Joseph Albert Wapner (November 15, 1919 – February 26, 2017) was an American judge and television personality. He is best known as the first presiding judge of the ongoing reality court show The People's Court. The show's first run in syndication, with Wapner presiding as judge, lasted from 1981 to 1993, for 12 seasons and 2,484 episodes. While the show's second run has been presided over by multiple judges, Wapner was the sole judge to preside during the show's first incarnation. His tenure on the program made him the first jurist of arbitration-based reality court shows, which evolved into the most popular trend in the judicial genre and continues to be to the present. Early life Joseph Albert Wapner was born on November 15, 1919, in Los Angeles, California, to Jewish parents who had immigrated there; his father, attorney Joseph Max Wapner (1898–1992), was from Romania, while his mother, Fannie (née Friedman) (1900–1990), was from Russia. Wapner had a younger sister named Irene. Wapner attended Hollywood High School and once dated actress Lana Turner while in high school. Wapner was a graduate of the University of Southern California (1941) and the USC Law School (1948), serving in World War II in between. Wapner was awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star while serving in the South Pacific in Cebu. He was honorably discharged from the United States Army as a lieutenant. Career Legal career Wapner was an attorney in private practice for ten years. Appointed by Governor Pat Brown to the Los Angeles Municipal Court in 1959, Wapner served two years before being elevated to the Los Angeles County Superior Court, where he served for 18 years before retiring. While serving on the Superior Court bench, Wapner served as presiding judge in 1969 and 1970. Wapner was also president of the California Judges Association in 1975 and 1976 and retired from the court on November 16, 1979. The People's Court Wapner was the first judge to preside over the court show The People's Court. His tenure on the program lasted from 1981 to 1993, making for 2,340 half-hour episodes. On the series, he conducted a binding arbitration that was set up to resemble a small claims court by pitting parties, without lawyers, against each other. The legacy of the show's high popularity has led to various other similar syndicated courtroom shows, such as Judge Judy and Hot Bench, among