Larry King’s Magnificent Seven – His Ex-Wives

Larry King, who died on Saturday aged 87, was known almost as much for his multiple marriages and divorces as he was for being a broadcasting icon. He has been married eight times to seven different women. He was only 18 the first time. One was a math teacher, another a Playboy bunny. He once said he never cheated on any of them, although some of his exes disagreed – and at least one stepped on him multiple times.

“I got married a lot,” he once said. “But in my head, I’m not married. When I grew up, no one lived together. If you fell in love, you got married. And so I married the ones I loved. But what I liked at 20 is not what I liked at 30, and what I liked at 30 is not what I liked at 40.

Shawn southwick

(married in 1997; separated in 2019)

King’s longest marriage was also his last – and the only one to last. Although King filed for divorce from Southwick, 61, in 2019, they are still believed to be married at the time of King’s death. They have two sons, Chance, 21, and Cannon, 20.

The two tied the knot in a hospital room in 1997, just before he underwent surgery to clear a blocked blood vessel. Southwick, a show biz vet with training in acting and singing on television shows in the 1970s and 1980s, was the daughter of a longtime music director.

Although the marriage was difficult, in part because of their 26-year age difference and Southwick’s alleged infidelity (including a reported allegiance to her son’s baseball coach), Southwick appeared devastated when she learned that King had filed for divorce. “I was crushed, I had no idea it was going to happen, it hurt yeah. I was totally blind.

Julie alexander

(married in 1989; divorced in 1992)

King met businesswoman Julie Alexander and fell head over heels. He married her later that year in Washington, DC But it was over almost as quickly as it started. They separated in 1990 and divorced two years later. Alexander told “Inside Edition” in 2010 that she suspected King had cheated on her.

Sharon lepore

(married 1976; divorced 1983)

Lepore, a former math teacher and TV production assistant, was among King’s least publicized wives. It was King’s second longest marriage, but also the most private. They both knew why they got divorced.

Mickey sutphin

(married in 1963; divorced in 1967)

The two reportedly met while working at a radio station in Miami and had a daughter, Kelly, who was reportedly adopted by Sutphin’s second husband.

Alene akins

(married in 1961; divorced in 1963. Remarried in 1967; divorced in 1972)

A former Playboy Bunny, Akins has married King twice – with his marriage to Mickey Sutphin in between. They had a daughter, Chaia, and King adopted his son, Andy. Akins died in 2017 and King referred to her as a “great lady” in a tweet. Chaia, then 51, and Andy, then 65, died in 2020. Chaia died of lung cancer and Andy died of heart attack.

Annette kaye

(married in 1961; divorced in 1961)

Their marriage lasted only a year, but produced a son, Larry Jr., now 59. Larry King Jr. was in his thirties when he met his father. Kaye told King about their shared child in 1994 as she died of lung cancer.

Freda miller

(married in 1952; canceled in 1953)

King married his high school sweetheart Freda Miller when he was just 18. The marriage was called off, apparently at the behest of her parents because they did not approve of the union.