- "You don't know the first thing about me, pal. Look what happened because of what you did, what it led to. There are riots out there. Two policemen are in critical condition, and you're laughing, you're laughing. Someone was killed today because of what you did."
- ―Murray Franklin to Arthur Fleck[src]
Murray Franklin was a veteran talk show host in Gotham City with his program, Live! With Murray Franklin. Franklin is portrayed by Robert De Niro in the 2019 film Joker.
Biography
Joker
A veteran talk show personality in Gotham City, Murray Franklin hosted the show Live With Murray Franklin.
He was born in Gotham in 1905.
In 1981, Arthur Fleck's failed comedy routine came to Murray's attention, and he played clips on his show. Due to the unexpected popularity of Arthur's clips on the show, Murray invites the comedian to appear as a guest.
Completely unaware that Arthur has been slipping into insanity, Murray introduces him as "Joker" at Arthur's request. While on the show, Arthur makes several misanthropic and morbid jokes. He also admits to killing the three Wayne Enterprises executives on a subway train. Railing against society's abandonment of the disenfranchised and Murray's mockery of him, Arthur pulls out a gun and shoots Murray in the head, killing him instantly on live television.
Joker: Folie à Deux
Murray is mentioned alongside Arthur's other murder victims.
Behind the Scenes
Robert De Niro being selected for this is role is a reference to him starring in both The King of Comedy and Taxi Driver which is what Todd Phillips script is largely based on rather than any comic book source material. Franklin is also an intentional role-reversal to DeNiro's King of Comedy character, where he now plays the aging celebrity comedian that is being rude and dismissive to a struggling, mentally ill stand-up comic.
Trivia
- This character is also very loosely based on David Endocrine from Dark Knight#3: Hunt the Dark Knight but Joker simply gases everyone in the studio, he does not single the talk show host out or dislike him anymore than anyone else in the room.
- There are also references to former late night talk show host Johnny Carson due to the time period the story is supposed to be taking place. The layout of his show is strikingly similar to The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and he even has a sidekick and bandleader that resemble former Tonight Show cast members Ed McMahon and Doc Severinsen respectively.