Alan Stuart Franken was born on the 21st May 1951, in New York City, USA, and is a politician, actor, writer, and comedian, best known as a current US Senator from Minnesota, a position he has held since 2009. Franken also worked as a writer and performer on the television comedy show “Saturday Night Live” in the ‘70s and ‘80s, and won five Emmys. His career started in 1975.
Have you ever wondered how rich Al Franken is, as of late-2016? According to authoritative sources, it has been estimated that Franken’s net worth is as high as $8 million, an amount earned through politics, acting, his successful career on television, and Franken has also published several books, which have improved his wealth.
Al Franken Net Worth $8 Million
Al Franken is a son of Phoebe, a real estate agent, and Joseph Franken, a printing salesman, in a Jewish family with roots from Russia and Germany. His family moved from New York to Albert Lea, Minnesota, when Al was a young child, and then to St. Louis Park, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. Al went to The Blake School, where he was a member of the wrestling team and matriculated in 1969. Later, he studied at Harvard College majoring in government and graduating in 1973 with BA degree.
Franken met his fellow writer and longtime friend Tom Davis while at high school, and the two became well-known for their humor, especially political satire. They were hired as writers and occasional performers for “Saturday Night Live” from 1975 to 1995; in Season 1 of the show, Franken and Davis shared $350 per week. Franken also wrote “The New Show” in 1984, six episodes of “Politically Incorrect” from 1996 to 1997, and is the creator of “Late Line” that aired from 1998 to 1999, all contributing to his net worth.
Franken’s acting career started in 1976 when he appeared in the comedy called “Tunnel Vision”, and he also had a part in “The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash” (1978), which certainly added to his net worth. In 1983, Franken played in John Landis’ Oscar-nominated comedy “Trading Places” starring Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd, then together with Tom Davis, Al starred in “One More Saturday Night” in 1986. In the ‘90s, Franken had bigger roles in “MTV, Give Me Back My Life: A Harvard Lampoon Parody” (1991), Harold Ramis’ “Stuart Saves His Family” (1995), “The Definite Maybe” (1997) with Bob Balaban, and starred in “LateLine” from 1998 to 1999, increasing further his net worth. Most recently, Al played in Jonathan Demme’s Golden Globe-nominated drama “The Manchurian Candidate” (2004) starring Denzel Washington, Liev Schreiber, and Meryl Streep.
He entered politics in the ‘70s, but wasn’t very active until the 2000’s. Franken was a well-known supporter of Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone and his death in a plane crash in 2002 was extremely upsetting to him. In 2003, Al started talking about entering the Senate, and in 2005, he founded his political action committee “Midwest Values PAC”. In 2008, he formally announced his candidacy for the Minnesota Senate, and a year later, Franken became the Senator after defeating Norm Coleman, and is still serving as a Minnesota Senator. Franken has published several non-fiction books, including “I’m Good Enough, I’m Smart Enough, and Doggone It, People Like Me!: Daily Affirmations with Stuart Smalley” (1992), “Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations” (1996), “Why Not Me?: The Inside Story of the Making and Unmaking of the Franken Presidency” (1999), and most recently “The Truth (With Jokes)” (2005), the sales of which have increased his net worth.
Regarding his personal life, Al Franken married Franni Bryson in 1975, and they have a son and a daughter. Al and his wife moved to Minneapolis in 2005, and they still live there.
Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing - Variety Series, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy-Variety Or Music Program, Grammy Award for Best Spoken Comedy Album, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy, Variety, or Music Special...
Nominations
WGA Award for Best Comedy/Variety - Music, Awards, Tributes - Specials - Television, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing - Comedy Or Comedy-Variety Or Music Series
Movies
Tunnel Vision, Trading Places, One More Saturday Night, When a Man Loves a Woman, Stuart Saves His Family, No Money Down, Al Franken: God Spoke, Mr. Conservative: Goldwater on Goldwater, Manufacturing Dissent, The Internet Must Go, The First Amendment Project, George W. Bushisms
No one is more sensitive to the issue of overeating than the creator of Stuart Smalley.
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[2/96, interview with Mark Schapiro for "Salon"] The reason I chose [Rush Limbaugh] is, first of all, when I made the decision, it was late '94, right before the congressional elections. He was this huge power, he was being called the "Majority Maker" . . . and I listened to him, I just listened to him. And I thought, "How does this guy get away with this? . . . Someone's got to do something that's funny. Someone's got to do something in his face.
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[interview with Marla Williams, Seattle Times, 3/11/96] I'm part of the mushball middle. I consider "confused" the majority position because, thankfully, most people would rather be uncertain some of the time than 100% positive all the time - even when they're wrong."
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[2/06, in interview with Jay MacDonald entitled "Fame & Fortune: Comedian Al Franken"] No, I grew up very middle class. My parents didn't make a lot of money. My dad was not a high school graduate - he didn't have a career as such, he was a printing salesman essentially for most of his working life."
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[at the Maine political delegation breakfast on July 26, 2004, replying to actor John Cusack, who saw Franken in the audience and said, "I'm not going to try and be funny"] I'm not going to try and act.
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Fact
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His paternal grandparents were German Jewish immigrants, and his maternal grandfather was a Russian Jewish immigrant. His maternal grandmother was born in Pennsylvania, to Russian Jewish parents.
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Radio talk show host in Minneapolis, syndicated nationally on Air America Radio. [May 2006]
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Radio talk show host in New York City. [2004]
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United States Senator from Minnesota [July 2009]
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He is mentioned in Alicyn Packard's song "The Pinky Song.".
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Father of daughter, Thomasin Davis Franken (born in 1981), and named after his comedy partner, Tom Davis, from Saturday Night Live. Father-in-law of Brody Konow Greenwald (born in 1980).
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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.
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Won the 2008 DFL endorsement for the Minnesota Senate seat against Norm Coleman. (June 7, 2008).
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Announced his bid to run for U.S. Senate in 2008 representing the state of Minnesota.
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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.
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His book, "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right," provoked a lawsuit from Fox News--which was prominently featured in the book--alleging copyright infringement of its advertising slogan that claimed its news coverage was "fair and balanced." The suit was quickly thrown out of court 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.
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He received a perfect score (800) on the math section of the SAT.
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When ex-President Bill Clinton 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)