1. Joe Franklin, born Joseph Fortgang, was an American radio and television host personality, author and actor from New York City.
24 Facts About Joe Franklin
1. 2.
Joe Franklin was born Joseph Fortgang on March 9,1926, in The Bronx, New York, the elder of two children, to Austrian Jewish parents, Anna and Martin Fortgang.
3.
At age 18, Joe Franklin was drafted into the United States Army, serving in World War II.
4.
At 14, Joe Franklin began writing skits for The Kate Smith Hour; and at 16, Joe Franklin officially began his entertainment career as a record picker on radio sensation Martin Block's Make Believe Ballroom where he became known as "The Young Wreck with the Old Records".
5.
Joe Franklin was considered to be an authority on popular culture of the first half of the 20th century, including silent films.
6.
Joe Franklin was called "The King of Nostalgia" and "The Wizard of Was" for focusing on old-time show-business personalities.
7.
Joe Franklin was a pioneer in promoting products such as Hoffman Beverages and Canada Dry ginger ale on the air.
8.
Joe Franklin was listed in the Guinness World Records as the longest running continuous on-air TV talk show host, more than a decade longer than Johnny Carson's run.
9.
Joe Franklin's guests included an eclectic mix of actual celebrities and low-level performers, sometimes on the same panel.
10.
Joe Franklin claimed to have had Charlie Chaplin on his program, a dubious statement since Chaplin left the United States in 1952, shortly after Franklin's TV debut.
11.
Joe Franklin took credit for discovering or giving early exposure to Al Pacino, Bette Midler, Barbra Streisand, Michael Jackson, Garth Brooks and Woody Allen.
12.
Joe Franklin interviewed Andy Warhol and Howard Stern, William F Buckley and Abbie Hoffman, Jack LaLanne and Muhammad Ali, Fred Astaire and John Wayne.
13.
Franklin never employed a co-host, but his producer, Richie Ornstein, was a standard feature on the Joe Franklin Show who interacted with guests and discussed trivia.
14.
Joe Franklin frequently appeared at his restaurant, where he conducted live, in-person interviews with entertainers such as Carol Channing, Anita O'Day and Billy Crystal, who impersonated Joe Franklin on Saturday Night Live.
15.
Joe Franklin appeared as himself in such New York-based films as Ghostbusters, Broadway Danny Rose, and 29th Street.
16.
Joe Franklin appeared on the first episode of This American Life giving host Ira Glass advice on how to have a successful show.
17.
Joe Franklin was a guest on an early episode of Space Ghost Coast to Coast.
18.
Joe Franklin made appearances in various works by New York low-budget film company Troma Entertainment, making a cameo as himself in their 1999 meta-fictional slasher film Terror Firmer, as well as the 1993 infomercial The Troma System as the result of the commercial's host transforming into "the ultimate talk show host".
19.
Joe Franklin appeared as himself in comedian Tracey Ullman's 1993 HBO comedy special Tracey Ullman Takes on New York, interviewing character Linda Granger on his talk show.
20.
Also in 1997, Joe Franklin was satirized by Drew Friedman in * Any Similarity to Persons Living or Dead is Purely Coincidental.
21.
Joe Franklin appears in the 2005 documentary The Aristocrats, an anthology of absurdly crude humor.
22.
In 2014, Franklin starred in Owen Kline and Andrew Lampert's comedic short film Jazzy for Joe, which featured Franklin raising an abandoned baby discovered on his doorstep.
23.
Joe Franklin married Lois Meriden, a one-time performer with Sally Rand's burlesque-style "fan dancers".
24.
Joe Franklin died of prostate cancer at a Manhattan hospice on January 24,2015, aged 88.