Larry King Wife Timeline: Every Marriage, Last Wife Shawn Southwick, and Kids

If you’re searching “Larry King wife,” you’re really trying to untangle a personal life that was almost as headline-worthy as his broadcasting career. Larry King was married eight times to seven women, including one spouse he married twice. The most talked-about “wife” in his later years was Shawn Southwick, but the full story makes more sense when you see the entire timeline and why his relationships stayed in the public eye.

Quick Facts

• Larry King was married eight times to seven women.
• He married Alene Akins twice.
• His last wife was Shawn Southwick, and they had two sons together.

Who Was Larry King?

Larry King was one of the most recognizable interviewers in American media—an on-air personality whose voice, suspenders, and straight-to-the-point questions became a brand. For decades, he interviewed presidents, movie stars, athletes, and cultural icons with a style that felt conversational rather than performative. He didn’t try to “win” interviews. He tried to get people talking.

That public persona—curious, direct, always on—also shaped how the public viewed his private life. When someone is famous for asking questions, people naturally ask questions about him. And because Larry’s marriages overlapped with major career chapters, “Larry King wife” became a recurring curiosity for generations of viewers.

The Straight Answer: Who Was Larry King’s Wife?

There isn’t just one answer, because Larry King had multiple wives across his lifetime. If you mean his last wife, that was Shawn Southwick. If you mean the wife most associated with his longest and most complicated relationship pattern, that was Alene Akins, whom he married twice. And if you mean “Who was he married to the most times?” the answer is still Alene, because she is the only spouse he remarried after divorcing.

The key is to treat “wife” as a timeline, not a single label.

Larry King’s Last Wife: Shawn Southwick

Shawn Southwick is the name that tends to dominate “Larry King wife” searches because she was his spouse during his later, highly visible years. Their relationship looked like a classic public-figure pairing: age gap, red-carpet appearances, tabloid attention, and years of on-and-off headlines about the marriage.

Shawn had her own public presence, often described as a model and actress, but her identity in the public imagination became tightly linked to Larry because he was already a household name. Over time, their marriage turned into the kind of relationship people followed not because it was glamorous, but because it was dramatic in a way that celebrity culture never stops feeding.

They married in the late 1990s and had two sons together. Even when the relationship faced strain, their family life remained a major part of how people understood Larry’s later years: not just as a broadcaster, but as a father again at an older age.

Did Larry King Have a Wife When He Died?

This is where the public record gets confusing, because the answer depends on how you define “have a wife.” Larry and Shawn publicly filed for divorce in the late 2010s, and reports at the time suggested the marriage was breaking down. However, divorce filings and public announcements don’t always mean the legal process is fully completed immediately, especially when major financial and family issues are involved.

That’s why you’ll see different phrasing in different places. Some sources refer to Shawn as his wife because she was his most recent spouse and the divorce process was widely known but not always described with consistent finality. Others refer to her as his ex-wife because the relationship had clearly shifted into separation territory. The clean way to say it—without pretending you have access to private legal paperwork—is that Shawn Southwick was his final spouse and the mother of his two youngest children, and the marriage was publicly in the process of ending.

Larry King’s Children and Why They Matter in the “Wife” Story

Larry King’s marriages weren’t only celebrity headlines—they were family structures. His children are part of the story because they show how different his life looked in different eras.

With Shawn Southwick, he had two sons, often mentioned as Chance and Cannon. Their birth years placed Larry in the unusual position of being an older father while still working and maintaining a high-profile schedule. That reality can add pressure to any marriage: parenting demands, time constraints, and the question of what “normal” looks like when one parent is famous and older.

In earlier chapters, Larry also had children connected to prior marriages. When you look at the full timeline, you see a pattern: relationships shifting while his public life stayed constant. That contrast—career stability vs. personal turbulence—is part of why people remain curious about his wives even after his death.

How Many Times Was Larry King Married?

Larry King was married eight times to seven women. That number alone explains why “Larry King wife” searches are so common. People aren’t just looking for a spouse’s name—they’re trying to understand the pattern. Eight marriages suggests a personal life marked by intense connection, change, reinvention, and sometimes chaos.

It’s also worth noting that public figures often experience relationships differently than private people do. Fame magnifies everything: the beginning feels bigger, the problems feel louder, and the endings become public events whether you want them to or not.

The Full Larry King Wife Timeline

Larry King’s marriage history is best understood as a sequence of chapters. The names matter, but the rhythm matters more: early marriages during a rising career, a repeated marriage to the same woman, and a final long marriage that played out publicly.

Here’s the simplified timeline structure people typically look for when they search “Larry King wife”:

• Early marriages: Relationships formed before he became the globally recognized interviewer he later became.
• Alene Akins (married twice): The most notable repeat relationship in his life.
• Later marriages: Unions that overlapped with peak fame and public scrutiny.
• Shawn Southwick: His final spouse and the most publicly discussed relationship of his later years.

This structure matters because it explains why one name can’t fully answer the keyword. If you’re looking for “the” wife, you’re really looking for which chapter of Larry King’s life you mean.

Alene Akins: The Wife He Married Twice

Alene Akins stands out in Larry King’s relationship history because she is the only spouse he remarried after divorcing. That detail changes the emotional read of their relationship. Remarrying someone suggests unfinished business—real affection, deep familiarity, or a sense that the first ending wasn’t the true ending.

To outsiders, remarriage can look romantic: “they found their way back.” But it can also reflect something more complicated: two people who are drawn to each other even when the relationship doesn’t consistently work. In Larry’s case, this repeat marriage became one of the most recognizable patterns in his personal life, and it’s a big reason his marriage count includes eight rather than seven.

When you’re trying to understand why someone marries multiple times, the remarriage detail is important. It suggests that Larry wasn’t simply moving on repeatedly without attachment. At least in this relationship, he circled back—meaning the emotional ties were strong enough to try again.

Why Larry King Had So Many Marriages

It’s tempting to reduce multiple marriages to one cynical explanation, but real life is rarely that simple. With Larry King, there are a few forces that likely contributed to the pattern—without turning the story into gossip.

He lived in an always-on career. Broadcasting at his level isn’t just a job; it’s a lifestyle. Schedules are demanding, attention is constant, and the “work world” can consume a person’s emotional bandwidth.

Fame changes relationship dynamics. The more famous you are, the harder it is to keep normal boundaries. Couples can start living with outside pressure that private couples never face: constant judgment, rumors, and the feeling that your relationship is being graded by strangers.

He was a serial reinventer. Larry King’s public identity was built on longevity, but his life also included multiple resets—career growth, network changes, personal pivots. Some people treat marriage as a one-time foundation. Others treat it as a chapter that can end and begin again. Larry’s history suggests he lived in chapters.

Relationship success isn’t the same as relationship intensity. People can love deeply and still struggle with stability. The fact that Larry kept remarrying suggests he believed in partnership even when he struggled to sustain it long-term.

Why Shawn Southwick Became the Most Talked-About Wife

Shawn Southwick became the most searched “Larry King wife” for one main reason: the marriage played out during a time when celebrity news moved faster and stuck longer. Earlier marriages happened in eras when headlines disappeared quickly. With Shawn, the internet preserved everything—filings, statements, rumors, and public appearances.

They were also highly visible as a couple. Even if you didn’t follow Larry’s personal life, you might have seen them together at events or in coverage tied to major moments. That visibility created a sense that she was “the” wife, even though she was one of several across his lifetime.