Provocative talk show host Jerry Springer dies at 79, family says

Jerry Springer, the legendary talkshow host and former Cincinnati mayor, died Thursday, his family said. He was 79.

Springer passed away peacefully at his suburban Chicago home following a brief illness, family spokesperson and friend of Springer Jeane Galvin said, according to multiple news reports.

"He’s irreplaceable and his loss hurts immensely, but memories of his intellect, heart and humor will live on," Galvin also said.

His eponymous television program, "The Jerry Springer Show," ran for 27 years, even beating "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in viewership at one point. Springer's show was known for chair-throwing and profanity-filled arguments, but became an American guilty pleasure. 

In defense of his tabloid-esque show, Springer said at one point: "Look, television does not and must not create values. ... Believe this: The politicians and companies that seek to control what each of us may watch are a far greater danger to America and our treasured freedom than any of our guests ever were or could be."

Springer was born in a London underground railway station while it was being used as a bomb shelter in 1944. His parents were German-Jewish refugees who fled to England to escape the Holocaust, in which other relatives died. The family moved to the United States when Springer was 5.

Madeleine Hubbard is an international correspondent for Just the News. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram.