Longtime New York City television and radio personality Joe Franklin died Saturday, Jan. 24, at age of 88.

"Joe went unexpectedly and passed away Saturday night," longtime friend and producer of the late host Steve Garrin said. Franklin was known to have a prostate cancer.

Though he never made it to the national platform, Franklin hugely contributed to today's entertainment scene by interviewing minor celebrities and up-and-coming musicians before they got famous. He reportedly gave Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman and Bill Cosby their first television breaks.

Pacino even told Franklin in a private meeting years before, "Joe, why don't you interview me now that I'm somebody? You interviewed me when I was nobody," as reported by the Associated Press.

In the 1990s, the late host said he had talked to more than 300,000 guests, including Barbara Streisand, Marilyn Monroe, Woody Allen, Madonna and many more. Some of his most notable interviews were with the tap-dancing dentist and the man who whistled using his nose, according to Huffington Post.

Before David Letterman or Jay Leno, Franklin was most noted to have pioneered the modern format of television show in 1950: behind-the-desk celebrity interviews, Franklin's website noted.

When "The Joe Franklin Show" ended in 1993, Franklin focused on his late-night radio show. He then started working at the Bloomberg Radio Network where he interviewed celebrities. Even after he was diagnosed of prostate cancer, he continued to work, appearing as himself in movies like "Manhattan," "Broadway Danny Rose," "Ghostbusters" and "29th Street."

Billy Crystal, who parodied Franklin on "Saturday Night Live" sketches, tweeted, "Joe Franklin was a New York original, I grew up watching 'Memory Lane' and loved imitating him on SNL. A sad day for all who knew him."

Comedian George Wallace also posted on his Twitter account, "JOE FRANKLIN dies. The first to take a chance on all of us. Thank you. We love you JOE."

Franklin received a lifetime achievement award in 1991 from the National Academy of Television Arts & Science.