Michael Grossberg| Special to The Columbus Dispatch
Those who remember Jerry Springer for the physical fights, profanities and populist controversies of his long-running eponymous tabloid TV show mightbe surprised by his more serious personal and political views.
Born in London during World War II to parents who barely escaped from Nazi Germany, Springer moved with his family in 1949 to New York, where he grew up.
During his years in Ohio from 1969 to 1997, Springer served as Cincinnati’s mayor and won Emmys as a TV newscaster.
He became nationally known as host-producer of the tabloid talk show “The Jerry Springer Show,” which aired for 27 seasons, from 1991 to 2018.
Now a TV judge, Springer will soon begin taping the third season of his syndicated courtroom show “Judge Jerry."
As a son of Jewish refugees from the Holocaust,Springer, 77, will discuss his life Sunday during a Columbus Jewish Historical Society speech. Springer spoke to The Dispatch in advance of his talk,which will stream from his home in Sarasota, Florida.
Q: What lessons from the Holocaust will you share?
Springer:I grew up with all these faded photographs on our walls of my (late) grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins. My parents didn’t talk about it a lot, but from the youngest age, I was certainly conscious of the Holocaust.
My parents got out of Germany literally two weeks before Hitler went into Poland Sept. 1, 1939. They were the last Jews let out. We lost everyone in the camps except Mom and Dad. That experience shaped what I became.
Six million people were put to death simply because they were Jewish. What my family learned from the Holocaust is you can never judge people based on what they are, only on what they do.
Q: You’ve been a talk-show host, game-show host, political pundit, lawyer, Cincinnati mayor, Emmy-winning newscaster, country recording artist and TV judge. Which roles most defined your career?
Springer: The television shows made me famous, but the greatest job I ever had was being mayor. That’s where my passion is.
I thought my job was to be a lawyer. I got my law degree and practiced law for a while. That’s why I’m doing the “Judge Jerry” show now. ... Finally, I get to use my legal education, researching and doing 35 cases a week. ... What my parents put money into worked. I love being a judge.
Q: You were mayor before becoming a talk-show host. How different are politics and show business?
Springer: They’re pretty similar, except in politics, what you do matters. There’s a consequence to what you do.
Q: Among other stage roles, you’ve played lawyer Billy Flynn in the musical "Chicago" in London and on Broadway, while your tabloid talk show inspired "Jerry Springer: The Opera," an Olivier Award-winner for best musical. What is it about your career that lends itself to the theatrical?
Springer: I guess life is theater. It’s make-believe on stage or on TV; in a sense, you’re playing a role. In real life, you don’t get to go home afterward.
I enjoy the theater as a fun extension ... vicariously living in something we didn’t do in our real life.
It was always thought I’d go to law school or medical school, but my life took a different turn. I got hooked by entertaining.
Q: What did you most enjoy about doing “Jerry Springer”?
Springer: The show was stupid, but fun and entirely democratic. ... What I liked about the show was the no-censorship rule. We’d bleep out bad words and blank out nudity, but otherwise, we had no censorship.
A side consequence maybe was unintended. American television had been almost exclusively upper-middle-class white. Our show came along and showed there are all kinds of people living in America —not all well-scrubbed like on "Friends," "Frazier" and "Seinfeld." We had everyone on, the dysfunctional, every demographic and ethnic group, and they said what they wanted.
Q: In university speeches, you’ve talked about America’s boundless possibilities. What should young people understand about America?
Springer: Maybe it’s a function of youth, but I wish they understood we are constantly a work in progress. Democracy is never complete. Every generation has to fight for it. The battle never stops.
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At a glance
The Columbus Jewish Historical Society will stream Jerry Springer at 7 p.m. Sunday. Tickets, which will be available until 5 p.m. Sunday,cost $18 atcolumbusjewishhistory.org. For more information, call 614-238-6977.
