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Suzanne Somers Talks Passing of Good Friend Larry King (Exclusive)

By Zach Seemayer‍ 7:18 PM PST, January 25, 2021

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Suzanne Somers is looking back at Larry King's life and legacy. Following the famed interviewer's death on Saturday, the actress opened up to ET about her memories of the TV broadcasting legend.

"Larry King could talk to anyone about anything," Somers reflected while speaking with ET's Kevin Frazier, adding that King was overflowing with "pure curiosity."

King's death comes shortly after he was hospitalized for COVID-19 in late December, and Somers said she feared the worst when she first learned he'd contracted the illness.

"I was kind of expecting it," Somers admitted somberly. "His health has been bad the last several years, and when, every time I would see him, he was thinner and thinner and then he's had so much sadness in the last few years, you know having two children die... within a short period of one another."

King's son, Andy, died on July 28, 2020, from a heart attack. He was 65. Less than a month later, King's daughter Chaia died after a short battle with lung cancer on Aug. 20. She was 51.

Looking back at her long history with King, Somers credited the TV newsman and celebrated journalist with a lot of her success.

"Of my 27 books, 14 became New York Times best sellers, and it's because of Larry," she shared. "He, when I first started coming on, he would put me on for the entire hour."

Somers also praised King for never focusing on his guests' politics or judging their beliefs.

"[He] was never political, if you think about it. He didn't care what side of the aisle you were on, he just liked to talk to interesting people," she shared. "And he didn't put himself out there as an intellectual, he was a curious guy who got lucky and got on television."

"There's not many people like him," Somers continued. "The fact that you can't turn on the airwaves right now without seeing something about Larry King shows the immense popularity of the man."

King's death comes after years of health struggles including a more than 30-year battle with heart disease. In 1987, King underwent quadruple bypass surgery after suffering a heart attack. In 2017, King was diagnosed with lung cancer and “underwent a successful surgery to remove the upper Lobe and Lymph Node," his rep later confirmed. The hardworking host returned to work just two weeks later.

In April 2019, King had an angioplasty procedure and stints added to his heart. Later that year, he revealed that he suffered a stroke after the heart procedure and was in a coma for a couple of weeks.

After being hospitalized with COVID-19, King was moved to the ICU on New Years Eve. On Jan. 4, King was moved out of the ICU, and was breathing on his own. He died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on Saturday at the age of 87.

See the video below for more on King's life and legacy.