Frank Hall

Frank Hall (1921 - 21 September 1995) was an Irish journalist, satirist and broadcaster. He was the second presenter of RTÉ's long-running "The Late Late Show".

Hall was born in Newry in County Down in 1921. He left school at the age of 12 to work in a local shop. He also worked in London as a waiter before returning to Dublin. On his return he began a journalistic career with the "Irish Independent" and the "Evening Herald". After that, he moved to RTÉ where he worked in the newsroom. From 1964 to 1971 he presented "Newsbeat" [http://www.rte.ie/laweb/brc/brc_1970s.html] , a regional news programme. He also presented "The Late Late Show" for the 1968/1969 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 "Hall's Pictorial Weekly", a political satire show that ran for over 250 episodes until 1982.

Hall won two Jacob's Awards, in 1966 and 1975, for his work on "Newsbeat" and "Hall's Pictorial Weekly" respectively.

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, despite his long running affair with a young RTE continuity woman (he was married to Aideen Kearney and had five children), and another with RTE presenter Frankie Byrne, with whom he had a child. Among the films banned by him was Monty Python's "The Life of Brian".

Frank Hall died in 1995 in Dublin. He is buried in Dardistown Cemetery in North Dublin