Steven Franken
Encyclopedia
Steven Franken, sometimes spelled Stephen Franken (born May 27, 1932) is an American
actor
who has appeared on screen and television
for a half century. He is the cousin of Al Franken.
dramatic series. He is best remembered for his role of the playboy dilettante Chatsworth Osborne, Jr.
, on the CBS
series
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis
. Franken starred in thirty-five Dobie Gillis episodes beginning midway through the first season and continuing throughout the second, third, and fourth seasons, 1960-1963. Doris Packer
, a talented character actress, played his mother, a wealthy matron who disgustedly referred to Chatsworth as "you nasty, nasty boy", as he called her affectionately "Mumsey" in the English tradition. Franken was already twenty-eight when he began the role of Chatsworth, a 17-year-old at the time. The Osbornes lived in a mansion surrounded by a wall embedded with broken glass to keep out the undesirables. Chatsworth supposedly spoke eighteen languages, including the then little-mentioned Mandarin Chinese found only on certain vases. He was president of the Silver Spoon Club. Despite the Osbornes' wealth, Chatsworth attended a public high school
to round out his personality. He formed uneasy relationships with plebeians Dobie (played by Dwayne Hickman
) and Maynard G. Krebs
(played by the late Bob Denver
).
In 1962, Franken told TV Guide
magazine
that being typecast as Chatsworth had ruined his career: "I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but there are times when I hate Chatsworth as violently as Dobie or Maynard do. He may foul them up on the show with his money and his superiority, but I can't help feeling he fouls me up worse with casting directors and producers." That same year, Franken appeared as Ensign Bender, a by-the-book sailor
, in the episode "Operation Gaslight" on NBC
's Ensign O'Toole
series with Dean Jones
.
Dobie Gillis producers used Chatsworth in one in four episodes because they thought that such a unique, strong character would dominate the series if he were featured in most segments. Franken said that he spent more time in the Hollywood unemployment office than he did on the set.
starring Gary Lockwood
. This was the first television series created by Gene Roddenberry
.
In time, Franken played scores of other roles. He starred from 1966-1971 as George Barkley, Juke the Carlotta-domineered son, Orvis the poodle-like alien, Cousin Henry (Uncle Arther's son Henry), and other characters in seven episodes of ABC
's Bewitched
.
In one of his most hilarious roles, Franken appeared as the drunken waiter "Levinson" in the 1968 Blake Edwards
film, The Party
, alongside Peter Sellers
. He appeared five times on ABC's Love, American Style
from 1970-1973. He appeared as Officer Albert Porter in three episodes of NBC
's Adam-12
from 1971-1972. In 1979, he starred as "Tom Voohries" alongside of Michael Constantine
in Disney's The North Avenue Irregulars
. He appeared again with Peter Sellers in 1980 as "Pete Williams" in the mystery film The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu
.
More recently in 2002 and 2003, he provided voices for Law & Order
computer games
. In 2005, Franken made a guest appearance on The King of Queens
as an Albanian named Vasili. In 2007, he made an appearance as a professor
in The Metrosexual.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
who has appeared on screen and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
for a half century. He is the cousin of Al Franken.
Career
Franken was born in Brooklyn, New York. His first role was at the age of twenty-six in 1958 as "Willie" in CBS's Playhouse 90Playhouse 90
Playhouse 90 is an American television anthology series that was telecast on CBS from 1956 to 1960 for a total of 133 episodes. It originated from CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California...
dramatic series. He is best remembered for his role of the playboy dilettante Chatsworth Osborne, Jr.
Chatsworth Osborne, Jr.
Chatsworth T. Osborne, Jr., is the millionaire dilettante in 35 of the 142 episodes of CBS's situation comedy series The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. The character, played by Steven Franken, was introduced midway through the first season and returned as a recurring character in the second, third,...
, on the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from 1959 to 1963. The series and some episode scripts were adapted from a 1951 collection of short stories of the same name, written by Max Shulman, that also inspired the 1953 film The Affairs of Dobie Gillis with Debbie...
