Frank Hall (24 February 1921 – 21 September 1995) was an Irish broadcaster, journalist, satirist and film censor. He is best remembered for his satirical revue programme ''

Hall's Pictorial Weekly ''Hall's Pictorial Weekly'' is an Irish satirical television series broadcast on Raidió Teilifís Éireann from 1971 to 1980. Regarded as RTÉ's flagship comedy show, it featured satirical sketches on current news stories, politics and popu ...

''.

Early life

Born in

Newry Newry (; ) is a City status in Ireland, city in Northern Ireland, standing on the Newry River, Clanrye river in counties County Down, Down and County Armagh, Armagh. It is near Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border, the border with the ...

County Down County Down () is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the traditional thirty-two counties of Ireland. It covers an area of and has a population of 552,261. It borders County Antrim to the ...

, Hall received little more than a primary education as he left school at the age of twelve to work in a local shop. He later worked as a waiter in London before moving to Dublin.''The Irish Times'', "Broadcaster and satirist Frank Hall dies at 74", 22 September 1995 On his return he joined the art department of the ''

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray backgrou ...

''. Hall subsequently worked with the ''

Evening Herald ''The Herald'' is a nationwide mid-market tabloid newspaper headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, and published by Independent News & Media who are a subsidiary of Mediahuis. It is published Monday–Saturday. The newspaper was known as the ''Ev ...

'' where he wrote a column on dance bands.

Television

After that, he moved to

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

where he worked in the newsroom. From 1964 to 1971 he presented ''

Newsbeat ''Newsbeat'' is the BBC's radio news programme broadcast on Radio 1, 1Xtra and Asian Network. ''Newsbeat'' is produced by BBC News but differs from the BBC's other news programmes in its remit to provide news tailored for young people.

'

a regional news programme. He also presented '' The Late Late Show (Irish talk show), The Late Late Show'' for the opening of the 1964 season, but his lack of success in that seat led to the return of the previous presenter,

Gay Byrne Gabriel Mary Byrne (5 August 1934 – 4 November 2019) was an Irish presenter and host of radio and television. His most notable role was as the first host of '' The Late Late Show'' over a 37-year period spanning 1962 until 1999. ''The Late La ...

. When ''Newsbeat'' ended, Hall started writing and presenting ''

'', a political satire show that ran for over 250 episodes until 1980. A successor show, ''Hall and Company'', ran from 1980 until Hall's retirement from television in 1986. He served as spokesperson for the Irish jury in the

Eurovision Song Contest 1965 The Eurovision Song Contest 1965 was the 10th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, held on 20 March 1965 in the in Naples, Italy and presented by Renata Mauro. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster (RAI), t ...

and

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

. Hall won two

Jacob's Awards The Jacob's Awards were instituted in December 1962 as the first Irish television awards. Later, they were expanded to include radio. The awards were named after their sponsor, W. & R. Jacob & Co. Ltd., a biscuit manufacturer, and recipients ...

, in 1966 and 1975, for his work on ''Newsbeat'' and ''Hall's Pictorial Weekly'' respectively.

Film censor

In 1978, Hall was appointed Ireland's national film censor. During his period as censor he was known for his strict application of Irish censorship and his defence of family values. Among the films banned by him was ''

Monty Python's Life of Brian ''Monty Python's Life of Brian'' (also known as ''Life of Brian'') is a 1979 British biblical black comedy film starring and written by the comedy group Monty Python (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Micha ...

'', which he described as ''"offensive to Christians and to Jews as well, because it made them appear a terrible load of gobshites"''.

Family controversy

Hall had a long running affair with the well known agony aunt, Frankie Byrne, with whom he had a daughter, who was given up for adoption shortly after her birth in 1956. In the 2006 RTE screening of Mint Production's documentary ''Dear Frankie'', Frank was named as the father of Frankie's daughter though this was disputed at the time by Hall family members. In 2010, a play written by Niamh Gleeson, also entitled ''Dear Frankie,'' opened in the Liberty Hall theatre. Later in 2012, it opened again in the Gaiety Theatre, going on to play in theatres across the country.

Death

Hall died of a heart attack in Dublin in 1995. He is buried in Dardistown Cemetery in North Dublin.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Frank 1921 births 1995 deaths Burials at Dardistown Cemetery Irish Independent people Irish television talk show hosts Jacob's Award winners People from Newry RTÉ newsreaders and journalists Satirists from Northern Ireland The Herald (Ireland) people Broadcasters from County Down Irish satirists Irish television show creators Irish satirical television show creators