Downey was the prototypical talk-show host that eventually spawned the likes of Jerry Springer and Howard Stern. Acerbic, combative and rude, Downey bullied his guests and the studio audience alike during his reign in the 1980s. "Mort the Mouth," a heavy smoker, would blow smoke in the face of his guests when they annoyed him and he often indulged in shouting matches with audience members, shtick which has actually been surpassed in tastelessness by Springer. Later in life, after losing a lung to cancer, Downey mellowed, admitting that he had taken things too far, mostly at the urging of his producers. Wracked by the cancer that would eventually kill him, Downey spent his final years as an anti-smoking advocate.
Passage: Morton Downey Jr., 67
Downey was the prototypical talk-show host that eventually spawned the likes of Jerry Springer and Howard Stern. Acerbic, combative and rude, Downey bullied his guests and the studio audience alike during his reign in the 1980s. "Mort the Mouth," a heavy smoker, would blow smoke in the face of his guests when they annoyed him and he often indulged in shouting matches with audience members, shtick which has actually been surpassed in tastelessness by Springer. Later in life, after losing a lung to cancer, Downey mellowed, admitting that he had taken things too far, mostly at the urging of his producers. Wracked by the cancer that would eventually kill him, Downey spent his final years as an anti-smoking advocate.
