James Franciscus
{{Short description|American actor (1934–1991)}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2021}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name = James Franciscus
| image = James Franciscus 1977.JPG
| image_size =
| caption = Franciscus in 1977
| birth_name = James Grover Franciscus
| birth_date = {{birth date|mf=yes|1934|1|31}}
| birth_place = Clayton, Missouri, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|mf=yes|1991|7|8|1934|1|31}}
| death_place = North Hollywood, California, U.S.
| alma_mater = Yale University
| years_active = 1957–1991
| other_names = James Francicus
| spouse = {{plainlist|
- {{marriage|Kathleen Wellman|1960|1977|end=divorced}}
- {{marriage|Carla Ankney|1980}}
}}
| children = 4
}}
James Grover Franciscus (January 31, 1934 – July 8, 1991) was an American actor, known for his roles in feature films and in six television series: Mr. Novak, Naked City, The Investigators, Longstreet, Doc Elliot, and Hunter.
Life and career
Franciscus was born in Clayton, Missouri, to Lorraine (née Grover) and John Allen Franciscus, who was killed during World War II when James was nine.{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5882955/st-louis-post-dispatch/|title=Clipped from St. Louis Post-Dispatch|newspaper=St. Louis Post-Dispatch|date=May 25, 1942|page=1}} In 1957, Franciscus received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and theatre arts from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, where he graduated magna cum laude.{{cite book|last1=Aaker|first1=Everett|title=Encyclopedia of Early Television Crime Fighters: All Regular Cast Members in American Crime and Mystery Series, 1948-1959|date=2011|publisher=McFarland & Co.|location=Jefferson, N.C.|isbn=978-0-7864-6409-8|pages=219–222}} He was a classmate of Dick Cavett and Bill Hinnant. At Yale, he joined Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity.
His first major role was as Detective Jim Halloran in the half-hour version of ABC's Naked City. Franciscus guest starred on the CBS military comedy–drama Hennesey, starring Jackie Cooper, and on the NBC drama about family conflicts in the American Civil War entitled The Americans. CBS soon cast him in the lead in the 13-week series The Investigators, which aired from October 5 to December 28, 1961. He played the insurance investigator Russ Andrews, with James Philbrook as a co-star. Franciscus was also cast in the role of Tom Grover in the 1961 episode "The Empty Heart" of the CBS anthology series The DuPont Show with June Allyson. He performed in many feature films and television programs throughout the 1960s and 1970s, preceded by a minor role in an episode of The Twilight Zone titled "Judgment Night" in 1959, and a major role in episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents: "Forty Detectives Later" in 1960, and "Summer Shade" in 1961.
File:James Franciscus Dean Jagger Mr. Novak 1964.JPG from the television series Mr. Novak]]
He starred in I Passed for White (1960), and in 1963, he appeared as Mike Norris in the episode "Hang By One Hand" on the NBC medical drama about psychiatry, The Eleventh Hour. He also guest-starred on Combat!, The F.B.I. and Miracle of the White Stallions. Franciscus may be best remembered for his title roles in NBC's Mr. Novak (1963–65) and ABC's Longstreet (1971–72) which included his blind character taking martial arts lessons in Jeet Kune Do from Bruce Lee as Li Tsung in four episodes,Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/mtk0hrjxDEY Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20170818000936/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtk0hrjxDEY Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtk0hrjxDEY| title = ALL THE BRUCE LEE SCENES IN LONGSTREET (Li Tsung - Bruce Lee 4 episodes) | website=YouTube}}{{cbignore}} and for his vocal performance in the movie version of Jonathan Livingston Seagull (1973). Along with Lloyd Bridges, he served as host of the syndicated real-life adventure series Waterworld, which aired from 1972 to 1975. In 1977, he starred in his fifth television series, the short-lived Hunter, as a secret agent.
He was also frequently seen in feature films of the 1960s and 1970s such as Youngblood Hawke, Snow Treasure, The Amazing Dobermans, Marooned, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, City on Fire, When Time Ran Out, The Valley of Gwangi, and The Greek Tycoon. Over the years, Franciscus found film work with Italian cinema. In 1971, he accepted the lead role in Dario Argento's second film, The Cat o' Nine Tails.{{cite web|url=http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/84147/blue-underground-bringing-argento-fulci-collections-blu-ray/|title=Blue Underground Bringing Argento and Fulci Collections to Blu-ray|website=dreadcentral.com|accessdate=September 15, 2012}} In 1979, he appeared in Antonio Margheriti's Killer Fish, and in 1980, he starred in director Enzo G. Castellari's Jaws-inspired Great White (aka The Last Shark).
