#MINNESOTA SENATOR AND FORMER SNL WRITER SERIES#

Both of his parents were Jews, and Franken was raised in a Reform Jewish home and attended Temple Israel in Minneapolis. His paternal grandparents emigrated from Germany his maternal grandfather came from Grodno, Russian Empire and his maternal grandmother's parents were also from the Russian Empire. Franken (1908–1993), a printing salesman, and Phoebe Franken (née Kunst) (1918–2003), a real estate agent. Early life and education įranken was born in New York City to Joseph P. It covers global affairs, politics, the 2020 presidential election, and entertainment. In September 2019, Franken announced he would be hosting The Al Franken Show on Saturday mornings on SiriusXM radio. Franken resigned on January 2, 2018, after allegations of sexual misconduct were made against him. He was reelected in 2014 with 53.2% of the vote over Republican challenger Mike McFadden. After decades as an entertainer, he became a prominent liberal political activist, hosting The Al Franken Show on Air America Radio.įranken was elected to the United States Senate in 2008 as the nominee of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL, an affiliate of the Democratic Party), defeating incumbent Republican Senator Norm Coleman by 312 votes out of nearly three million cast (a margin of just over 0.01%) in one of the closest elections in the history of the Senate.

He first served as a writer for the show from 1975 to 1980, and returned from 1985 to 1995 as a writer and, briefly, a cast member.

#MINNESOTA SENATOR AND FORMER SNL WRITER SERIES#

Franken first gained fame as a writer and performer on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live, where he worked for three stints. Alan Stuart Franken (born May 21, 1951) is an American politician, comedian, writer, actor, and media personality who served as a United States senator from Minnesota from 2009 to 2018.

Minnesota senator and former snl writer