My Kinda Town
Jerry Springer, the cigar-smokin’ king of chatshow sleaze, tells us why he’s proud to call Chicago home
CHICAGO
SLICK POLITICO, TITAN OF TV SLEAZE, COUNTRY CROONER AND CHAT SHOW KING JERRY SPRINGER SALUTES THE WINDY CITY
interview sally howard
“WHAT I love most about Chicago”, says Jerry Springer, through a curl of cigar smoke, which partly obscures his trademark tan, “is the fact that it’s middle America with ethnic diversity. I like middle America – it’s made me what I am today. Chicago’s large, but it’s still mainly Mid-Westerners; it hasn’t lost its small-town Americaness. But you also get more Polish people than you do in Warsaw here. There’s a tremendous ethnic diversity, which means the music’s all here – the jazz, the blues – and it also makes for great restaurants.”
It’s easy to see why Chicago, Hemingway’s “city of the big shoulders”, is a comfortablefit for Jerry Springer. Of robust working-class stock, well-polished yet dismissive of pretension, Springer and his home city – where he occupies a “modest” penthouse in the John Hancock Center – have much in common. The city’s inherent contrasts serve the two sides of Springer well. There’s the silver-tongued politician who enjoys shadowy, old-world dining in Buckingham’s at the Hilton Chicago and then there’s the man the viewers of his TV show see, who stuffs his maws on Italian steak sandwiches at Mr Beef with the best of them. Chicago’s unique marriage of big-city slickness and big-shouldered work ethic also perhaps makes it the natural capital of talkshow America. Along with Oprah Winfrey, who Jerry describes as: “A lovely, classy lady – compared to her I’m just a clown with a little circus act”, The Jerry Springer Show has been based in Chicago since its inception. Fifteen years on, the programme’s parade of perversion and family dysfunction is still one of the city’s top draws. 50,000 tourists a year shuffle up to subject themselves to the NBC building’s metal detector for the show’s bi-weekly tapings.
But Springer is a Londoner by birth, which, he says is the only thing preventing him running for the White House (as a Democrat). Born to German-Jewish parents who fled the Holocaust, Springer’s family “chased the typical American dream”, and Springer spent most of his childhood in a rough, mob-ruled area of Queens, New York. It is to this that he attributes his ‘everyman’finesse; his ability to talk the talk with middle-class politicians and horse-loving zoophiles alike.
Politics was the natural course for the young Springer and it is a passion that still courses just beneath his well-moisturised skin. Hisfirst job after college was working as one of Senator Robert F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign aides. Springer then joined a lawfirm in Cincinnati and moved into the political arena. In 1977, at the tender age of 33, he was elected Mayor of Cincinnati. A few political scandals followed, then a change of career to Emmy-award winning TV journalist, before his incarnation, in 1991, as Jerry Springer talkshow host.
Asked how he feels about his self-made legend – his status as the overlord of trash TV, whose name is a byword for the worst excesses of American life – he’s unapologetic, but smoothly self-deprecating, careful to distance himself from the patina of Springer sleaze. “The show’s fun and I don’t mean to disrespect the fact I’ve been doing it for 15 years, but no one is going to suggest that this is helping humanity.” Contemplating one of his beloved Cuban cigars, he adds: “It’s just a mirror of society. There is no difference between people, except that those on my show don’t all have such a good command of the English language. We all have secrets. Who in the British royal family couldn’t be on The Jerry Springer Show?” Unfortunately, there was no sign of Her Majesty last June, when Springerfilmed his UK shows: “I had expected British guests to be more sedate, but found them to be even noisier and more argumentative than Americans.”
This universalisation of human experience, however depressing the notion may be, is perhaps one reason for The Jerry Springer Show’s continuing success (it is still screened in over 100 countries worldwide). Earlier this year, the controversial Jerry Springer The Opera stage show, a testament to the overarching influence of the Springer cult, began its nationwide tour of the UK.
The show, as most people agree, is by no means complimentary. The foul-mouthedfirst act shows a man who cheats on hisfiancée. By thefinal act, ‘Springer’ is condemned to hell after being shot by a disgruntled assistant. However, Springer himself supported the project, perhaps wanting to look capable of poking fun at himself. “I thought they did a great job. When I met Michael Brandon [who played the original Jerry in the West End] I offered my condolences,” he deadpans. “No one should have to go through life looking like me. I told Michael, ‘You poor thing, have you considered surgery? It’s the pinnacle of your career – and you’re playing me.’ Imagine that on your resume: ‘I was Jerry Springer’.”
