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Don Francks

 
Actor: Don Francks
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  • Born: Feb 28, 1932 in Vancouver, BC, Canada
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '70s-'90s
  • Major Genres: Action, Drama
  • Career Highlights: Finian's Rainbow, Lie With Me, Paint Cans
  • First Major Screen Credit: Finian's Rainbow (1968)

Biography

Canadian actor/singer Don Francks spent his formative performing years in his native country as a nightclub jazz vocalist, an all-night disc jockey, a member of a barbershop quartet called the Model T Four, and a trombonist in a country-western band. Despite all this activity, Francks was virtually unknown in the United States until 1960. At that time, a Canadian TV adventure series titled RCMP was syndicated regionally in the U.S. after a successful year's run above the border. Francks managed to attain a modest fan following in his handsome-hunk role as Constable Bill Mitchell. RCMP seemed to bode well for an American career, but Francks met a Waterloo of sorts when he was cast in the lead of the 1964 Broadway musical Kelly, which opened and closed on the same night and became a title synonymous with "disaster." Licking his wounds, Francks returned to his nightclub act, then in 1966 was cast in the Hollywood-filmed TV adventure series Jericho, the saga of a trio of secret agents sent behind German lines during World War II. The threesome consisted of an American, an Englishman and a Frenchman; Francks was the American, Franklin Shepard, a psychological warfare expert who dressed immaculately and took snuff. But with Batman and Daniel Boone as competition, Jericho took not snuff but a powder. It was back to Canadian TV spots and club dates for Francks until he was cast in the big-budget Hollywood musical Finian's Rainbow (1968), where, alas, he was effortlessly upstaged by Fred Astaire and Tommy Steele. Still popular in his own country, Don Francks supplemented his income in the '80s and '90s with Canadian-recorded cartoon voiceovers; his best showcase in this endeavor was on ABC's Ewoks-Droids Adventure Hour (1986). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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Wikipedia: Don Francks
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Don Francks
Born February 28, 1932 (1932-02-28) (age 77)
Vancouver, British Columbia

Donald Harvey Francks or Iron Buffalo (born February 28, 1932) is a Canadian actor, vocalist and jazz musician.

Contents

Life and work

Francks was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. He is a drummer, poet, native nations champion, motorcyclist, author and peace activist. He is interested in Tibet and supports Greenpeace.

He performed in vaudeville, worked as a foundryman and was involved in summer stock before moving to Toronto. During his time in Hollywood he lived in Encino, California. After a time, he moved with his family to the Red Pheasant Indian Reserve, near North Battleford, Saskatchewan. He is an honorary Cree, who is known as Iron Buffalo. Since 1974, he has been living in Toronto with his wife Lili (Red Eagle), a member of the Plains Cree First Nation who was a dancer. Their children are Cree Summer and Rainbow Sun.

He appeared many times at George's Spaghetti House, a Toronto jazz club that was the equivalent of New York's Birdland. He was also known to sit in on drums at the Colonial Tavern and other Toronto afterhours clubs and jazz venues.

Career

Francks co-starred with Fred Astaire in the 1968 musical film Finian's Rainbow, directed by Francis Ford Coppola.

He appeared as Walter in the La Femme Nikita television series from 1997-2001. His early television credits include: Mission: Impossible, Wild Wild West, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Little Men, Traders and several episodic television appearances. His film work includes The Big Town with Tommy Lee Jones, the cult slasher film My Bloody Valentine and Johnny Mnemonic.

Francks appeared on Broadway in the title role of the musical Kelly, as a daredevil planning to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge. The show was the first on Broadway in a generation to close on its opening night.

He provides the voice of "Skunk" in Gene Simmons' animated television show My Dad the Rock Star.

As a voice-actor, Francks is the first person to portray Boba Fett, a mandalorian bounty hunter. He played Fett in The Star Wars Holiday Special and reprised the role in an episodes of Star Wars: Droids. Francks voiced several characters in Inspector Gadget along with his daughter, Cree Summer.

Filmography

Awards

  • 1980 and 1981 - Don Francks won ACTRA Awards for Best Dramatic Performance for his roles in Drying Up The Streets and The Phoenix Team.

Selected discography

  • At The Purple Onion, with Lenny Breau and Eon Henstridge, 2004, Art of Life Records. Recorded live at the coffeehouse Purple Onion in Toronto in August 1962.
  • No One In This World Is Like Don Francks, LP, 1963, Knapp Records. Don Francks, Lenny Breau and Eon Henstridge formed the trio Three.
  • Lost... and Alone, LP, 1964, Kapp Records.

Bibliography

  • Heyn, Christopher. "A Conversation with Don Francks." Inside Section One: Creating and Producing TV's La Femme Nikita. Introduction by Peta Wilson. Los Angeles: Persistence of Vision Press, 2006. 100-105. ISBN 0-9787625-0-9. In-depth conversation with Don Francks about his role as Walter on La Femme Nikita, along with numerous stories from his lengthy acting and musical career.

External links


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 
Learn More
Phoenix Team (1980 Spy Film)
At the Purple Onion (2004 Album by Lenny Breau/Don Franks/Eon Henstridge)
First Person (1960 TV Series)

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Actor. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Don Francks".  Read more

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