Judge Joseph Wapner of ‘The People’s Court’ dies

LOS ANGELES—He was a retired Los Angeles County Superior Court judge who became an unlikely American TV icon, a white-haired jurist who was dubbed the “Solomon of Small Claims.”

Judge Joseph A. Wapner, who presided over “The People’s Court” for 12 years in the 1980s and ’90s, has died, a family member told The Associated Press. Wapner was 97.

David Wapner said his father died Sunday at home in his sleep. He said his father was hospitalized a week ago with breathing problems and had been under home hospice care.

Launched in syndication in 1981,

“The People’s Court” featured actual cases drawn from small claims courts in the Los Angeles area: real plaintiffs and defendants who agreed to dismiss their court cases and have their disputes settled in a courtroom setting in a Hollywood TV studio by Judge Wapner.

The cases Wapner heard were typical small claims disputes, such as a case involving a cat that was supposed to have been dyed blue to match its eyes but came out pink.

Or the man who bought a beer for 75 cents that he said was flat, but the store owner refused to give him another beer or return his money.

Or the woman who bought a birthday cake for her daughter for $9, discovered it was moldy and the baker would only refund $4.50.

In appearing on the show, the litigants agreed to abide by Wapner’s decision. Money for winning plaintiffs came out of a fund provided by the producers—$800 for each case when the show debuted. If a plaintiff lost, each party received $400.

The half-hour show, served up five days a week with real-life retired bailiff Rusty Burrell and Doug Llewelyn introducing each case and conducting post-decision interviews with the litigants, struck a chord with viewers.

By 1989, “People’s Court” was airing on more than 175 stations and drawing a daily audience of 20 million.

That same year, a Washington Post poll showed that Wapner was the bestknown judge in America.

He was parodied on “Saturday Night Live” by Phil Hartman, and his name frequently cropped up in Johnny Carson’s monologues on “The Tonight Show.”

Time magazine reported that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall occasionally “can be found in his chambers chuckling” while watching “The People’s Court.”

And Dustin Hoffman’s autistic savant character in the 1988 movie “Rain Man” famously fretted over missing the show. (“Uh-oh. Fifteen minutes to Judge Wapner, ‘The People’s Court.’ “)

Wapner, whose 20-year career on the bench included an early stint in smallclaims court in Los Angeles, believed the show did more than entertain viewers.

“I’m trying to demystify the whole process,” he told The Washington Post in 1989. “Make it simple, make it palatable. I want people to have respect for the law, and I want to educate people on the basics of the law.”

His status as a grandfatherly folk hero—he received a standing ovation when he addressed law students at Harvard and fielded autograph requests whenever he appeared in public—was an unexpected bonus for Wapner.

“I still can’t believe it,” he said in a 1989 interview with the Chicago Tribune. “I’m just an ordinary judge from California.”