 Franken was born on May 21 , 1951 , in New York City , to Joseph Franken , a printing salesman , and Phoebe ( Kunst ) , a real estate agent . His paternal grandparents emigrated from Germany ; his maternal grandfather came from Grodno , Belarus , and his maternal grandmother 's parents were also from the Russian Empire . The Franken family moved to Albert Lea , Minnesota , when Al was four years old . His father had hopes of opening a quilting factory – but after just two years , the factory failed . The family moved to St. Louis Park , Minnesota , a suburb of Minneapolis . Franken graduated from The Blake School in 1969 , where he was a member of the wrestling team . He attended Harvard College where he majored in government , graduating cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in 1973 . His older brother Owen is a photojournalist , and his cousin Bob is a journalist for MSNBC . 
