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1-13 of 13
- Franciosa was born Anthony Papaleo on October 25, 1928, in New York City. The son of a construction worker and seamstress who divorced when he was a year old, he seldom saw his father after this and never man really got to know the other. After graduating high school, during a visit to a YMCA to take a free dance lesson, Franciosa came across an audition for a play. Intrigued, he auditioned and was offered a part.
Franciosa began acting professionally, taking his mother's maiden name as his stage name, and had his breakthrough in Calder Willingham's play "End as a Man" (1955), which opened off-Broadway at the Theatre de Lys on September 15, 1953 and transferred to Broadway on October 14 after 32 performances. It was directed by Jack Garfein and co-starred Ben Gazzara (who won a Theatre World Award and would appear in the movie version), both of whom were associated with the Actors Studio, as was Franciosa. His first wife, Beatrice Bakalyar, was a writer.
In 1955, he first appeared in the role that would make him famous: "Polo Pope", the brother of a heroin addict, in an Actors Studio workshop production of Michael V. Gazzo's A Hatful of Rain (1957). The production later moved to Broadway, where Franciosa earned an Outer Critics Circle Award and a Tony Award nomination. Hollywood beckoned, and he made his film debut in Robert Wise's This Could Be the Night (1957) with Paul Douglas and Jean Simmons.
He appeared in Actors Studio co-founder Elia Kazan's A Face in the Crowd (1957) before reprising the role of "Polo Pope" in Fred Zinnemann's A Hatful of Rain (1957). Franciosa won an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in 1958 for "Hatful" and, with his good looks, was a very hot commodity in Hollywood. He followed up his strong debut by starring in a variety of top A-list films, including George Cukor's Wild Is the Wind (1957), Martin Ritt's The Long, Hot Summer (1958) and The Naked Maja (1958), in which he played painter Francisco Jose de Goya, opposite Ava Gardner.
Franciosa's career began to run out of momentum almost as quickly as it had started, as he rapidly developed a reputation as a combative personality, earning him a reputation as "difficult". Although he starred in George Roy Hill's adaptation of Tennessee Williams' Period of Adjustment (1962), by 1964 he was reduced to appearing in a TV series, Valentine's Day (1964), which lasted a single season. In 1968 he was cast as one of three alternating leads in the television series The Name of the Game (1968), a spin-off from the 1966 TV movie Fame Is the Name of the Game (1966) (the first TV-movie ever made as a pilot for a TV series that was subsequently picked up as a series). Although the show was popular with audiences, Franciosa was fired after appearing in the first two seasons; NBC justified giving him the sack because the actor's mercurial temper was causing too many problems on the set. Looking back at his career in a 1996 interview, Franciosa acknowledged that he was too inexperienced to handle sudden stardom. "It was an incredible amount of attention, and I wasn't quite mature enough psychologically and emotionally for it".
He starred in the series Matt Helm (1975), which only lasted one season, but his talent and charm meant he was in demand throughout the five decades of his career, though not in the kinds of roles that characterized the first two decades of his star period. He continued to act in supporting roles in movies and starring roles in TV movies and series until he retired in 1996. He appeared in one last project, "Manifest Mysteries: Coronation" (2006), shortly before his death on January 19, 2006 in Los Angeles, at the age of 77, five days after that of his ex-wife, actress Shelley Winters. - Actor
- Composer
- Soundtrack
Wilson Pickett was born on 18 March 1941 in Prattville, Alabama, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for The Commitments (1991), Road House (1989) and Forrest Gump (1994). He was married to Bonnie Covington. He died on 19 January 2006 in Reston, Virginia, USA.- Jovanka Nicholas Bach was born in Michigan to Nicholas Jokov Bachevich and Vase Bachevich (Djakonovich). She was the youngest of eleven siblings and grew up in St. Clair Shores, Michigan, outside of Detroit. Her family name was Bachevich until she was 12, when their father, who had left Montenegro in 1916 during the upheaval of World War I, Americanized it. Two years later, they moved to Los Angeles.
Bach graduated from UCLA and earned her medical degree there in 1966. She completed her residency at County-USC Medical Center and worked as an assistant professor at UCLA. She was both a physician and playwright and managed to successfully write over a dozen plays, short stories and two novels while working as a full time medical practitioner in Los Angeles. - Producer
- Writer
- Director
Franz Seitz was born on 22 October 1921 in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. He was a producer and writer, known for Doktor Faustus (1982), Erfolg (1991) and The Tin Drum (1979). He was married to Anneliese Conrad. He died on 19 January 2006 in Munich, Bavaria, Germany.- Sound Department
- Production Manager
- Producer
Kenneth Heeley-Ray was born on 26 October 1916 in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England, UK. He was a production manager and producer, known for Black Christmas (1974), A Christmas Story (1983) and Quest for Fire (1981). He died on 19 January 2006 in Salt Spring Island, British Columbia, Canada.- Gábor Agárdi was born on 2 August 1922 in Szeged, Hungary. He was an actor, known for Kakuk Marci (1973), Csínom Palkó (1973) and Völegény (1982). He was married to Rácz, Boriska and Ila Tóth. He died on 19 January 2006 in Budapest, Hungary.
- Patricia Kelman was born on 4 October 1935 in Michigan, USA. She was an actress, known for Granny Goes Wild (2004). She died on 19 January 2006 in New Port Richey, Florida, USA.
- Sergey Polezhaev was born on 12 October 1924. He was an actor, known for Ocalic miasto (1976), Shestvie zolotykh zverey (1979) and Chyornyy kapitan (1973). He died on 19 January 2006.
- Production Manager
- Additional Crew
- Location Management
Gary Downie was born on 17 July 1940 in England, UK. He was a production manager, known for Griffin (2004), Star Cops (1987) and When All Is Said and Done (2008). He died on 19 January 2006 in Brighton, East Sussex, England, UK.- Jack Beckley was born on 16 August 1918 in the USA. He was married to Harriet Beckley. He died on 19 January 2006 in Glendale, Arizona, USA.
- Vladimir Ivanov was born on 13 August 1943 in Gorkiy, RSFSR, USSR. He was an actor, known for Goryachiy sneg (1972) and Azazel (2002). He died on 19 January 2006.
- Tom Nugent was born on 24 February 1913 in Lawrence, Massachusetts, USA. He was married to Margaret "Peg". He died on 19 January 2006 in Tallahassee, Florida, USA.
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Carola Stern was born on 14 November 1925 in Ahlbeck, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. She was a writer, known for Der Sommer des Samurai (1986), Katzenball (2005) and Walter Ulbricht - Porträt eines Stalinisten (1962). She was married to Heinz Zöger. She died on 19 January 2006 in Berlin, Germany.