# Steve Franken

Stephen Robert Franken (May 27, 1932 – August 24, 2012) was an American actor who worked in film and television for over fifty years.

## Early life and career

Franken was born in Queens, New York. He earned his B.A. from Cornell University, and returned to New York to pursue acting rather than realize his parents' dreams for a medical career.
Franken's first screen role was in 1958 as Willie in the episode "The Time of Your Life" on the anthology series Playhouse 90.
Another early role was as Bully in the 1961 episode "The Pit" of the series The Rebel, starring Nick Adams. He played the lead guest-starring role in the 1961 episode "The Case of Willie Betterley" in Lock Up. In 1962, he was cast as Dunc Tomilson in "The Yacht-Club Gang" on Checkmate. He appeared as Jerry Allen in two episodes of Mr. Novak. In 1964, he appeared in The Time Travelers. In 1965, he appeared in "Birth of a Salesman" on McHale's Navy, and in "Tim and Tim Again" on My Favorite Martian.
Producer Rod Amateau saw him in a Los Angeles stage production of Say, Darling and cast him as playboy dilettante Chatsworth Osborne Jr. on the sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, starring Dwayne Hickman. Franken appeared as a recurring guest in numerous episodes from 1960 to 1963. He attributed the character's look of pained condescension to an ulcer he had suffered since the age of 14 when his mother had died. He appeared in 1964 on Petticoat Junction as the son of the villain, Homer Bedloe in "Bedloe and Son". He played another rich wastrel on the short-lived sitcom Tom, Dick and Mary. Franken appeared in the famous 1963 Perry Mason episode "The Case of the Deadly Verdict" (in which Mason actually loses a case, at least initially) as Christopher Barton.
Immediately after Dobie Gillis was cancelled, Franken was cast as Lieutenant Samwell "Sanpan" Panosian in the Gary Lockwood series The Lieutenant episode "To Take Up Serpents", the first television series created by Gene Roddenberry. He played other military roles, such as a decorated U.S. flier turned arms-dealer and traitor in "The Gun Runner Raid" episode of The Rat Patrol and as a P.O.W. lieutenant in Follow Me, Boys!. From 1966 to 1971, he appeared in various roles in at least six episodes of Bewitched.
Franken appeared as the drunken waiter Levinson in the 1968 Blake Edwards film The Party, alongside Peter Sellers. One journalist, writing on the fortieth anniversary of the film, stated:
   Rivaling Sellers with one of The Party's stand-out performances: Steve Franken as the increasingly inebriated butler, slathering on a layer of slapstick to the proceedings with his incontinent antics. Franken's interaction with his vexed supervisor, his drunken stroll through the shallow indoor pool, his struggle to rescue the roast chicken perched precariously atop a bewigged socialite's bouffant hairdo: all comedy gold.
From 1970 to 1973, he appeared five times on Love, American Style. He appeared as Officer Albert Porter in three episodes of Adam-12 from 1971 to 1972 as well as Ralph Salisbury in the 1971 episode "The Ferret." In 1972, he appeared as Jonas Lasser on the season three episode "The Courtship of Mary's Father's Daughter" on The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
He appeared on Barney Miller in 1975 (episode: "The Arsonist") and again in 1981 (episode: "Resignation"). In 1979, he starred as Tom Voorhies alongside Michael Constantine in Disney's The North Avenue Irregulars. He appeared with Peter Sellers in 1980's The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu.
He acted and directed in various episodes of Insight. He appeared in small roles in such contemporary television series as Murphy Brown, The King of Queens and Seinfeld. From 2002 to 2003, he provided voices for Law & Order computer games. He voiced Professor Eugene Atwater in the animated series Road Rovers.
He voice-acted as Rundle in the 1993 Batman: The Animated Series episode "The Mechanic" and was Mr. Beal in Detention episodes "Little Miss Popular" and "Comedy of Terrors" (both 1999). The following year, he voiced the role of Mr. Janus in the episode "Grounded" of Static Shock and provided voices in Smurfs (1981), The Adventures of Don Coyote and Sancho Panda (1990), and Spawn (1997).