He continued appearing in roles on the screen and television. When less important roles were offered, Franciscus turned to writing screenplays and producing. In 1991, the year of his death, he worked as an associate producer and screenwriter on the film 29th Street starring Anthony LaPaglia and Danny Aiello; it was his final project.
Personal life
In the summer of 1956, while working as the stage manager at the Cape Playhouse in Dennis, Massachusetts, Franciscus dated his apprentice, Jane Fonda.{{cite book | last=Fonda | first=Jane | title=My Life So Far (with Bonus Content) | publisher=Random House Publishing Group | year=2005 | isbn=978-1-58836-478-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9OgS6ILrV_8C&pg=PA99 | access-date=July 27, 2023 | pages=99–100}} In her autobiography My Life So Far (2005), Fonda identifies Franciscus as the boy to whom she lost her virginity.Simon, Jeff (April 19, 2005). "[https://buffalonews.com/news/fast-jane-what-a-life----fondas-exhausting-memoirs-race-from-her-tell/article_261a1206-c0ab-5192-9ab7-1cc84d42e902.html FAST JANE WHAT A LIFE -- FONDA'S EXHAUSTING MEMOIRS RACE FROM HER TELL-ALL SEXCAPADES TO APOLOGIES FOR THE VIETNAM ESCAPADE]". The Buffalo News."[https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2005/05/20/fonda-jane-or-not-shes-had-a-pretty-amazing-life-2 Fonda Jane or not — she’s had a pretty amazing life]". Orlando Sentinel. May 20, 2005.
On March 28, 1960, Franciscus married Kathleen "Kitty" Wellman, a daughter of film director William A. Wellman. They had four children — Jamie, Kellie, Korie, and Jolie. After the couple's divorce, he married Carla Ankney in 1980. They were still married at the time of Franciscus's 1991 death from emphysema in North Hollywood, California, at 57.[http://www.hollywood.com/celebrity/James_Franciscus/197738 "Profile"]. hollywood.com
Filmography
=Film=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes |
|---|
| 1957
| Johnny Doyle | |
| 1958
| Eddie Baxter | |
| 1960
| Rick Leyton | |
| 1961
| Private James B. Sorenson | |
| 1963
| Miracle of the White Stallions | Major Hoffman | |
| 1964
| Youngblood Hawke | |
| 1968
| Second Lieutenant H. Kalasch | |
| rowspan="3" | 1969
| Tuck Kirby | |
| Marooned
| Clayton Stone | |
| The Great Sex War
| {{Unknown}} | |
| rowspan="2" | 1970
| Lieutenant Commander Jeffords, R.N.V.R. | |
| Beneath the Planet of the Apes
| Brent | |
| rowspan="2" | 1971
| Carlo Giordani | |
| Kidnapped
| {{n/a}} | Uncredited producer |
| 1973
| Jonathan Livingston Seagull (voice) | |
| 1974
| Aloha Means Goodbye | Dr. Lawrence Maddox | |
| 1976
| Lucky | |
| rowspan="2" |1978
| Conrad Morgan | |
| The Greek Tycoon
| President James Cassidy | |
| rowspan="3" | 1979
| Moses Brody | |
| City on Fire
| Jimbo | |
| Killer Fish
| Paul Diller | |
| rowspan="2" | 1980
| When Time Ran Out... | Bob Spangler | |
| Nightkill
| Steve Fulton | |
| 1981
| Peter Benton | |
| 1982
| Moke Blue | |
| 1983
| John Mason | |
| 1991
| {{n/a}} | Associate producer and story writer |
=Television=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes |
|---|
| 1957
| rowspan="4" |Studio One | rowspan="2" |Brass | rowspan="2" |Episode: "A Walk in the Forest" |
| rowspan="5" | 1958 |
| Norstad
| Episode: "Kurishiki Incident" |
| Johnny
| Episode: "The Strong Man" |
| Have Gun – Will Travel
| Tom Nelson | Episode: "Deliver the Body" |
| The Silent Service
| Lieutenant John R. Bertrand | Episode: "The Bowfin Story" |
| 1958–1959
| Detective Jimmy Halloran | Main role; 39 episodes |
| rowspan="7" | 1959
| Joe Braddock | Episode: "The Stage Line" |
| Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
| Clay Darrow | Episode: "Six Guns for Donegan" |
