Up Late with Joe Franklin: Stories of the Greats, the Near Greats, the Ingrates, the Has-Beens, and the Never Weres

From 1950 to 1993, Franklin reigned as the king of very-late-night TV in New York City, attracting innumerable viewers with his inimitable blend of old records, old movies, old photos and old celebrities, together with an assortment of talented, semitalented and untalented oddballs. His program was cluttered, with estimates of his total guest list running between 200,000 and 300,000. And because the list included almost every celebrity from the 1920s to the '90s, it would be easier to list the few who did not appear than to catalogue those who did. Franklin (born Fortgang) is a native New Yorker who succeeded in radio before moving to television and now has gone back to radio. His hundreds of sparkling anecdotes make this book, written with freelancer Marx, a cornucopia of humor for show biz addicts. Photos not seen by PW. (Feb.)