## Death

Franken died on August 24, 2012, at a nursing and rehabilitation center in Canoga Park, California, of complications from cancer, aged 80. He had three daughters, two from his first marriage to Julia Carter, and one from his second marriage to Jean Garrett. He was the second cousin of actor and politician Al Franken.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1958 | Stage Struck | Dressing Room Well-Wisher | uncredited |
| 1958 | Cop Hater | Boy in Lineup | |
| 1964 | The Americanization of Emily | Young Sailor | |
| 1964 | The Time Travelers | Danny McKee | |
| 1966 | Wild Wild Winter | John | |
| 1966 | Follow Me, Boys! | P.O.W. Lieutenant | |
| 1968 | Panic in the City | Hal Johnson | |
| 1968 | The Party | Levinson | |
| 1969 | Angel in My Pocket | Zimmerman | |
| 1969 | Number One | Robin | |
| 1970 | Which Way to the Front? | Peter Bland | |
| 1972 | Every Man Needs One | Bob Rasmussen | Television film |
| 1973 | Voyage of the Yes | Doctor | Television film |
| 1973 | The Stranger | Henry Maitland | Television film |
| 1973 | Westworld | Technician | |
| 1974 | Houston, We've Got a Problem | Shimon Levin | Television film |
| 1975 | The Last Survivors | Don West | Television film |
| 1975 | The Reincarnation of Peter Proud | Dr. Charles Crennis | |
| 1975 | Sky Heist | Traffic Controller | Television film |
| 1975 | Murder on Flight 502 | Donald Goldman | Television film |
| 1975 | I Wonder Who's Killing Her Now? | Harold Booker Esquire | |
| 1976 | Kiss Me, Kill Me | Murry Tesko | Television film |
| 1976 | The Missouri Breaks | The Lonesome Kid | |
| 1977 | It Happened at Lakewood Manor | Lionel White | Television film |
| 1978 | Avalanche | Henry McDade | |
| 1978 | Zuma Beach | Rick | Television film |
| 1978 | Terror Out of the Sky | Paul Gladstone | Television film |
| 1979 | The North Avenue Irregulars | Tom Voories | |
| 1980 | Hardly Working | Steve Torres | |
| 1980 | There Goes the Bride | Church Organist | |
| 1980 | The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu | Pete Williams | |
| 1980 | The Ghosts of Buxley Hall | Virgil Quinby | Television film |
| 1982 | Not Just Another Affair | Dr. Morton Schiller | Television film |
| 1983 | Curse of the Pink Panther | Harvey Hamilcard III | |
| 1983 | High School U.S.A. | Dr. Fritz Hauptmann | Television film |
| 1984 | The Sheriff and the Astronaut | FBI Agent Henley | Television film |
| 1985 | The Fourth Wise Man | Pharisee #1 | Television film |
| 1985 | There Were Times, Dear | Harry | Television film |
| 1987 | Can't Buy Me Love | Moda Clerk | |
| 1988 | Bring Me the Head of Dobie Gillis | Chatsworth Osborne, Jr. | Television film |
| 1988 | Freeway | Lawyer | |
| 1989 | Transylvania Twist | Hans Hupp | |
| 1991 | Never Forget | Dan Greenspan | Television film |
| 1993 | Breakfast of Aliens | Fred | |
| 1994 | Munchie Strikes Back | Professor Graves | |
| 1998 | The Pandora Project | Sam Davis | |
| 1999 | Restraining Order | Jerry | |
| 1999 | The Omega Code | Jeffries | |
| 2000 | Nurse Betty | Administrator | |
| 2000 | Agent Red | General Socka | |
| 2001 | The Trumpet of the Swan | Bud | Voice |
| 2001 | Crash Point Zero [fr] | Stuart Elliott | |
| 2005 | The Works | Gordon | |
| 2007 | The Metrosexual | Professor | |
| 2009 | Angels & Demons | Cardinal Colbert | |
