By the time Wapner left the show, in 1993, interest in the genre had cooled, but trials such as the Simpson trial and the courtroom theatrics of “Judge Judy” revived the TV-court craze starting in 1997.
Wapner returned to “The People’s Court” show in 2000 to help celebrate its 3,000th episode, judging the case of a man suing over a piece of sports memorabilia. He said he had seen snippets of Judge Judy’s work, but generally never watched such shows.
“I never watched myself,” he said. “Why should I watch them?” He also had a series on the Animal Planet cable channel called “Judge Wapner’s Animal Court.”
Wapner was a Los Angeles native and received a law degree from the University of Southern California. He is survived by his wife of 70 years, Mickey, and by two sons, both of whom joined the legal profession. A daughter, Sarah, died in 2015.
During his days as presiding Superior Court judge, Wapner was credited with innovations aimed at saving time for trial participants. A 1971 Los Angeles Times article described his steps to streamline jury selection or even dispense with juries altogether by increasing the number of cases heard solely by a judge chosen to be acceptable to both sides in the case.
His courtroom was also used in 1971 in a brief test of a system to videotape trials to save on the cost of making a trial transcript. Wapner said he was often amazed at the lengths people would go to to prove a point: “A woman bought a birthday cake for her daughter for $9. She said it was moldy, and the baker offered to refund only $4.50. She picketed the bakery for six hours, then filed the claim. I found against the baker for $9.”
He generally turned down guest shots on other shows, saying, “I’m not an actor, I’m a judge.”
Article Appeared @http://www.mprnews.org/story/2017/02/26/joseph-wapner-star-of-the-peoples-court-dead-at-97