Shawn Southwick King

Shawn Southwick King, an actress and producer, was born on 5 November 1959 in Studio City, Los Angeles, California, as Shawn Ora Engemann. She is the daughter of Karl and Jerri Engemann. Her father, who was head of A & R at Capitol Records, was a long-time business associate of the Osmond Family (Marie Osmond’s manager for 35 years), and she is a close childhood friend of Marie Osmond. She is a singer, as is her sister, Shannon, and her mother, who sang with the Ray Conniff singers. Her mother was also a studio singer for Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan, among others. Her uncle, Bob Engemann, is an original member of the 1960s trio, The Lettermen.

By the age of 3, Shawn was soloing and singing backup on albums and commercials for renowned artists such as Herb Alpert, Neil Diamond, and The Beach Boys. She is one of the children heard singing in the made-for-television film “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” starring Burl Ives. She also appeared on the Nat King Cole Christmas special at 3-years-old and sang a solo. She recalls getting out of school to work with Bobby Sherman, and singing on the Oscar Meyer wiener commercial.

Shawn attended North Hollywood High School in North Hollywood, California, and graduated class of 1977. She later studied at Brigham Young University (BYU). After attending Brigham Young University, she appeared often on prime-time TV shows including The A-Team, Knight Rider, Hardcastle and McCormick, Riptide, Remington Steele, Bombshell, Cover Up, Mike Hammer, Simon & Simon, Who’s the Boss? and Benson.

She played “Pam Flinders” in the original 1974 production of “Saturday’s Warrior,” and is known for Rover Dangerfield (1991), Monaco Forever (1984), and Christmas Eve (2015). She co-hosted with David Frost on “The Spectacular World of Guinness Records,” and hosted the USA Network’s weekly entertainment news show, “Hollywood Insider,” from 1990 to 1996.

With her brother Paul Engemann, and billed as Christopher Paul and Shawn, she had a small (#91) national chart record, “For Your Love”, in 1975. In 2005, she released a CD titled In My Own Backyard for Lofton Creek Records, and she sings “Gotta Love the Holidays” on a compilation CD by the same name. She has also been a backup singer in recording sessions for popular artists such as Neil Diamond, Bobby Sherman, and Tennessee Ernie Ford.

She married Daniel Southwick on 24 October 1980, and together they had 1 child, Danny Southwick (born 28 September 1981), a professional football player. She was married to CNN’s Larry King on 5 September 1997 in his hospital room in Los Angeles, California. According to The New York Times, the wedding took place “three days before Larry King underwent surgery to clear a clogged blood vessel.” They are the parents of two sons, Chance Armstrong (16) and Cannon Edward King (15). On 14 April 2010, Larry and Shawn separated and filed for divorce. On 7 July 2010, both Larry and Shawn filed petitions to dismiss their divorce case.

King and partner Carlos Slim founded Ora TV in 2012 as an outlet to produce his new show, “Back & Forth,” after leaving CNN. Ora TV is apparently named in honor of Shawn; whose middle name is Ora. She often co-hosts podcasts with him. Shawn is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

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