How TV legend Larry King got his start in broadcasting

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Radio, TV legend Larry King dies at 87

Larry King, legendary talk show host and a broadcast pioneer, dies at the age of 87.

Larry King's illustrious broadcasting career spanned more than six decades and virtually every media platform available to him.

But he was hardly an overnight success.   

Before making his name as a prime-time TV interviewer, 23-year-old Lawrence Zeiger got his start at a Miami Beach radio station in 1957.

UNSPECIFIED - CIRCA 1987: Lary King Radio and television personality on the air with the Mutrual Radio Network circa 1987. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)

Zeiger had gone to Florida at the suggestion of a CBS announcer, who told him that Florida had a growing market and would have opportunities for inexperienced broadcasters.

He didn’t do much broadcasting at first, though, instead performing odd jobs around WAHR and cleaning the station.

By chance, one of the announcers at WAHR quit, and Zeiger was given a chance as a stand-in.

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"I was petrified," King told People magazine in 1980. "The theme music was supposed to fade, and I was supposed to do a voice-over. But every time the music faded I’d turn it back up again. Finally, the station manager stuck his head into the studio and said, ‘Remember, this is a communicating business.’ I let the music go down and told the audience what had just happened. Those were my first words on the radio."

The station’s general manager wasn’t keen on Zeiger’s name, though, saying it sounded "too ethnic" and wasn’t memorable. Before Zeiger took to the airwaves, the manager told him to use the name "King," inspired by an advertisement for King’s Wholesale Liquor.

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Larry King immediately earned a spot in the 9 a.m.-to-noon shift. He quickly expanded his workload, taking on afternoon and sportscast programs as well.

A year later, King had built a strong local following, and he earned himself a newspaper column in the entertainment sections of the Miami Herald and Miami News.

His passion for free-flowing interviews began in 1958 when he hosted an on-location interview program from Miami's Pumpernik Restaurant, where he literally spoke to whoever entered the door.

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He eventually added to his skill set by providing color commentary for Miami Dolphins broadcasts and first landed on television in 1964.

The iconic "Larry King Live" show on CNN started in 1985 and continued for 25 years.

King died Saturday in Los Angeles.  He was 87.

Fox News' Brian Flood contributed to this report.