.html|title=The skinny on Larry King's wife| work = [[Daily News (New York)|Daily News]]|date= June 30, 2008|access-date= July 27, 2010}}</ref> The couple wed in King's Los Angeles hospital room three days before he underwent heart surgery to clear an occluded blood vessel.<ref name=nyt0414>[https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/04/14/arts/AP-US-People-Larry-King-Divorce.html "CNN Host Larry King, 7th Wife File for Divorce"]. [[Associated Press]] (via ''[[The New York Times]]''). April 14, 2010.</ref> The couple had two children: Chance, born March 1999, and Cannon, born May 2000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://marriage.about.com/od/entertainmen1/a/larryking.htm|title=About.com - Marriage - The Marriages of Larry King|work=About|access-date=November 2, 2015|archive-date=January 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210103105259/https://www.liveabout.com/comedy-central-roast-of-donald-trump-jokes-801095|url-status=live}}</ref> King was stepfather to [[Arena Football League]] quarterback [[Danny Southwick]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cablecenter.org/cable-hall-of-fame/main-items/past-honorees/item/king-larry.html|title=The Cable Hall of Fame Past Honorees|work=cablecenter.org|access-date=September 6, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130520204215/http://www.cablecenter.org/cable-hall-of-fame/main-items/past-honorees/item/king-larry.html|archive-date=May 20, 2013}}</ref> On King and Southwick's 10th anniversary in September 2007, Southwick joked that she was "the only [wife] to have lasted into the two digits".<ref name="nydailynews.com"/> The couple filed for divorce in 2010, but later reconciled<ref name=nyt0414/><ref>{{cite web|last=Lee|first=Ken|url=http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20360969,00.html|title=Larry King Files for Divorce – Breakups, Larry King| work = [[People (magazine)|People]] |date= April 14, 2010|access-date= July 27, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/larry-king-wife-shawn-southwick-call-divorce-article-1.464305|title=Larry King and wife Shawn Southwick call off their divorce|work=NY Daily News|access-date=March 11, 2017|language=en|archive-date=January 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210103105335/https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/larry-king-wife-shawn-southwick-call-divorce-article-1.464305|url-status=live}}</ref> only to file for divorce again on August 20, 2019.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.apnews.com/8b17d2b9b8a543f8914da6d2360d53c5|title=Larry King seeks divorce from seventh wife after 22 years|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210103105340/https://apnews.com/8b17d2b9b8a543f8914da6d2360d53c5|archive-date=January 3, 2021|work=Associated Press|date=August 20, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://media.extratv.com/2019/08/20/larry-king-court-docs-merged.pdf|title=Court Documents|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210103105238/https://media.extratv.com/2019/08/20/larry-king-court-docs-merged.pdf |archive-date=January 3, 2021 |work=[[Extra (American TV program)|ExtraTV]] |date=August 20, 2019}}</ref> King and Southwick were estranged and going through divorce proceedings at the time of King's death in 2021.<ref>{{Cite magazine|date=April 15, 2021|title=Larry King's Estranged Wife Requests to Be Made Executor of His Estate|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2021/04/larry-king-shawn-king-executor-estate-contest-will-handwritten-ammendment|access-date=January 5, 2022|magazine=Vanity Fair|language=en-US}}</ref>

At the time of his death, King had five children, nine grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.<ref name="Crowley">{{cite web |url=https://www.newsweek.com/who-are-larry-kings-ex-wives-1563917 |date=January 23, 2021 |title=CULTURE:Who Are Larry King's 7 Ex-Wives? Shawn Southwick, Alene Akins, Annette Kaye |first1=James |last1=Crowley |work=[[Newsweek (magazine)|Newsweek]]}}</ref><ref name="Yasharoff">{{cite web |url= https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2020/08/23/larry-king-children-andy-chaia-die-within-weeks-each-other/3423818001/ |title=Celebrities: Larry King speaks out after his children Andy and Chaia die within weeks of each other |first1=Hannah |last1=Yasharoff |newspaper=[[USA Today]] |date=August 23, 2020}}</ref> His children with Alene Atkins, Andy and Chaia, died within weeks of each other in August 2020. Andy died at 65 from a heart attack, and Chaia died at 51 from lung cancer.<ref name="Yasharoff"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2020/08/23/larry-king-children-andy-chaia-die-within-weeks-each-other/3423818001/|title=Larry King speaks out after his children Andy and Chaia die within weeks of each other|first=Hannah|last=Yasharoff|website=USA Today|access-date=August 23, 2020|archive-date=January 3, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210103105239/https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2020/08/23/larry-king-children-andy-chaia-die-within-weeks-each-other/3423818001/|url-status=live}}</ref>