Al Franken, the former
senator, made the headlines as he was among the stars who will guest host
Comedy Central’s The Daily Show after Trevor Noah’s surprise departure. Noah
announced in September that he will be quitting the late-night talk show.
Along with the liberal
political commentator Franken, stand-up comedian Sarah Silver, and ex-cast
member Hasan Minhaj are others that are on the list of hosts to fill in for a
week’s worth of shows, reported Vulture.
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Who is Al Franken?
Born on May 21, 1951,
in New York, to Joseph Franken and Phoebe Kunst, Franken was raised in a Reform
Jewish home. His paternal grandparents came from Germany, and his Jewish father
worked as a printing salesman. His maternal grandparents were also Jewish
and emigrated from the Russian Empire to Allentown, Pennsylvania. His elder brother
Owen is a photojournalist.
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Franken’s family moved
to Minnesota when he was four. He studied at The Blake School in 1969 and
graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Harvard College in
1973.
Franken commenced his
career with Saturday Night Live in 1975 as an apprentice writer. He got five
Emmy awards for his writing within the next two decades in the show. He
also wrote screenplays and scripts for multiple movies.
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Franken authored four
books that made The New York Times Best Seller list.
In 2004, Franken
hosted Air America Radio’s The Al Franken Show. The show featured talks with
domestic and foreign policy experts and national and world leaders. The show
touched over 1.5 million listeners per week.
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On the final broadcast
of The Al Franken Show, he formally announced his candidature for United States
Senate from Minnesota in 2008. Counting on ballots, Franken led by 312 votes
but his Republican opponent Coleman appealed to the Supreme Court. On June 30, 2009,
the Court unanimously rejected Coleman’s appeal and said that Franken was
entitled to be certified as the winner. Franken was successfully reelected to a
second term in 2014.
Franken met his wife
Franni Bryson at Harvard. Their daughter, Thomasin, a Harvard graduate, is the
director of extended learning at DC Prep, an organization managing charter
schools. Their son, Joseph, works in the finance industry.
