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Al Franken

Al Franken is a well-known comedian, writer, and lecturer who is perhaps best known for his performances on the NBC-TV variety progam Saturday Night Live. He is also known as half of the comedy duo, Franken and Davis. Franken was born in New York City, grew up in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis, and graduated Harvard University in 1973. He is married to Franni Franken. The couple lives in New York City with their son and daughter. Al Franken is also a distant cousin of Bob Franken of CNN.

Career

Franken was one of the original writers on Saturday Night Live, and received three Emmy Awards and seven Emmy nominations for television writing and producing for his work there. He created characters such as self-help guru Stuart Smalley and schtick like the Al Franken Decade. Franken was associated with SNL for more than 15 years and in 2002 interviewed former Vice President Al Gore while in character as Smalley.

Franken's most notorious SNL sketch may have been A Limo for the Lamo, a commentary delivered by Franken near the end of the 1979–80 season. Franken mocked the controversial president of NBC, Fred Silverman, describing him as a total unequivocal failure and displayed a chart showing the poor ratings of NBC programs. According to some associates of the show, Silverman's anger over the sketch prompted him to abandon negotiations with the show's creator Lorne Michaels and seek a different producer for the SNL's sixth season.

Besides having written numerous books, Franken wrote the original screenplay for the movie, Stuart Saves His Family and co-wrote (with Tom Davis) the screenplay for The Coneheads.

Franken has often been the subject of controversy for writing satirical works that convey his liberal political views.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2004.

Al Franken Facts

OccupationActor, Writer, Comedian
BirthdayMay 21, 1951 (72)
SignGemini
BirthplaceNew York, New York, USA

Selected Filmography

Trading Places
The Aviator
The Manchurian Candidate
Saturday Night Live: Season 4, 1978-1979
Stuart Saves His Family
Dick, The Vote
The Rutles
Saturday Night Live
Lord Save Us From Your Followers
The Grateful Dead: Dead Ahead
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