Joe Frank ( Joseph Langermann; August 19, 1938 – January 15, 2018) was a French-born American writer, teacher, and radio performer best known for his often philosophical, humorous, surrealist, and sometimes absurd monologues and radio dramas he recorded often in collaboration with friends, actors, and family members.
Early life
Frank was born Joseph Langermann in Strasbourg, France, near the border of Germany, to Meier Langermann (then aged 51, a Polish-born shoe manufacturer) and Friederike "Fritzi" Langermann ( Passweg), then aged 26. Frank was born months before the family fled from Nazi Germany's persecution of Jewish people in their native Poland. Legislation to allow the family and others into the country was passed by the US Congress twice, the first having been vetoed by President Roosevelt.
His father (identified as 'Meyer Langerman' in New York City's death records) died of kidney failure on October 8, 1943, when Joe was five years old.
On April 28, 1945, his mother married Theodore Frank (whom Joe called Freddy in his show, and in the article 'Joe Frank is off the air' in the 'LA Weekly' in 1997) and changed Joe's last name.
In his twenties, Frank studied at Hofstra University in New York and later at the Iowa Writers' Workshop. In 1964, he taught five grades of English at the Sands Point Academy for Gifted Children in Sands Point, New York. From 1965 to 1975, he taught English and Russian literature and philosophy at the Dalton School in Manhattan and later, while working as a music promoter (1976-77), became interested in the power of radio.
NPR, 1978-1984
In 1977, Frank started volunteering at Pacifica Network station WBAI in New York, performing experimental radio involving monologues, improvisational actors, and live music during late-night, free-form hours. In 1978, he moved to Washington, D.C., to serve as a co-anchor for the weekend edition of National Public Radio's All Things Considered, his first paying radio job, which lasted two weeks. At the end of each segment, he was given five minutes to create and narrate his creative fictional essays.
In 1978–84, Joe performed in, and produced 18 dramas for NPR Playhouse, which won several awards.
KCRW, 1986–2018
In 1986, at the invitation of Ruth Hirschman Seymour, the general manager of NPR's Santa Monica, California, affiliate KCRW, Frank moved to Santa Monica, California, where he wrote, produced, and performed in his own weekly hour-long radio program, Joe Frank: Work In Progress.
Frank continued to work at KCRW until 2002, and his work evolved, as evidenced by the diverse series he produced. The first was "Work in Progress," then "In The Dark," followed by "Somewhere out There", and finally "The Other Side".
Beginning in 2004, Frank began creating full-length shows for subscribers to his web site. In 2012, Frank started producing periodic half-hour shows for KCRW's "UnFictional" series. He continued to produce all-new shows for the series until months before his death.
Other activities and personal life
Starting in 2003, Frank performed on stage with original material at South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa, California, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, Illinois; at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco; and in Los Angeles at the Hammer Museum and Largo at the Coronet, as well as other venues.
His 230-hour body of work continues to be re-aired on WNYC New York, and many NPR stations including the radio station at the University of California at Davis (KDVS), Savannah, Georgia (WRUU), Cabool, Missouri (KZGM), Carson City, Nevada (KNVC), Cape May, New Jersey (WCFA), and others with new stations being added.
In early 2005, Frank suffered complete kidney failure. He received a second cousin's kidney in 2006, which continued to function normally (with the help of multiple immunosuppressant drugs) until his death.
In 2012, Frank returned to KCRW for episodes of the station's "UnFictional" program.
In May 2014, Frank had surgery to treat colon cancer, which was successful. In December 2015, Frank was hospitalized due to a gastrointestinal perforation following a routine medical procedure. This led to heart and kidney issues and Frank's complete recovery took a full year. His colon cancer returned in July 2017; he had surgery in October 2017 to excise a tumor in his colon. He died on January 15, 2018, after multiple reversals following the surgery, from sepsis.