Larry King Fans Offer Condolences After He Breaks His Silence Over Children’s Deaths

Broadcasting legend Larry King confirmed his son Andy and daughter Chaia died less than a month apart. Andy died of a heart attack on July 28 at 65, weeks before Chaia’s death at 51 on Wednesday following a battle with lung cancer. The 86-year-old King, who is recovering from his own recent health issues, called his children “good and kind souls” who will be “greatly missed.” King’s fans offered their condolences on social media after hearing the news.

“It is with sadness and a father’s broken heart that I confirm the recent loss of two of my children, Andy King, and Chaia King. Both of them were good and kind souls and they will be greatly missed,” King wrote in a Facebook post on Saturday. “Losing them feels so out of order. No parent should have to bury a child. My family and I thank you for your outpouring of kind sentiments and well wishes. In this moment, we need a little time and privacy to heal. I thank you for respecting that.”

Andy’s daughter Jillian spoke about the family tragedies in an interview with The Daily Mail on Friday. She said her father died just weeks after her father-in-law died. “I was out of town because my husband’s father had passed away so we were up in Kentucky taking care of his funeral when I heard the news,” Jillian said. “My dad passed away on July 28. We’re assuming it was a heart attack but there wasn’t ever an autopsy.”

​

King adopted Andy, the son of his third wife Alene Akins, in 1962. Chaia was born in 1969, during King’s second marriage to Akins. King has three surviving children, Larry Jr., 58, from his marriage to Annette Kaye; and sons Chance, 21, and Cannon, 20, from his marriage to Shawn King. A source close to King told the Daily Mail he is “truly devastated” by Chaia and Andy’s deaths. “He barely survived last year through his own ill health; now he’s lost two kids just weeks apart,” the source said, adding that the last time King was with his children was on Father’s Day.

​

King has faced numerous health issues in recent years, including a stroke in March 2019. In November, he told Page Six his doctors thought he was going to die. “I had a sepsis infection, I had a new stent put on the heart,” the former Larry King Live host said. “It’s been amazing – everyone tells me they can’t believe I made it through.”

​

​

​

​