Frank Hall (24 February 1921 – 21 September 1995) was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

broadcaster, journalist, satirist and film censor. He is best remembered for his satirical revue programme ''

Hall's Pictorial Weekly ''Hall's Pictorial Weekly'' was 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 pop ...

''.

Early life

Born in

Newry Newry (; ) is a City status in Ireland, city in Northern Ireland, divided by the Newry River, Clanrye river in counties County Armagh, Armagh and County Down, Down, from Belfast and from Dublin. It had a population of 26,967 in 2011. Newry ...

, County Down, 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 London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

before moving to

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

.''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''. 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 ''Even ...

'' where he wrote a column on dance bands.

Television

After that, he moved to RTÉ 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 a specifically yo ...

'

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

'', a political satire show that ran for over 250 episodes until 1980. He served as spokesperson for the Irish jury in the

Eurovision Song Contest 1965 The Eurovision Song Contest 1965 was the tenth edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Naples, Italy, following the country's victory at the with the song "Non ho l'età" by Gigliola Cinquetti. Organised by the European ...

and 1966. 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 comedy film starring and written by the comedy group Monty Python (Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin). It ...

'', 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 a young colleague from RTÉ, though married to Aideen Kearney at the time. It has also been widely accepted that he had a daughter in 1956 with RTÉ presenter Frankie Byrne; this was disputed, at the time, by Hall family members. Hall's relationship with Frankie Byrne was placed in the public domain in a Mint Production programme, ''Dear Frankie'' screened on RTE in January 2006. 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