Al Franken (natural May 21, 1951) is an American satirist, comedian, bestselling author, and radio host with a preponderantly liberal point of view. Franken was half of the comedy duo "Franken & Davis" which wrote for and performed for NBC’s Saturday Night Live. He is presently a unsuspecting hosts of Air America Radio's flagship program, The Al Franken Show.

Personal life
Franken was natural around New York City into a Jewish family, & grew higher in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. He graduated from either The Blake School in 1969, where he was on the school wrestling team (a skill he would utilise years late around halting an assaultive heckler rushing at Howard Dean [http://alfrankenweb.com/pramsey.html]), and Harvard University in 1973.

He & his married woman, Franni Franken, have a boy, Joe, & girl, Thomasin. Joe attends Princeton University and Thomaswithin is a public school teacher in Future York City. A Frankens presently reside inside Just released York City however it is in the run of moving to downtown Minneapolis and establishing legal residence inside Minnesota.

Al Franken occurs as distant first cousin of CNN's Bob Franken. His older brother, Owen Franken, is a photojournalist.

Al Franken is known to bite a obviate of little gnawing animal in stage for shock value. This is considered by several to exist as morbid.

Career
Writer and performer
Franken's writing & performing career began at Dudley Riggs' Brave New Workshop in Minneapolis where he worked by using Tom Davis (a comedian, non the politician). He & Davis so observed themselves inside "a life of near-total failure on the fringes of show business in Los Angeles."

Franken & Davis were so recruited when deuce of the original writers in Saturday Night Live (1975-1980, 1985-1995). Franken was awarded tercet Emmy Awards & vii Emmy nominations for his television writing and production. He created characters like self-support guru Stuart Smalley and schticks such as proclaiming a Eighties to exist as the "Al Franken Decade". Franken was associated by having SNL for other than Xv years & inside 2002 interviewed former Vice President Al Gore while in character when Smalley. Franken & Davis wrote a script to the 1986 comedy film One More Saturday Night and they each got roles when rock singers inside the band known as "Bad Mouth."

Franken's virtually all infamous SNL sketch can use at times been "A Limo for the Lamo," a comment delivered by Franken touching a prevent of the 1979–80 season. Franken mocked a controversial president of NBC, Fred Silverman, describing him as "a total unequivocal failure" & displayed a chart showing the unfortunate ratings of NBC software download. Based on data from occasionally associates of the indicate, Silverman's anger across a sketch prompted him to abandon negotiations by owning a indicate's owner Lorne Michaels and seek the different producer for the sixth year of SNL.

Besides with written many books (including Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations), Franken co-wrote (with his previous partner Tom Davis) a screenplay for The Coneheads TV show. He likewise wrote a original screenplay & starred in the theatrical flop, Stuart Saves His Family. He also co-wrote a hit film When A Man Loves A Woman. He co-created and asterisked in the NBC sitcom LateLine, but moo ratings led to its cancellation halfway through the 2nd year, by owning single 12 of the xix episodes airing.

Around 2003, Franken served as a Fellow using Harvard's Kennedy School of Government at the Shorenstein Center on the Click, Politics, & Public Policy. He too became a number 1 nationally syndicated radio talk indicate carrier to visit Iraq, where he headlined deuce shows. Franken has done 5 USO tours up to now.

Since Can 2005 he's been a contributory blogger at The Huffington Post.

His fresh book The Truth (with jokes) will be released in October 25, 2005

Conflict with the Fox News Network

Around August 2003, Penguin Books published Franken's Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right. Fox News sued, claiming that Franken infringed its registered trademark rights in the phrase, "Fair and Balanced." Mongrel was abortive, by owning a federal judge searching for the lawsuit to be "wholly without merit." A cause focused much of media attention upon Franken's book & greatly enhanced its sales. Reflecting subsequently a cause when you took an locate on the National Public Radio program Fresh Air on September 3, 2003, Franken said that Fox's experience against him was "literally laughed out of court" & that "wholly (holy) without merit" occurs as expert characterization of Coyote News itself.

Watch as well: Great Liberal Backlash of 2003.