. Franken starred in thirty-five Dobie Gillis episodes beginning midway through the first season and continuing throughout the second, third, and fourth seasons, 1960-1963. Doris Packer
Doris Packer
Doris Packer was an American actress, possibly best known as Mrs. Cornelia Rayburn, Theodore Cleaver's principal in Leave It to Beaver....
, a talented character actress, played his mother, a wealthy matron who disgustedly referred to Chatsworth as "you nasty, nasty boy", as he called her affectionately "Mumsey" in the English tradition. Franken was already twenty-eight when he began the role of Chatsworth, a 17-year-old at the time. The Osbornes lived in a mansion surrounded by a wall embedded with broken glass to keep out the undesirables. Chatsworth supposedly spoke eighteen languages, including the then little-mentioned Mandarin Chinese found only on certain vases. He was president of the Silver Spoon Club. Despite the Osbornes' wealth, Chatsworth attended a public high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
to round out his personality. He formed uneasy relationships with plebeians Dobie (played by Dwayne Hickman
Dwayne Hickman
Dwayne Bernard Hickman is a former American actor and television executive at CBS.He is known primarily for his "teenage" actor roles on television sitcoms. The naturally brown-headed Hickman is best known for playing Chuck MacDonald, Bob Collins's crazy teenaged nephew, on the popular 1950s...
) and Maynard G. Krebs
Maynard G. Krebs
Maynard G. Krebs was the "beatnik" sidekick of the title character in the U.S. television sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis....
(played by the late Bob Denver
Bob Denver
Robert Osbourne "Bob" Denver was an American comedic actor known for his roles as Gilligan on the television series Gilligan's Island and the beatnik Maynard G. Krebs on the 1959–1963 TV series The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.-Early life:Denver was born in New Rochelle, New York, and raised in...
).
In 1962, Franken told TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
that being typecast as Chatsworth had ruined his career: "I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but there are times when I hate Chatsworth as violently as Dobie or Maynard do. He may foul them up on the show with his money and his superiority, but I can't help feeling he fouls me up worse with casting directors and producers." That same year, Franken appeared as Ensign Bender, a by-the-book sailor
Sailor
A sailor, mariner, or seaman is a person who navigates water-borne vessels or assists in their operation, maintenance, or service. The term can apply to professional mariners, military personnel, and recreational sailors as well as a plethora of other uses...
, in the episode "Operation Gaslight" on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's Ensign O'Toole
Ensign O'Toole
Ensign O'Toole is a military comedy that aired on NBC from September 23, 1962, to May 5, 1963, with 31-year-old Dean Jones in the title role of a nonchalant Navy ensign during the early 1960s. Jones, born in 1931 in Alabama and a Navy veteran of the Korean War, played an officer aboard the...
series with Dean Jones
Dean Jones (actor)
Dean Carroll Jones is an American actor. Jones is best known for his light-hearted leading roles in several Walt Disney movies between 1965 and 1977, most notably The Love Bug.-Early years:...
.
Dobie Gillis producers used Chatsworth in one in four episodes because they thought that such a unique, strong character would dominate the series if he were featured in most segments. Franken said that he spent more time in the Hollywood unemployment office than he did on the set.
Later career
Immediately after the cancellation of Dobie Gillis, Franken was cast as Lieutenant Samwell 'Sanpan' Panosian in the NBC series The LieutenantThe Lieutenant
The Lieutenant is an American television series, the first created by Gene Roddenberry. It aired on NBC on Saturday evenings in the 1963-1964 television schedule. It was produced by Arena Productions, one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's most successful in-house production companies of the 1960s. Situated...
starring Gary Lockwood
Gary Lockwood
Gary Lockwood is an American actor probably best known for his iconic 1968 role as the astronaut Dr. Frank Poole in 2001: A Space Odyssey.-Early life:...
