Wikipedia

Joe Franklin

This article is about the talk show host. For the public radio performance artist, seeJoe Frank.For the professor of chemistry, seeJoe L. Franklin.

Joe Franklin(March 9, 1926 – January 24, 2015), bornJoseph Fortgang,was an American radio and television host personality, author and actor fromNew York City.Franklin is noted for having the firsttalk showand inventing the format. His television series debuted in January 1951 on WJZ-TV (laterWABC-TV), moving to WOR-TV (laterWWOR-TV) in 1962, remaining there until 1993, one of the longest running uninterrupted careers in broadcasting history.[2]

Joe Franklin
Franklin in 2007
Born
Joseph Fortgang

(1926-03-09)March 9, 1926
The Bronx, New York,U.S.
DiedJanuary 24, 2015(2015-01-24)(aged 88)
Manhattan, New York,U.S.
Alma materColumbia University (ungraduated)[1]
Occupation(s)Television and radio personality
Known forInventing the talk show format
Children1

Early life

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Franklin was bornJoseph Fortgangon March 9, 1926, inThe Bronx,New York, the elder of two children, toAustrianJewishparents, Anna (Heller) and Martin Fortgang.[3]He acknowledged in his memoirs,Up Late With Joe Franklin,(which was written with R. J. Marx), that his press materials had long said, purposely, that he had been born in 1928,[4]but he planned to come clean about his real birth date. As a teenager, Franklin "followed around"Al JolsonandEddie Cantor,the latter of whom eventually began buying jokes from the young Franklin and whoseCarnegie Hallshow he later produced. At age 18, Franklin was drafted into theUnited States Army,serving inWorld War II.[5][6]

Career

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At 14, Franklin began writing skits forTheKate SmithHour;and at 16, Franklin officially began his entertainment career as a record picker on radio sensationMartin Block'sMake Believe Ballroomwhere he became known as "The Young Wreck with the Old Records".[citation needed]By the time he was 21, he embarked on a radio career. He was also considered to be an authority on popular culture of the first half of the 20th century, including silent films. He was called "The King of Nostalgia" and "The Wizard of Was" for focusing on old-time show-business personalities. Franklin was also a pioneer in promoting products such as Hoffman Beverages andCanada Dryginger ale on the air.A&E's documentaryIt's Only Talk, The Real Story Of America's Talk Showscredits Franklin as the creator of the television talk show. Franklin was listed in theGuinness World Recordsas the longest running continuous on-air TV talk show host, more than a decade longer thanJohnny Carson's run.

In 1999, Franklin partnered with Producer Steve Garrin and Restaurant Mogul Dennis Riese to open Joe Franklin's Memory Lane Restaurant on West 45th Street in Broadway's theater district.[7]After the restaurant closed in 2003 it reopened the following year as"Joe Franklin's Comedy Club"on West 50th Street. Many name comedians came to the club and performed on stage to break in their new material, and many aspiring comics got their first stage time there. It closed in 2005.

After retiring from his television show, Franklin concentrated on his overnight radio show, playing old records onWOR-AMon Saturday evenings and mentoring thousands of aspiring entertainers who for decades sought an audience with him at his notoriously clutteredTimes Squareoffice. Franklin's celebrity interviews, known as "Nostalgia Moments", appeared daily on theBloomberg Radio Networkuntil mid-January 2015, shortly before his death.[8]

Famous guests

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Franklin's guests included an eclectic mix of actual celebrities and low level performers, sometimes on the same panel. He claimed to have hadCharlie Chaplinon his program, a dubious statement since Chaplin left the United States in 1952, shortly after Franklin's TV debut. Franklin took credit for discovering or giving early exposure toAl Pacino,Bette Midler,Barbra Streisand,Michael Jackson,Garth BrooksandWoody Allen.He interviewedAndy WarholandHoward Stern,William F. BuckleyandAbbie Hoffman,Jack LaLanneandMuhammad Ali,Fred AstaireandJohn Wayne.[5]

Other guest claims includeJudy Garland,Marilyn Monroe(with whom Franklin co-authored "The Marilyn Monroe Story" in 1953),Jayne Mansfield,The Beastie Boys,Cary Grant,Sam Levene,Lena Horne,Tony Bennett,Salvador Dalí,Rudy Vallee,Jimmy Durante,Madonna,John LennonandYoko Ono,Bing Crosby,Jerry Lewis,Roger Williams,The Belmonts,Elvis Presley,The Ramones,Lou Albano,Anita O'Day,and five US presidents (includingJohn F. KennedyandRichard Nixon).[9]As with the Chaplin claim, some of these appearances were unable to be independently confirmed based on a lack of evidence, since still pictures taken on the set do not exist for several of the people listed, and little video from before the 1970s survives. Bette Midler was the show's in-house singer for a time, andBarry Manilowher accompanist. Elizabeth Joyce was his in-house psychic/astrologer. Franklin never employed a co-host, but his producer, Richie Ornstein, was a standard feature on theJoe Franklin Showwho interacted with guests and discussed trivia.[2]

Woody Allen,Andy Kaufman,Liza Minnelli,Barbra Streisand,Julia Roberts,Bruce Springsteen,Robin Williams,John Belushi,Richard Pryor,andThey Might Be Giantsgot their first television exposure onThe Joe Franklin Show.Frank Sinatrareportedly appeared four times. Franklin frequently appeared at his restaurant, where he conducted live, in-person interviews with entertainers such asCarol Channing,Anita O'DayandBilly Crystal,who impersonated Franklin onSaturday Night Live.

