[1] King was born in London on 25 September 1929, and immigrated to South Africa as a young child.
He was educated at Western Province Preparatory School where he started as a boarder in 1936, aged six and in 1943, he went on to St. Andrew's College in Grahamstown.
King received his tertiary education at the University of Cape Town where he obtained his law degree.
[3] On 5 May 2000, the South African President Thabo Mbeki appointed a Commission of Inquiry into Cricket Match Fixing and Related Matters, with King as chairman.
[4] The commission, known as the King Commission, investigated the issue of match-fixing by various South African cricketers and received wide publicity, partly as a result of the actions of the South African captain Hansie Cronje.