Jerry Springer, former mayor of Cincinnati, who gained fame hosting the smash hit syndicated talk show "The Jerry Springer Show" for 27 years, has died at age 79.
The show was known for its outrageous guests who usually got into crazy fights as the audience cheered, "Jerry, Jerry, Jerry, Jerry!" When it was time to hang it up, Springer tried reinventing himself as Judge Jerry.
A family spokesperson says Jerry was battling a "brief illness." TMZ sources tell us it was pancreatic cancer that was diagnosed a few months ago, and this week he took a turn for the worse. Jerry's spokesperson says he died Thursday morning, peacefully at his home in the Chicago area.
Jerry's last TV appearance came last year when he was The Beetle on The Masked Singer (see the video below) singing a Frank Sinatra song.
We're told his cancer battle got much worse about a month ago, and he finally had to stop working. He had been hosting a folk music show on a local radio station in Cincinnati.
#RIP
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