Steve Franken

Actor

Popular As Stephen Robert Franken

Birthday May 27, 1932

Birth Sign Gemini

Birthplace Queens, New York, U.S.

DEATH DATE 2012-8-24, Canoga Park, California, U.S. (80 years old)

Nationality United States

Height 5' 6" (1.68 m)

#49771 Most Popular

1932

Stephen Robert Franken (May 27, 1932 – August 24, 2012) was an American actor who worked in film and television for over fifty years.

Born in Queens, New York, Franken earned his B.A. from Cornell University, but rather than realize his parents' dreams for a medical career, he returned to New York to pursue acting.

1958

Franken's first screen role was in 1958 as Willie in the episode "The Time of Your Life" on the anthology series Playhouse 90.

1960

Franken appeared as a recurring guest in numerous episodes from 1960 to 1963.

He attributed the character's look of pained condescension to an ulcer he had suffered since the age of 14 when his mother had died.

1961

Another early role was as Bully in the 1961 episode "The Pit" of the series The Rebel, starring Nick Adams.

He played the lead guest-starring role in the 1961 episode "The Case of Willie Betterley" in Lock Up.

1962

In 1962, he was cast as Dunc Tomilson in "The Yacht-Club Gang" on Checkmate.

He appeared as Jerry Allen in two episodes of Mr. Novak.

1963

Franken appeared in the famous 1963 Perry Mason episode "The Case of the Deadly Verdict" as murderer Christopher Barton.

Immediately after Dobie Gillis was cancelled, Franken was cast as Lieutenant Samwell "Sanpan" Panosian in the Gary Lockwood series The Lieutenant episode "To Take Up Serpents", the first television series created by Gene Roddenberry.

He played other military roles, such as a decorated U.S. flier turned arms-dealer and traitor in "The Gun Runner Raid" episode of The Rat Patrol and as a P.O.W. lieutenant in Follow Me, Boys!.

1964

In 1964, he appeared in The Time Travelers.

He appeared in 1964 on Petticoat Junction as the son of the villain, Homer Bedloe in "Bedloe and Son".

He played another rich wastrel on the short-lived sitcom Tom, Dick and Mary.

1965

In 1965, he appeared in "Birth of a Salesman" on McHale's Navy, and in "Tim and Tim Again" on My Favorite Martian.

Producer Rod Amateau saw him in a Los Angeles stage production of Say, Darling and cast him as playboy dilettante Chatsworth Osborne Jr. on the sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, starring Dwayne Hickman.

1966

From 1966 to 1971, he appeared in various roles in at least six episodes of Bewitched.

1968

Franken appeared as the drunken waiter Levinson in the 1968 Blake Edwards film The Party, alongside Peter Sellers.

One journalist, writing on the fortieth anniversary of the film, stated:

"Rivaling Sellers with one of The Party's stand-out performances: Steve Franken as the increasingly inebriated butler, slathering on a layer of slapstick to the proceedings with his incontinent antics. Franken's interaction with his vexed supervisor, his drunken stroll through the shallow indoor pool, his struggle to rescue the roast chicken perched precariously atop a bewigged socialite's bouffant hairdo: all comedy gold."

1970

From 1970 to 1973, he appeared five times on Love, American Style.

1971

He appeared as Officer Albert Porter in three episodes of Adam-12 from 1971 to 1972 as well as Ralph Salisbury in the 1971 episode "The Ferret."

1972

In 1972, he appeared as Jonas Lasser on the season three episode "The Courtship of Mary's Father's Daughter" on The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

1975

He appeared on Barney Miller in 1975 (episode: "The Arsonist") and again in 1981 (episode: "Resignation").

1979

In 1979, he starred as Tom Voorhies alongside Michael Constantine in Disney's The North Avenue Irregulars.

1980

He appeared with Peter Sellers in 1980's The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu.

He acted and directed in various episodes of Insight.

He appeared in small roles in such contemporary television series as Murphy Brown, The King of Queens and Seinfeld.

1981

The following year, he voiced the role of Mr. Janus in the episode "Grounded" of Static Shock and provided voices in Smurfs (1981), The Adventures of Don Coyote and Sancho Panda (1990), and Spawn (1997).

1993

He voice-acted as Rundle in the 1993 Batman episode "The Mechanic" and was Mr. Beal in Detention episodes "Little Miss Popular" and "Comedy of Terrors" (both 1999).

1996

He voiced Professor Eugene Atwater in the short-lived 1996 Warner Bros. animated series Road Rovers.

2002

From 2002 to 2003, he provided voices for Law & Order computer games.

2012

Franken died on August 24, 2012, at a nursing and rehabilitation center in Canoga Park, California of complications from cancer, aged 80.

He had three daughters, two from his first marriage to Julia Carter, and one from his second marriage to Jean Garrett.

He was also the second cousin of actor and politician Al Franken.