Tom Franco

{{Infobox person

| name = Tom Franco

| image = Tom Franco.jpg

| caption = Franco in 2016

| birth_name = Thomas Andrew Franco

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1980|4|14}}

| birth_place = Palo Alto, California, U.S.

| education = Palo Alto High School

| alma_mater = University of California, Santa Cruz
California College of the Arts

| occupation = Artist, actor

| years_active = 1990–present

| relatives = James Franco (brother)
Dave Franco (brother)

| spouse = {{plainlist|

{{marriage|Julia Lazar|2014|2014|end=d.}}
{{marriage|Iris Torres|2021}}

}}

Thomas Andrew Franco (born April 14, 1980) is an American actor,{{cite news|title=Meet Tom Franco: The Franco brother you (probably) never knew about|url=https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/meet-tom-franco-the-franco-brother-you-probably-never-knew-about/news-story/57fe18d8edb033ebe663aefd86a91f5a|access-date=11 November 2022|work=News.com.au}} artist, and the founder of the Firehouse Art Collective in Berkeley, California.{{cite news|title=Alumnus Tom Franco brings his collaborative art culture to UC Santa Cruz| url=http://news.ucsc.edu/2015/01/tom-franco-arts.html|access-date=22 September 2015|work=University of California, Santa Cruz}} He is the brother of actors James Franco and Dave Franco.{{cite web|title=My Day With the Franco Brothers| url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brandon-patterson/move-over-james-franco-to_b_7835162.html|work=The Huffington Post| date=28 July 2015| access-date=22 September 2015}}

Early life and education

Franco was born in Palo Alto, California. His mother, Betsy Lou (née Verne), is a writer and occasional actress.{{citation needed|date=November 2017}} His father, Douglas Eugene Franco (died 2011), ran a Silicon Valley business,{{cite web|first=Natalie |last=Finn|url=http://www.eonline.com/news/james_francos_father_dies_63/267576 |title=James Franco's Father Dies at 63 |publisher=E! Online |date=October 4, 2011 |access-date=March 25, 2012}}{{Cite book|title=Who's who of emerging leaders in America|publisher=Marquis Who's Who Inc.| year= 1991|isbn=0-8379-7202-7}} and was a "philanthropic entrepreneur". Franco's father was of Portuguese (Madeiran) and Swedish descent."James Franco", Inside the Actors Studio, December 7, 2010. Franco's mother is from a family of Russian Jewish ancestry; her parents had changed the surname from "Verovitz" to "Verne."{{cite web |url=http://www.shalomlife.com/culture/23273/dave-franco-and-conan-obrien-discuss-shalom-lifes-jilf-list-video/?PageSpeed=noscript |title=Dave Franco and Conan O'Brien Discuss Shalom Life's JILF List |website=ShalomLife.com |access-date=2014-08-24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150716082620/http://www.shalomlife.com/culture/23273/dave-franco-and-conan-obrien-discuss-shalom-lifes-jilf-list-video/?PageSpeed=noscript |archive-date=2015-07-16 }} Tom is the middle child of three brothers; the older is actor, director, writer, and artist James Franco and the younger is actor and director Dave Franco. They were raised in Palo Alto.

Franco is a graduate of Palo Alto High School, class of 1998. He graduated in 2002 from University of California, Santa Cruz majoring in fine art,{{Cite web|url=http://www.mcpart.org/tom-franco|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809130340/http://www.mcpart.org/tom-franco|url-status=usurped|archive-date=August 9, 2017|title=Tom Franco|website=MISSION CLAY|language=en-US|access-date=2017-08-09}} then attended California College of the Arts in Oakland, California, majoring in ceramics.

Career

Franco started acting professionally with his role as Frog Boy in the comedy horror film Basket Case 2 (1990). He subsequently appeared in A Peace of History (2005) and The Devil Wears a Toupee (2007).{{Cite news|url=http://www.thewrap.com/james-franco-channels-tommy-wiseau-in-the-disaster-artist-photo/|title=James Franco Joined by His 2 Brothers in 'The Disaster Artist'|date=2016-01-25|work=TheWrap|access-date=2017-09-25|language=en-US}} He had a small role in The Disaster Artist (2017), as a crew member on The Room, in which his brothers played the lead roles (James as Tommy Wiseau and Dave as Greg Sestero).

Franco is the founder and co-director of Berkeley's Firehouse Art Collective.{{cite web|title=Tom Franco : Renaissance man sparks life into the East Bay art scene.| url= http://www.diablomag.com/October-2012/Meet-Tom-Franco/|first= Ethan| last= Fletcher | date= 21 September 2012| website=Diablo Magazine |access-date=22 September 2015}} He shared directorship with his wife Julia Lazar Franco, who died in 2014.{{Cite web |url=https://puzzups.com/celebrate-the-life-and-lagment-the-death-of-our-beloved-julia-lazar-franco-who-left-but-julia-will-be-remembered-by-all-who-knew-her-as-an-especially-creative-soul/ |title=Celebrate the life and lagment the death of our beloved Julia Lazar Franco who left but Julia will be remembered by all who knew her as an especially creative soul |access-date=2019-01-13 |archive-date=2019-01-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190114044507/https://puzzups.com/celebrate-the-life-and-lagment-the-death-of-our-beloved-julia-lazar-franco-who-left-but-julia-will-be-remembered-by-all-who-knew-her-as-an-especially-creative-soul/ |url-status=dead }}

Personal life

Franco's first wife, Julia Lazar, worked closely with him. Her death was a result of liver failure (brought on by hepatitis C and liver cancer){{cite web| title= Help Save The Life of Bay Area Artist Julia Lazar-Franco| url= http://theoutsidersguidetotheinsideofhollywood.com/2014/08/03/help-save-the-life-of-bay-area-artist-julia-lazar-franco/| date= 3 August 2014| website= The Outsider's Guide to the Inside of Hollywood| first= Jonathan | last= Shensa| access-date= 4 January 2016}} and kidney trouble. The two were married in a hospital solarium about a month before her death.{{cite web| url= https://www.facebook.com/Firehouse.Art.Collective/posts/10152498554442081:0| website= Facebook| title= Firehouse Art Collective|date= 7 November 2014| access-date= 4 January 2016}} In 2021, Franco married Iris Torres, a film producer.