Joe Pyne: Christine Jorgensen Interview (1967)

Source:Richard Remembers Joe Pyne- Hollywood actress Christine Jorgensen on Joe Pyne, in 1967.

"CHRISTINE JORGENSEN relates her discovery and transformation. It was the first chapter in a new outlook towards the transsexual phenomenon. She is the author of 'Christine Jorgensen A Personal Autobiography' [apostrophes added around book title]."  reads on the film can from which this clip was converted from." 

From Richard Remembers Joe Pyne

"Christine Jorgensen (May 30, 1926 – May 3, 1989) was an American trans woman who was the first person to become widely known in the United States for having sex reassignment surgery. She had a successful career as an actress, singer, and recording artist.

Jorgensen was drafted into the U.S. Army during World War II. After she served as a military clerical worker, Jorgensen attended several schools, worked, and pursued a photography career.[4] During this time, she learned about sex reassignment surgery and traveled to Europe, where in Copenhagen, Denmark, she obtained special permission to undergo a series of operations beginning in 1952.[5]

Upon her return to the United States in the early 1950s, her transition was the subject of a New York Daily News front-page story. She became an instant celebrity, known for her directness and polished wit, and used the platform to advocate for transgender people.

Jorgensen often lectured on the experience of being transgender and published an autobiography in 1967." 

From Wikipedia

I think you already have a pretty good idea who Christine Jorgensen is, (unless you skipped over the 1st five paragraphs) so I'm going to get into Joe Pyne (figuratively) and talk about his show a little bit and then talk about this interview a little bit as well.

If you are from my generation (Generation X) or are older, you probably have at least some idea who Morten Downey Jr. was and the tabloid, attack, talk shows, that followed in the 1990s, that also lead to partisan, political attack, TV shows on cable in the 2000s. The format of these shows was basically to either bring on someone that the host really loves, respects, and admirers and then watch the host spend 10-20 minutes kissing the guest's ass (perhaps literally) on national TV. 

Or, bring on a guest that the host has no respect for, completely disagree with that person and then spend the next 10-20 minutes trying to beat the hell out of that person (perhaps not literally) on national TV. And if the guest has any self-respect whatsoever, well, then they probably don't go on that show at all, but if they have a little self-respect for themselves, they'll stand up for themselves and make the host look like the asshole that they are, on national TV and that makes for entertaining TV. 

Joe Pyne in the 1950s and 60s, with his syndicated radio and TV shows, was basically the forerunner for Morton Downey JR, in the 1980s and Bill O'Reilly in the 1990s and 2000s. They both admired and looked up to Joe Pyne and used him as inspiration for their own careers. 

As far as this interview, this was very different from a normal Joe Pyne interview, but this is only about a 3 minute clip, so maybe it got worst. And what Pyne really just does here is let Christine Jorgensen just talk about her own personal experience as a transgender woman, something that in the 1960s, as was as common hurricanes in Wisconsin, in January, or the Detroit Lions playing in the Super Bowl, politicians telling the whole truth on national TV. So what she's doing here, took a lot of courage, especially to talk to someone like Joe Pyne, about her own transgenderism.

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