Kingdiedon Jan. 23, at age 87, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. His death came after he contractedCOVID-19in December and was subsequentlyhospitalized. In a new interview withEntertainment Tonight,Southwick King, 61, said the broadcasting legend died from a sepsis infection “unrelated” to his coronavirus diagnosis.
“It was an infection, it was sepsis,” she told the outlet. “He was finally ready to go, I will tell you that. You know, he never wanted to go, but his sweet little body was just, it had just been hit so many times with so many things, and once we heard the word COVID, all of our hearts just sunk. But he beat it, you know, he beat it, but it did take its toll, and then the unrelated infection finally is what took him, but boy, he was not gonna go down easily.”
“His mind wasn’t right, and his body was going,” she added. “So that was hard to witness.”
Larry King and Shawn Southwick King, August 2016.Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty
The actress said she was able to video chat with him during his final moments in the hospital. “We were able to do FaceTime in the hospital and it was hard for him to talk, but the one message that he wanted to make sure I heard was, ‘I love you, take care of the boys,'” she toldET.
Larry King.Stephen Lovekin/WireImage
The Emmy Award-winning broadcaster and Southwick King wed in 1997 and shared two sons —Cannon, 20, and Chance, 21. King also shared son Larry King Jr., 59, with ex-wife Annette Kaye, as well as son Andy and daughter Chaia with ex-wife Alena Akins. Andy and Chaiadied within 23 days apart from eachother in the summer of 2020.
In 2010, Kingfiled for divorcefrom Southwick King, hisseventh wife, only toretract the paperworkthree months later. Kingfiled for divorceagain in 2019, after almost 22 years of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences.
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A source told PEOPLE at the time that King’s health scares earlier that yearplayed a rolein his decision to end their marriage. (In April 2019, he suffered an angina, which mimics a heart attack, andunderwent an angioplasty. The following month, he suffereda strokethat left himin a coma for weeks.)
“He realized that he hadn’t been happy for a long time,” the source said. “They fought and argued all the time. But also it’s about protecting his kids. Shawn and Larry had essentially been separated for a decade.”
Shawn Southwick King and Larry King in April 2018.David Livingston/Getty
Speaking toET,Southwick King reflected on the ups and downs of their relationships, saying she never believed that the divorce would actually happen.
“Larry and I, you know, we never finalized our divorce,” she said. “In my heart, I didn’t think it was really going to happen and it never did. We were partners in every sense of the way, in business, and in, well, first in our family and then in business. But we’re a close family. You know, family is the most important thing, and God.”
King waslaid to reston Wednesday in a “beautiful” and intimate ceremony, Southwick King said.
“In the Jewish faith, they do it very quickly, so you almost don’t have time to … process,” Southwick King toldET. “I’m still processing. And as are the boys.”
For the ceremony, the entire family wore his suspenders — a tribute to his signature look.
“We wore Larry’s suspenders, every one of us,” said Southwick King. “And it was a beautiful, loving … just perfect. It was family. There was no showbiz, none of that.”
source: people.com
