Up Late with Joe Franklin

Offers anecdotes from 300,000 interviews during forty-three years with the longest-running talk show host in TV history

From 1950 to 1993, Franklin reigned as the king of very-late-night TV in New York City, attracting innumerable viewers with his inimitable blend of old records, old movies, old photos and old celebrities, together with an assortment of talented, semitalented and untalented oddballs. His program was cluttered, with estimates of his total guest list running between 200,000 and 300,000. And because the list included almost every celebrity from the 1920s to the '90s, it would be easier to list the few who did not appear than to catalogue those who did. Franklin (born Fortgang) is a native New Yorker who succeeded in radio before moving to television and now has gone back to radio. His hundreds of sparkling anecdotes make this book, written with freelancer Marx, a cornucopia of humor for show biz addicts. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

For those who have never seen Joe Franklin, it's almost impossible to describe him. Perhaps the closest you can come is the Saturday Night Live character Billy Crystal used to do that was inspired by Franklin--the hambone talk-show host who always said, "I've had the greats, the near greats, I've had it, smelled it touched it." Franklin is a five-foot, six-inch package in a polyester suit who, until his recent retirement, had New York's longest-running talk show, an unbelievable 43 years, first on radio and then on television. Everybody came to Joe's--Sinatra, Crosby, Cosby, even Streisand before anyone knew she was Streisand. But the show's real attraction was the bizarre, off-the-wall talent (term loosely used) that was the staple of Franklin's Stable: the dancing undertaker or Morris Katz, "the World's Fastest Painter" (800 appearances). Franklin, who had a rare talent for asking inane questions ("So when did you get smitten or should I say bitten by show business?"), possesses so distinctive a voice that even in print he's a riot. Ilene Cooper

Franklin's memories provide entertaining reading for those interested in early radio and television programs and performers. Franklin started his long career in the early 1940s working behind the scenes in radio with Kate Smith, Ted Collins, and Martin Block, to name a few. Since the early Fifties, Franklin has hosted a variety of television shows, some of which lasted for decades. He is a fixture in New York, where he is still on-air on radio, and just gave up his television program last year. Franklin drops names like crazy, but he actually knew those early entertainers and he knows many of those currently entertaining. His anecdotes about Eddie Cantor, Rudy Vallee, and numerous singers, magicians, and comedians?many of whom worked in venues and styles that will never be seen again?are fascinating. While not essential for any collection, these reminiscences are recommended for general entertainment and pop culture collections.
-?Judy Hauser, Oakland Schs. Lib. Svcs., Waterford, Mich.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.