Jerry Springer died following a short battle with cancer.
The talk-show host, who previously served as the mayor of Cincinnati in the 1970s, died in his Chicago home on Thursday morning following a “brief illness,” a representative for Springer confirmed to EW.
He was 79. Jene Galvin, a longtime friend and family spokesperson, told NBC News that Springer died specifically from pancreatic cancer.
EW has reached out to representatives for Springer but did not immediately hear back.
Rabbi Sandford Kopnick of Cincinnati’s The Valley Temple told PEOPLE that Springer’s “illness was sudden,” adding, “He died of cancer, and he didn’t have cancer for very long.”
He remembered Springer as “a kind and generous person who was not really best pictured on his television show.”
“He was very, very smart,” Kopnick continued. “He was a remarkable family man, and he was somebody who understood what it means to pay it forward.”
A politician-turned-television star, Springer is best known for helming his eponymous and often controversial syndicated talk show from 1991 until 2018.
His decades-long career in entertainment saw him appear in multiple films, including the 1998 comedy Ringmaster, where he played a fictionalized version of himself named Jerry Farrelly.
His television credits also included cameos in Roseanne, The Simpsons, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and more.
“Jerry’s ability to connect with people was at the heart of his success in everything he tried whether that was politics, broadcasting, or just joking with people on the street who wanted a photo or a word,” Galvin said in a statement obtained by EW. “He’s irreplaceable and his loss hurts immensely, but memories of his intellect, heart, and humor will live on.”
