The Hollywood community is in mourning once again, after the passing of a TV legend. JudgeJoseph A. Wapner, who served as the judge and star of the hit syndicated TV seriesThe People’s Court, died Sunday at the age of 97, at his home in Los Angeles. The judge’s sonDavidconfirmed his death yesterday, with the judgepassing awayin his sleep
Associated Pressbroke the news yesterday, revealing thatJudge Wapnerhad been hospitalized a week ago forbreathing problemsand he had since been in hospice care. BeforeThe People’s Courtdebuted in 1981, JudgeJoseph A. Wapnerhad served as a Los Angeles Municipal Court and Superior Court judge for over 20 years, before he retired in 1979, a day after his 60th birthday. During his time on the bench, he was credited with innovations that were aimed at saving time during lengthy trials, increasing the number of trials heard solely by a judge, with no jury, if both sides would agree to this stipulation.
Joseph A. Wapnerwas a Los Angeles native, born July 10, 2025, and graduating from Hollywood High School in 1937, where he briefly dated film starLana Turner. He received a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy in 1941 from the University of Southern California, before serving in World War II, winning a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star after he was wounded by a sniper fire in the Philippines. He was honorably discharged in 1945, and he went back to USC to receive his law degree in 1948. He worked in a private practice as a lawyer for a year before Gov. Edmund G. Brown of California appointed him to a judgeship in Los Angeles municipal court in 1959. Just two years later, thelate TV starwas elected presiding judge of the city’s vast Superior Court system, in which he supervised more than 200 judges.
The People’s Courtran in syndication from 1981 to 1993 with JudgeJoseph A. Wapnerpresiding over small claims cases, alongside bailiffRusty Burrelland hostDoug Llewellyn. He was approached by TV producerRalph Edwards(Truth or Consequences,This Is Your Life) to preside over a show similar toDivorce Courtthat would feature real life small claims court cases. His audition showedWapnerpresiding over a case involving a petite woman and her boyfriend, a professional football player, and when the judge immediately told the defendant to be seated when he approached the woman, the producers knew they had found the right man for the job. The show went off the air in 1993, but it would be relaunched just four years later in 1997, in the aftermath of theO.J. Simpsontrial, with thelate TV iconbeing replaced byEd Koch. The show is still running to this date, withMarilyn Milianpresiding over the court cases since 2001.
AfterThe People’s Courtwent off the air, Joseph A. Wapner became the star of a different court TV show,Animal Court, which ran from 1998 to 2000 and reunited the judge with his bailiffRusty Burrell, where he tried cases involving animals. He also guest starred as Commissar Joseph A. Wapner in the pilot episode ofSliders, and appeared as himself in episodes ofMuppets Tonight,Sunset BeachandMalcolm & Eddie. The judge issurvived byhis wife of over 70 years and by two sons. He is preceded in death by his daughterSarah, who passed away in 2015.
