Alexander King

Humorist, Author

1899 – 1965

17

Who was Alexander King?

Alexander King, born Alexander Koenig in Vienna, was a bestselling humorist, memoirist and media personality of the early television era, based in the United States.

In his late fifties, after becoming a frequent guest on the a Tonight Show hosted by Jack Paar, King emerged as an incongruous presence in the realm of national celebrity: an aging, irascible raconteur, with elegant mannerisms and trademark bow-tie, who spoke frankly and disarmingly about his bohemian lifestyle, multiple marriages, and years-long struggle with drug addiction. His checkered past led TIME magazine to describe him as

"an ex-illustrator, ex-cartoonist, ex-adman, ex-editor, ex-playwright, ex-dope addict. For a quarter-century he was an ex-painter, and by his own bizarre account qualifies as an ex-midwife. He is also an ex-husband to three wives and an ex-Viennese of sufficient age to remember muttonchopped Emperor Franz Joseph. When doctors told him a few years ago that he might soon be an ex-patient, he sat down to tell gay stories of the life of all these earlier Kings."

He was also the author of several books, including May This House Be Safe from Tigers, Mine Enemy Grows Older, and I Should Have Kissed Her More, Is There Life After Birth. He illustrated and/or translated numerous editions of classics in the early 20th century as well as a book by Peter Altenberg released as Alexander King Presents Peter Altenberg's Evocations of Love. King's easy conversational recollections of the first part of the 20th century are informative and often hilariously funny. His accounts include many famous names most will recognise.

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Born
1899
Vienna
Nationality
  • United States of America
Profession
Died
1965

Submitted
on July 23, 2013

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