It’s easy to see how Springer maintains his popularity: he uses self-deprecating wit to counter criticism: “You have to be a bit egomaniacal to be a politician, or a TV personality. I know that. It’s a character flaw.” The egomaniac in Springer has taken him on a few dirt tracks along his route to fame: not least his country music career. “Country songs are invariably about broken relationships, divorce and cheating,” he said at the time. “Who slept with whom. I guess I saw it as an extension of the show – the themes are consistent.”
When I casually drop the country music project into the conversation, a smile ignites Springer’s face (which, until now, has been a picture of measured response) and he leaps up excitedly tofish around in his CD collection for the fondly remembered album. After 10 minutes offiddling with stereo knobs (“I can’t work this darned thing – shall we get one of the boys from the show?”), we sit there in silence to appreciate Dr Talk, the title track of the album Springer released in the late ‘90s, which pokes fun at talk shows, his characteristically mellow intonation overlaying twangy, blue-grass-style backing. Springer takes a puff from his cigar and, as quickly as the smoke clears, his brief window of self-absorbed reverie passes and he’s back on razor-sharp form. “The more people drink, the better I sound. I was Billy Ray Cyrus’ opening act for a few of his concerts. But I suck. I’m not ready to go after Garth Brooks.”
Springer then looks me directly in the eye, the unnerving steel of the politician challenging me to interpret him, and softly closes the cigar box. It’s clear that, for now, Jerry hasfinished being Jerry of the magazine interview. It’s time to put on another hat: The Springer Show Jerry, and to mediate between a warring trio,fists flying and shrieking wildly as Brett’s 18-year-old girlfriend, annoyed he won’t give her a baby, admits to sleeping with the man who runs the local DVD shop.
Later, when two shows have been put to bed, Jerry will take time out to become the Jerry the world seldom sees, kicking back in his favourite cigar lounge in Chicago, Fumatore, in the Gold Coast/Lincoln Park area. Then he’ll just be one of his adopted town’s good old boys, winding down after a hard days’ work in the time-honoured way.
| Jerry-mania >> To visit the Jerry Springer Show, register at www.jerryspringertv.com >> For Jerry Springer the opera tour dates, visit www.jerryspringertheopera.com >> For Chicago recommendations and listings, visit www.metromix.com |
Springer’s Chicago
FUMATORE 1723
Founder John DePalma created this haven in response to the city’s recent anti-smoking legislation. It’s a great place. In the European club style but with a neighbourhood feel. N. Halstead; +1 312 266 9521
THE CAPITAL GRILLE
Chicago is a meat-lover’s paradise. Visit Capital Grille for thefinest dry-aged steaks with award-winning wines.Chicago, 633 North St, Clair Street;
+1 312 337 9400
POLISH QUARTER
The third largest concentration of Poles in the world. Visit the fascinating Polish Museum of America at 984 N. Milwaukee Avenue. And try a Polish sausage or two while you’re in town. +1 773 384 3352
LA STRADA RISTORANTE
One of the top Italian restaurants in the US. Hearty northern Italian, the way Chicago likes it. “Veal is the deal” here. Great piano bar. 155 North Michigan Ave; +1 312 565 2200
ALLEN’S – THE NEW AMERICAN CAFÉ
Great casual American café with global influences. Iowa prime beef, duck breast, rabbit loin and freshfish are great. Venison is often a special. A fun bar crowd and wonderful cuisine. 217 W. Huron St; +1 312 587 9600
THE MELTING POT
For the best fondue in Chicago – and the flaming turtle dessert is incredible. 609 N. Dearborn; +1 312 573 0011
THE GRILL ON THE ALLEY
Best short ribs and a great place for lunch or dinner. It’s near home so I often lunch here alone. Outdoor dining with views of Michigan Avenue during the summer is the real Chicago. 909 North Michigan Avenue; +1 312 255 9009
BUCKINGHAM’S RESTAURANT AT THE HILTON CHICAGO
An old-world gem. A steakhouse with dark wood, brass and mirrors. It’s like the most exclusive chamber of an old-boy institution. 720 S. Michigan Ave;
+1 312 922 4400
