Al Franken's Main TV Roles Show Character(s) The Belzer Connection Al Franken LateLine Al Freundlich

Main Movie Roles 2007 - Manufacturing Dissent 2004 - Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism 2004 - The Manchurian Candidate 2001 - Harvard Man 1995 - Stuart Saves His Family 1994 - When a Man Loves a Woman 1983 - Trading Places

BIOGRAPHY:

Al Franken is best known for nearly two decades of work on "Saturday Night Live" (1975). During that time he wrote, performed in and produced hundreds of sketches, including "Daily Affirmations with Stuart Smalley" and "The Final Days," a piece about the last days of Richard M. Nixon's presidency. A noted political commentator and satirist, Franken also produced and starred in the NBC sitcom "LateLine" (1998) and wrote two books about politics, including "Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot." A graduate of Harvard, Franken lives in Minnesota with his wife and two kids.


TRIVIA:

• He received a perfect score (800) on the math section of the SAT.
• Has two children, daughter 'Thomasin Franken' (qv) and son 'Joe Franken' (qv).
• His book, "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right," provoked a lawsuit from Fox News claiming copyright infringement of the phrase "fair and balanced." It was quickly dismissed as being without merit and is credited with increasing sales of the book. In fact, the publisher moved up its release date to capitalize on the publicity the suit had brought.
• Elected to the United States Senate on November 4, 2008. The election was so close that there was a subsequent recount and legal battles, and he was not officially sworn in as a Senator until July 7, 2009.
• Won the 2008 DFL endorsement for the Minnesota Senate seat against Norm Coleman. (June 7, 2008).
• He received the New York Festivals' 23rd Annual International Radio Programming and Promotions' "World Achievement Award For Breakthrough Radio" for his unique perspective and commentary on his daily radio show, The Al Franken Show, on June 27, 2005.
• When ex-President 'Bill Clinton (I)' (qv) was on book tour for his autobiography at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, he saw Franken and said, "My hero's here." (reported in USA Today, July 21, 2004)
• Left Saturday Night Live as a writer and featured cast member in 1995 after his request to be the Weekend Update news anchor was denied.