Jerry Springer, Controversial TV Host and Former Politician, Passes Away at 79

Jerry Springer, the son of Jewish refugees, has died at the age of 79. He was known for hosting a syndicated talk show that encouraged conflict among its guests, featuring feuding couples, angry exes, and frequent fisticuffs. Springer's show transformed daytime television conventions, and he acknowledged the critics who decried his version of "tabloid television" and said it had fueled divisions in society. Springer's family escaped from what was then Prussia (now present-day Poland) and arrived in Britain in 1939 just before the outbreak of World War II. Twenty-seven other members of Springer's family were killed in the Holocaust.