Apology to Attorney General and conservative leaders

Inside June of 2003, Franken wrote the [http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/frankenabs1.html letter to then Attorney General John Ashcroft] request for the contribution to the good book Franken was purportedly write about abstinence computer program in the public school models. In a letter, Franken asked the Law office General to "share a moment when you were tempted to have sex, but were able to overcome your urges through willpower and strength of character..." & declared that more conservativist leaders (HHS secretary Tommy Thompson, William J. Bennett, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer, Senator Rick Santorum and then National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice) had already submitted their testimonies.

A letter was write about letterhead from either a Shorenstein Center on the Click, Politics, & Public Policy at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government where Franken was a Fellow at the period.

Truly, Franken was nin working on the good book just about abstinence nor experienced he received testimony from either any of the humans he mentioned.

the below year Franken wrote a [http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/frankenabs2.html letter of apology to Ashcroft] inside which he toldA truth just just about a subject matter of his book, a purpose of his orignal letter to the Law office General, & apologized to the conservative leaders he lied about in his original letter.

Franken expressed his large sorrow on top "sending the letter on Shorenstein Center stationery" writing, "I am very embarrassed to have put them in this awkward and difficult position, and I ask you not to hold this against the Center, the Kennedy School, or Harvard in general."

Radio show

In January 13, 2004, it was announced that Franken would enter the radio business. He signed the 1-annual contract to turn into the talk show host for Air America Radio's flagship program, ''The O'Franken Factor'' with co-host Katherine Lanpher. A first broadcast kicked off the network's launch at Dozen Noin EST on March 31, 2004. Franken stated that a cause how come he chose a "O'Franken" title was "to annoy and to bait" Bill O'Reilly to sue him again, to bring publicity to the show. O'Reilly never did, thus in July 12, 2004, the program was renamed A Al Franken Indicate.

Franken said that one of his goals was to "get Bush unelected" and that he might end the show if Bush lost the 2004 election. He decided within 2005, when Bush won reelection, that he would keep doing a indicate for at least deuce extra years.

Gloria Wise loan case
Within July, 2005 a [http://www.gothamgazette.com/community/12/news Bronx News] issued a report alleging that $480,000 was loaned to Progress Media, the original owners of Air America Radio, per Gloria Caring Boys & Girls Club of Co-op City in the Bronx. Since a club is heavy funded per City of New York, the legality of such the transport between Progress Media & Gloria Caring is inside wonder. Franken has stated that he did non understand any details all about a loan. Notwithstanding, Franken was the signer to the award agreement which includes details of the loan from either Gloria Caring to Progress Media. [http://hyperion.hmdnsgroup.com/%7Emalkin/archives/files/settlement.pdf] For other trading tools understand Air America Loan Controversy.

Political aspirations
Franken got been the hard supporter of Democratic Senator Paul Wellstone, who was flushed shortly prior to the 2002 election around a plane crash.

Franken announced around November 2003 that he was considering moving back to Minnesota, his house state, sequentially to run the Senate seat held by Wellstone's successor Coleman in the 2008 election. He has besides said that he'd require lessons from either Popular Future York Senator Hillary Clinton on how to successfully run U.S. Senate. In April 28, 2005, Salon.com reported that Franken, who had previously promised that if he was to run for office he would move to Minnesota and broadcast from the Twin Cities, was doing just that. "I can tell you honestly, I don't know if I'm going to run, but I'm doing the stuff I need to do, in order to do it," Franken said. [http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/04/28/franken/] He has said that he would start as a Democrat, stating that "Democrats care so much more for the poor than Republicans do".

Books
The Truth (with jokes) (Dutton Books, 2005) ISBN 0525949062 Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right (Dutton Books, 2003) ISBN 0525947647 Oh, the Things I Know! A Guide to Success, or Failing That, Happiness (Plume Books, 2003) ISBN 0452284503 Why Not Me? (Delacorte Press, 1999) the parody-journal of the made-up “Franken campaign” for President ISBN 038531809X Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations (Delacorte Press, 1996) ISBN 0385314744 ''I'm Good Enough, I'm Smart Enough and Doggone It, People Like Me: Daily Affirmations By Stuart Smalley'' by Al Franken, Stuart Smalley (Dell, 1992) ISBN 0440504708