. This was the first television series created by Gene Roddenberry
Gene Roddenberry
Eugene Wesley "Gene" Roddenberry was an American television screenwriter, producer and futurist, best known for creating the American science fiction series Star Trek. Born in El Paso, Texas, Roddenberry grew up in Los Angeles, California where his father worked as a police officer...
.
In time, Franken played scores of other roles. He starred from 1966-1971 as George Barkley, Juke the Carlotta-domineered son, Orvis the poodle-like alien, Cousin Henry (Uncle Arther's son Henry), and other characters in seven episodes of ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's Bewitched
Bewitched
Bewitched is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for eight seasons on ABC from 1964 to 1972, starring Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick York and Dick Sargent , Agnes Moorehead, and David White. The show is about a witch who marries a mortal and tries to lead the life of a typical suburban...
.
In one of his most hilarious roles, Franken appeared as the drunken waiter "Levinson" in the 1968 Blake Edwards
Blake Edwards
Blake Edwards was an American film director, screenwriter and producer.Edwards' career began in the 1940s as an actor, but he soon turned to writing radio scripts at Columbia Pictures...
film, The Party
The Party (film)
The Party is a 1968 comedy film directed by Blake Edwards, starring Peter Sellers and Claudine Longet. The film has a very loose structure, and essentially serves as a series of set pieces for Sellers's improvisational comedy talents...
, alongside Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers
Richard Henry Sellers, CBE , known as Peter Sellers, was a British comedian and actor. Perhaps best known as Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther film series, he is also notable for playing three different characters in Dr...
. He appeared five times on ABC's Love, American Style
Love, American Style
Love, American Style is an hour-long TV anthology produced by Paramount Television and originally aired between September 1969 and January 1974...
from 1970-1973. He appeared as Officer Albert Porter in three episodes of NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's Adam-12
Adam-12
Adam-12 was a television police drama which followed two police officers of the Los Angeles Police Department, Pete Malloy and Jim Reed, as they patrolled the streets of Los Angeles in their patrol unit, 1-Adam-12. Created by Jack Webb who is known for creating Dragnet, the series captured a...
from 1971-1972. In 1979, he starred as "Tom Voohries" alongside of Michael Constantine
Michael Constantine
Michael Constantine is a Greek American actor.He is probably now best known for his portrayal of Gus Portokalos, the Windex bottle-toting Greek father of Toula Portokalos , in the 2002 surprise hit film My Big Fat Greek Wedding.Prior to that, he was well-known for his extensive TV work, especially...
in Disney's The North Avenue Irregulars
The North Avenue Irregulars
The North Avenue Irregulars is a 1979 Disney film distributed by Buena Vista Distribution Company starring Edward Hermann, Barbara Harris and Susan Clark. It was based on original work by Albert Fay Hill, as adapted by Don Tait...
. He appeared again with Peter Sellers in 1980 as "Pete Williams" in the mystery film The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu
The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu
The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu is a 1980 comedy film, notable as the final film of Peter Sellers, David Tomlinson and John Le Mesurier. Pre-production began with Richard Quine as director. By the time the film entered production, Piers Haggard had replaced him. Peter Sellers handled the...
.
More recently in 2002 and 2003, he provided voices for Law & Order
Law & Order
Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...
computer games
Computer Games
"Computer Games" is a single by New Zealand group, Mi-Sex released in 1979 in Australia and New Zealand and in 1981 throughout Europe. It was the single that launched the band, and was hugely popular, particularly in Australia and New Zealand...
. In 2005, Franken made a guest appearance on The King of Queens
The King of Queens
The King of Queens is an American sitcom that originally ran on CBS from September 21, 1998, to May 14, 2007.This show was produced by Hanley Productions and CBS Productions , CBS Paramount Television ,and CBS Television Studios in association with Columbia TriStar Television , and Sony Pictures...
as an Albanian named Vasili. In 2007, he made an appearance as a professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
in The Metrosexual.