Joe Franklin

Joseph Fortgang (born March 9 1926) is an American radio and television personality who uses the stage name Joe Franklin. From New York City Franklin hosted the first television talk show. The show began in 1950 on WJZ-TV (later WABC-TV) and moved to WOR-TV (later WWOR-TV) from 1962 to 1993.

Known as "the king of nostalgia", Franklin's highly-rated show focused on old-time show business personalities. Franklin would delight his audience with trivia about the most obscure entertainers from out of the past, and equally unknown up-and-comers from the present. His guests ranged from novelty performers like Tiny Tim to popular entertainers like Bill Cosby. This show was often parodied by Billy Crystal during the 1984–1985 season of Saturday Night Live.

After retiring from the TV show, Franklin concentrated on an all-night night radio show, playing old records on WOR-AM on Saturday evenings. He currently interviews celebrities on the Bloomberg Radio Network.

Franklin interviewed over 100,000 guests during his 43 year TV run. These included five U.S. Presidents, and screen legends such as Charlie Chaplin, John Wayne, Marilyn Monroe and Cary Grant.

An author, Franklin has written 23 books, although his popular Classics of the Silent Screen is rumored to have been ghost-written by William K. Everson. He has starred as himself in countless films, notably Ghostbusters and Broadway Danny Rose.