Jerry Springer while giving a speech at Emory University.

Gerald Norman "Jerry" Springer (born February 13, 1944) is a British born American television personality, best known as host of the tabloid talk show The Jerry Springer Show since its debut in 1991. He is a former Democratic mayor of Cincinnati, Ohio, a musician and the former host of America's Got Talent.

Springer was born in the Highgate tube station in London, in the United Kingdom. His parents, Margo (a bank clerk) and Richard Springer (owner of a shoe shop), were Jewish refugees from Gorzow, Poland who escaped Nazi Germany. In January 1949, Springer emigrated with his parents to the United States, settling in Kew Gardens, Queens, New York. He and his sister Evelyn were raised in a small four-room apartment. Jerry's parents loved to talk politics, and at a young age, he became interested in the subject. In fact, one of his earliest memories about current events was when he was 12 and watching the Democratic convention on television where he saw, and was impressed by John F. Kennedy. (Powers and Johnson, 1998; also, Waldman, 2006) Springer attended Forest Hills High School. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Tulane University in 1965, majoring in political science. He spent two summers as a counselor at Camp Skymount in Green Lane, Pennsylvania, where he demonstrated his showmanship. He earned a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from Northwestern University in 1968.