Al Franken trivia and videos

Learn more about the comedic-actor-turned-liberal-politician with trivia and videos.

Al Franken with Blaine, the "official office dog" of his Senate office

Impersonating a gyrating Mick Jagger onstage, using biting humor against Fox News commentator Bill O’Reilly, making an impassioned speech about the "Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" policy on the Senate floor—Al Franken has done it all. (Read a profile from the March-April issue.) Learn more about the comedic-actor-turned-liberal-politician from the facts below, and, further down, from two videos, one lighthearted and one more serious.

  1. Franken and his longtime writing partner, Tom Davis, went to the same private high school in Minneapolis, and later performed as comedians at the Brave New Workshop, a satirical theater.
  2. Harvard bound: Franken received a perfect score (800) on the math section of the SATs.
  3. Though he was born in New York City, Franken was raised in St. Louis Park, a suburb of Minneapolis – also home of writer Tom Friedman, political pundit Norm Ornstein, and Joel and Ethan Coen, makers of such films as Fargo and No Country for Old Men.
  4. During their original stint as apprentice writers for Saturday Night Live, Franken and Davis were paid $350 per week—to be split between the two of them.
  5. Among the sketches Franken and Davis wrote at SNL were “Julia Child Bleeding to Death (performed by Dan Aykroyd), and “Theodoric of York, Medieval Barber” (performed by Steve Martin).
  6. At SNL, when a performer needed to be hit by an object tossed from off-camera, Franken was the designated thrower because of his amazingly accurate throwing arm.
  7. Franken appeared in bed with Arianna Huffington in the “Strange Bedfellows” segment of Bill Maher’s show, Politically Incorrect. Huffington credits Franken with turning her from a conservative Republican to a progressive.
  8. Franken co-wrote and co-produced When a Man Loves a Woman, the critically-acclaimed movie starrying Andy Garcia and Meg Ryan.
  9. Franken is the cousin of MSNBC contributor Bob Franken and the brother of photojournalist Owen Franken.
  10. In 2003, when Franken was a fellow at the Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy, he got in trouble for using Harvard stationery to write letters to then-Attorney General John Ashcroft and other prominent conservative politicians. In the letters, Franken asked recipients to recount their personal experiences in resisting sexual temptation. He said the stories would appear in a book about the virtues of abstinence until marriage, to be titled Savin' It.
  11. You can follow him on Twitter: @alfranken

Sources: Yahoo, IMDB, and Wikipedia

Below, watch a campaign commercial in which Franken's wife, Franni, discuss how he stood by her side during times of need... 

...and a video of Franken impersonating Mick Jagger.

 

 


Related topics

You might also like

The Artist Edward Gorey—and Pets—at Harvard

Winter exhibits at Houghton Library   

A New Prescription for Youth Mental Health

Kenyan entrepreneur Tom Osborn ’20 reimagines care for a global crisis.

Most popular

What Trump Means for John Roberts’s Legacy

Executive power is on the docket at the Supreme Court.

The Origins of Europe’s Most Mysterious Languages

A small group of Siberian hunter-gatherers changed the way millions of Europeans speak today.

The Harvard Professor Who Quantified Democracy

Erica Chenoweth’s data shows how—and when—authoritarians fall.

Explore More From Current Issue

Professor David Liu smiles while sitting at a desk with colorful lanterns and a figurine in the background.

This Harvard Scientist Is Changing the Future of Genetic Diseases

David Liu has pioneered breakthroughs in gene editing, creating new therapies that may lead to cures.

A person walks across a street lined with historic buildings and a clock tower in the background.

Harvard In the News

A legal victory against Trump, hazing in the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra, and kicking off a Crimson football season with style

A vibrant composition of flowers, a bird, and butterflies with a distant manor under a moody sky.

Rachel Ruysch’s Lush (Still) Life

Now on display at the Museum of Fine Arts, a Dutch painter’s art proved a treasure trove for scientists.