艾尔·弗兰肯

艾伦·斯图尔特·“艾尔”·弗兰肯（英语：Alan Stuart "Al" Franken；1951年5月21日—）是美国的政治人物。他在2009年7月就任明尼苏达州的资浅参议员职位，2017年12月在遭到多名女性指控其对她们有不当行为后宣布辞职。他隶属民主党籍。

Alan Stuart Franken (born May 21, 1951) is an American politician, comedian, screenwriter, and actor who served from 2009 until his resignation in 2018 as a United States senator from Minnesota. A member of the Democratic Party, he worked as an entertainer before entering politics, appearing on television and in film.

Franken gained fame as a writer and performer on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live. He first worked on the series as a writer from 1975 to 1980, and returned from 1985 to 1995 as a writer and, briefly, a cast member. Afterward, Franken became a liberal political activist, hosting a radio show and writing satirical books scrutinizing the American right.

Though initially dismissed as a novelty candidate due to his background in comedy, Franken was elected to the United States Senate in 2008, 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 Senate history. Franken was reelected in 2014 with 53.2% of the vote. In January 2018, he resigned after allegations of sexual misconduct were made against him. He later said he regrets that decision.

In September 2019, Franken announced he would be hosting The Al Franken Show on Saturday mornings on SiriusXM radio. It covers global affairs, politics, and entertainment.

Early life and education

Franken was born in New York City to Joseph Philip Franken, a printing salesman, and Phoebe Geraldine Franken (née Kunst), a real estate agent. 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. Phoebe was from Allentown, Pennsylvania. Both of his parents were Jews, and Franken was raised in a Reform Jewish home and attended Temple Israel in Minneapolis. He has an older brother, Owen (b. circa 1946), who is a photojournalist, and his cousin Bob is a journalist for MSNBC.

The Frankens moved to Albert Lea, Minnesota, when Al was four years old. His father opened a quilting factory, but it failed after two years. The family then moved to St. Louis Park, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. Franken graduated from The Blake School in 1969, where he was a member of the wrestling team. He attended Harvard College, where he majored in political science, graduating cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in 1973. As a student, Franken wrote comedy and idolized comedians Dick Gregory and Lenny Bruce because they did acts about hypocrisy and corruption while making the audience laugh.

Franken began performing in high school, where he and his longtime friend and writing partner Tom Davis were known for their comedy. The duo first performed on stage at Minneapolis's Brave New Workshop theater specializing in political satire. They soon found themselves in what was described as "a life of near-total failure on the fringes of show business in Los Angeles".

Saturday Night Live

Franken and Tom Davis were recruited as two of the original writers and occasional performers on Saturday Night Live (SNL) (1975–1980, 1985–1995). In SNL's first season, the two apprentice writers shared a salary of $350 per week. Franken received 15 Emmy nominations and five Emmy awards for his television writing and producing, while creating such characters as self-help guru Stuart Smalley. Another routine proclaimed the 1980s the Al Franken Decade. Franken and Davis wrote the script of the 1986 comedy film One More Saturday Night, appearing in it as rock singers in a band called Bad Mouth. They also had minor roles in All You Need Is Cash and the film Trading Places, starring Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd. In the early 80s, Franken, Davis, and Jim Downey wrote a feature film parody of 1984 called 1985 for Lorne Michaels to produce under his deal with MGM, but the movie was deemed too expensive and never produced.