Sally Jessy Raphaël
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Sally Jessy Raphaël (born Sally Lowenthal on February 25, 1935 or 1943, in Easton, Pennsylvania) is an American tabloid talk show host and television personality.
Radio and television career
Raphaël earned degrees from Columbia University, Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Puerto Rico before working as a media correspondent for the Associated Press and United Press International. Early in her career, she became known as a radio personality in Puerto Rico. She hosted a radio call-in advice show distributed by NBC Talknet from 1981 to 1987, but is most famous for hosting the television talk show, Sally Jessy Raphaël, which ran in first-run syndication from 1983 to 2002. She was best known to TV viewers for her big, red-framed glasses, and the Kleenex tissues she handed out liberally to crying guests.In later years, her show moved toward topics such as unwed mothers who did not know the father of their babies, and wild, sexually-active teenagers who were sent to boot camp; in this regard, her show had become reminscient of shows hosted by Maury Povich and Jerry Springer. At its core, her show had not previously touched such topics, going for less controversial subject matter.
Raphaël spoke out in the press against the change to more raunchy material, but she continued the show, insisting that she'd rather be on television with lower ratings than end her career entirely. When her talk show became one of the lowest-rated talk shows in syndication by the early 2000s, the show was eventually canceled by the production company in charge of distribution.
In 2002 Raphaël was one of only three people named on both industry publication Talkers magazine's 25 greatests radio, and 25 greatest television, talk show hosts of all time lists. [link]
Today, she hosts a daily radio show, Sally JR's Open House, on the Internet, and there is a possibility that she will be transferring this format of show to local radio. She recently did a sample show for WLIS/WMRD, Middletown-Hartford, Connecticut.
Personal tragedy
Raphaël has been married since 1963 to Karl Soderlund, who also doubles as her manager. In 1992, her 19-year-old adopted son was seriously injured in a car accident.
Mere weeks after the incident, her daughter Allison (from her first marriage to Andrew Vladimir) died in her sleep after she combined alcohol with painkillers she had been taking for a back injury.
Raphaël's grief from the two incidents was highly publicized.
External links
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