Jerry Springer, the iconic media figure whose brawling, scandal-style format of talk show was a staple of late 1990s television, has died at 79, his family said on Thursday.

Springer — whose full name was Gerard Norman Springer — was born during World War II in a London Underground station being used as a bomb shelter. His family immigrated to the United States in 1949 and lived in Queens.

In addition to his talk show, he served as the mayor of Cincinnati from 1977 to 1978. He made several other unsuccessful runs for office over the years, including an attempt at the Ohio governor's chair. He also served as a political consultant.

His eponymous talk show ran from 1991-2018 and arguably reached its height of popularity around the turn of the century, becoming a much-lampooned staple of pop culture and helping usher in the nascent age of tawdry reality television.

He died in Chicago on Thursday from pancreatic cancer, his family said.

1944-2023, RIP.