In media

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Franklin appeared as himself in such New York-based films asGhostbusters,Broadway Danny Rose,and29th Street.Franklin appeared on the first episode ofThis American Lifegiving hostIra Glassadvice on how to have a successful show. He was also a guest on (4th) an early episode ofSpace Ghost Coast to Coast.He also made appearances in various works by New York low-budget film companyTroma Entertainment,making a cameo as himself in their 1999 meta-fictional slasher filmTerror Firmer,as well as the 1993infomercialThe Troma Systemas the result of the commercial's host transforming into "the ultimate talk show host". Franklin appeared as himself in comedianTracey Ullman’s 1993HBOcomedy specialTracey Ullman Takes on New York,interviewing character Linda Granger on his talk show.

Franklin's show was first parodied byBilly Crystalduringthe 1984–1985 seasonofSaturday Night Live.

On the locally produced programThe Uncle Floyd Show,hostFloyd Vivinoparodied Franklin as "Joe Frankfurter".

In 1997, Franklin was profiled in the documentary film50,000,000 Joe Franklin Fans Can't Be Wrong(1997), directed by Joshua Brown.[10]

Also in 1997, Franklin was satirized by Drew Friedman in *Any Similarity to Persons Living or Dead is Purely Coincidental(with Josh Alan Friedman) (Fantagraphics Books, 1997)

Franklin appears in the 2005 documentaryThe Aristocrats,an anthology of absurdly crude humor.[11]

In 2014, Franklin starred inOwen Klineand Andrew Lampert's comedic short filmJazzy for Joe,which featured Franklin raising an abandoned baby discovered on his doorstep. The film was programmed byRobert Downey Sr.and run as the finale of a 2014 retrospective of his own filmography at the late West Hollywood theaterCinefamily.[12]

Personal life

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Franklin married Lois Meriden, a onetime performer withSally Rand's burlesque-style "fan dancers". They had a son, Bradley. Later, Franklin's longtime companion was Jodi Fritz.[5]

Franklin died ofprostate cancerat a Manhattan hospice on January 24, 2015, aged 88.[13][14]

Selected books

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  • 1953The Marilyn Monroe Story,R. Field Company; Greenberg.
  • 1959Classics of the Silent Screen: A Pictorial Treasury,The Citadel press (reprinted in 2013 by Literary Licensing, LLC); attributed to Franklin but actually written by noted film historianWilliam K. Everson[15]
  • 1974Joe Franklin's Memory Lane Cookbook,Lion Books,ISBN9780874602425
  • 1978A Gift for People,M. Evans Company,ISBN0-87131-244-1
  • 1980Joe Franklin's Awfully Corny Joke Book,Chelsea House Publishers,ISBN9780877541424
  • 1981Seventy Years of Great Film Comedians: A Joe Franklin Memory Lane Scrapbook,Global Communications,ISBN9780938294061
  • 1985Joe Franklin's Encyclopedia of Comedians,Bell Pub. Co.,ISBN9780517467657
  • 1992Joe Franklin's Movie Trivia,Hastings House,ISBN9780803893481
  • 2001Up Late with Joe Franklin,Scribner,ISBN978-0-02-540775-6
  • 2012The Marilyn Monroe Story: The Intimate Inside Story of Hollywood's Hottest Glamour Girl.,Campfire Network,ISBN1475004141.

References

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  1. ^"Remembering Joe Franklin".Emmys.Television Academy.Retrieved5 September2021.
  2. ^abHinckley, David (November 26, 1999)."Joe Franklin: Truth in Packaging".New York Daily News.Archived fromthe originalon July 3, 2009.Retrieved2008-01-01.
  3. ^Arnold, Laurence (January 25, 2015)."Joe Franklin, 'King of Nostalgia' on NYC Radio, TV, Dies at 88".Bloomberg.RetrievedJanuary 26,2015.
  4. ^Barron, James (January 24, 2015)."Joe Franklin, a Talk Show Institution in New York, Dies at 88".The New York Times.RetrievedMarch 23,2017.
  5. ^abcJoe Franklin dies at 88; interviewed 'plate twirlers' and stars.Los Angeles TimesviaInternet Archive.Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  6. ^Joe Franklin, NNDB Tracking the Entire World.NNDB.Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  7. ^"Joe Franklin's Memory Lane Bar & Restaurant is NOW OPEN...",JoeFranklin.com; accessed January 26, 2015.
  8. ^"Bloomberg Radio Shows: Bloomberg on the Weekend".Bloomberg.RetrievedDecember 17,2011.
  9. ^"Joe Franklin Talk Show Icon Dies",Theaterpizzazz.com. January 25, 2015.
  10. ^"50,000,000 Joe Franklin Fans Can't Be Wrong".Paleycenter.org.The Paley Center for Media.1998.RetrievedAugust 9,2015.
  11. ^Goodyear, Dana (October 24, 2005)."Quiet Depravity".The New Yorker.
  12. ^Gayne, Zach,Screenanarchy,December 5, 2014,"Robert Downey Sr. On Truth, Soul, And Cinefamily";accessed January 2, 2021.
  13. ^James Barron (January 24, 2015)."Joe Franklin, Local Talk Show Pioneer, Dies at 88".New York Times.RetrievedJanuary 26,2015.Joe Franklin... died on Saturday in at the ary Manning Walsh Hospice Center in Manhattan. He was 88. Steve Garrin, Mr. Franklin's producer and longtime friend, said the cause was prostate cancer....
  14. ^Sharpio, Rich (January 24, 2015)."Joe Franklin 'King of Nostalgia' dead at 88".New York Daily News.New York.Retrieved2015-01-25.
  15. ^Brownlow, Kevin (16 April 1996),"Obituary: William K. Everson",The Independent,archivedfrom the original on 2022-06-09,retrieved2020-07-20
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