| Whirlybirds
| Jerry Lambert / Tom Drake | Episode: "Dead Wrong" |
| The Twilight Zone
| Lieutenant Mueller | Episode: "Judgment Night" |
| Father Knows Best
| Bill Shappard | Episode: "Bud, the Willing Worker" |
| The Rifleman
| Philip Simmons | Episode: "The Legacy" |
| Death Valley Days
| Mike Ward | Episode: "Lady of the Press" |
| rowspan="7" | 1960
| Tom Doane | Episode: "The Story of Margaret Stoneham" |
| Wagon Train
| John Colter | Episode: "The Benjamin Burns Story" |
| Hennesey
| Williams | Episode: "The Annapolis Man" |
| Black Saddle
| Quinn Jackson | Episode: "The Penalty" |
| Alfred Hitchcock Presents
| William Tyre | Season 5 Episode 28: "Forty Detectives Later" |
| Rawhide
| Andy Nye | S2:E28, "Incident of the Murder Steer" |
| The Deputy
| William Emerson Stanhope / Billy Bart | Episode: "Mother and Son" |
| rowspan="5" | 1961
| Ben Kendall | Season 6 Episode 15: "Summer Shade" |
| The DuPont Show with June Allyson
| Tom Grover | Episode: "The Guilty Heart" |
| General Electric Theater
| Bill Taylor | Episode: "Love Is a Lion's Roar" |
| The Americans
| Lieutenant Hannon | Episode: "The Invaders" |
| The Investigators
| Russ Andrews | Main role; 13 episodes |
| 1962
| John Wickware | Episode: "So Oft It Chances in Particular Men" |
| rowspan="2" | 1963
| Stan Fisher | Episode: "Jail Ward" |
| The Eleventh Hour
| Mike Norris | Episode: "Hang by One Hand" |
| 1963–1965
| John Novak | Main role; 60 episodes |
| 1965
| Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre | Larry Martin | Episode: "Escape into Jeopardy" |
| rowspan="2" | 1966
| Captain Tom Carpenter | Episode: "Cross-Hairs on Death" |
| Combat!
| Private First Class Charles Harris | Episode: "Decision" |
| 1967
| Charles Burnett | Episode: "Force of Nature" |
| rowspan="4" | 1968
| Father William Chitwood | Episode: "The Devil's Surrogate" |
| Shadow Over Elveron
| Dr. Matthew Tregaskis | Television film |
| The F.B.I.
| Mitchell Flynn | Episode: "Out of Control" |
| Heidi
| {{n/a}} | Television film; also producer |
| 1969
| Trial Run | Louis Coleman | Television film |
| rowspan="2" | 1970
| Clay Howard | Television film |
| Jane Eyre
| {{n/a}} | Television film; also producer |
| 1971–1972
| Mike Longstreet | Main role; 24 episodes |
| 1972
| Paul Dover | Episode: "At the Cradle Foot" |
| rowspan="2" | 1973
| The 500 Pound Jerk | Gil Davenport | Television film |
| The Red Pony
| {{n/a}} | Television film; also producer |
| 1973–1974
| Dr. Benjamin Elliot | Main role; 15 episodes |
| rowspan="4" | 1975
| Sammy Stone | Television film |
| The Trial of Chaplain Jensen
| Chaplain Andrew Jensen | Television film |
| Insight
| The Psychiatrist | Episode: "The Man from Inner Space" |
| A Girl Named Sooner
| {{n/a}} | Television film; also uncredited producer |
| 1976
| Daniel Corban | Television film |
| 1976–1977
| Hunter | James Hunter | Main role; 13 episodes |
| 1977
| The Man Inside | Rush | Television film |
| rowspan="3" | 1978
| Secrets of Three Hungry Wives | Mark Powers | Television film |
| The Pirate
| Dick Carriage | Television film |
| Puzzle
| Harry Scott | Television film |
| 1981
| President John F. Kennedy | Television film |
| 1985
| Secret Weapons | Colonel Victor Khudenko | Television film |
{{Portal|Biography|United States|Greater Los Angeles|California|Film|Television}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- {{IMDb name|2082}}
- {{discogs artist|James Franciscus}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Franciscus, James}}
Category:20th-century American male actors
Category:American male film actors
Category:American male television actors
Category:Male actors from Missouri
Category:Deaths from emphysema