| 2010 | Watch Out for Slick | Emory | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1958 | Decoy | Bar Patron | Episode: "Saturday Lost" |
| 1958 | Playhouse 90 | Willie | Episode: "The Time of Your Life" |
| 1960 | Deadline | Copy Boy | Episode: "To Move a Mountain" |
| 1960–1963 | The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis | Chatsworth Osborne, Jr. | Recurring role |
| 1961 | Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond | Crazed Soldier | Episode: "Night of Decision" |
| 1961 | The Rebel | Ruck | Episode: "The Pit" |
| 1961 | Assignment: Underwater | Carstairs | Episode: "Witness from the Dead" |
| 1961 | Lock-Up | Willie Betterley | Episode: "The Case of Willie Betterley" |
| 1962 | Checkmate | Dunc Tomilson | Episode: "The Yacht-Club Gang" |
| 1962 | Dr. Kildare | Freddie Binns | Episode: "Operation: Lazarus" |
| 1962 | Ensign O'Toole | Ensign Clifford Bender | Episode: "Operation: Gaslight" |
| 1963 | Perry Mason | Christopher Barton | Episode: "The Case of the Deadly Verdict" |
| 1963 | The Lieutenant | Lieutenant Sam Panosian | Episode: "To Take Up Serpents" |
| 1963 | Beetle Bailey | Lieutenant Forbes | Episode: "Psychological Testing" |
| 1963-1964 | Mr. Novak | Jerry Allen | Recurring role |
| 1964 | Petticoat Junction | Homer Bedloe Jr. | Episode: "Bedloe and Son" |
| 1964-1965 | Tom, Dick and Mary | Dr. Dick Moran | Recurring role |
| 1965 | The Patty Duke Show | Bob | Episode: "Sick in Bed" |
| 1965 | McHale's Navy | Lieutenant Jason Whitworth | Episode: "Birth of a Saleman" |
| 1965 | Please Don't Eat the Daisies | Crawford | Episode: "Two Seats on the Moon Shot" |
| 1965 | The Farmer's Daughter | Bellboy | Episode: "Crisis at Crystal Springs" |
| 1965 | My Favorite Martian | George | Episode: "Tim and Tim Again" |
| 1966 | Tammy | Crazy Wolf | Episode: "Two for Tee Pee" |
| 1966 | The Patty Duke Show | Ronald Dawson | Episode: "Do You Trust Your Daughter?" |
| 1966 | The Wild Wild West | Le Fou | Episode: "The Night of the Bottomless Pit" |
| 1966 | That Girl | Actor Playing Dr. Bruce Alden | Episode: "Soap Gets in Your Eyes" |
| 1966 | The Long, Hot Summer | | Episode: "Carlotta, Come Home" |
| 1966 | The Rat Patrol | Ned Cunningham | Episode: "The Gun Runner Raid" |
| 1966 | Bewitched | George Barkley | Episode: "Follow That Witch" |
| 1966 | Bewitched | Hawkins | Episode: "A Gazebo Never Forgets" |
| 1967 | Batman | Rudy, the Valet | Episode: "That Darn Catwoman" |
| 1967 | T.H.E. Cat | Carl Leandro | Episode: "Matter Over Mind" |
| 1967 | My Three Sons | Al Morgan | Episode: "The Sky Is Falling" |
| 1967 | Mission: Impossible | Akim Hadramut | Episode: "The Slave" |
| 1968 | The Second Hundred Years | Corporal | Episode: "Luke and Comrade Tanya" |
| 1968 | The Outsider | Roger Edgeway | Episode: "What Flowers Daisies Are" |
| 1968 | The Big Valley | Bank Teller | Episode: "Hell Hath No Fury" |
| 1968 | Blondie | David Dithers | Episode: "Once Upon a Guru" |
| 1968 | Bewitched | Orvis | Episode: "Samantha's Secret Saucer" |
| 1968 | Bewitched | Juke | Episode: "Darrin Gone! and Forgotten?" |
| 1969 | My Friend Tony | | Episode: "The Hazing" |
| 1969 | The Mod Squad | Rabbi Elliott Tannenbaum | Episode: "In This Corner - Sol Alpert" |
| 1969 | Bewitched | Cousin Henry | Episode: "Samantha's Shopping Spree" |
| 1970 | Night Gallery | Dr. Peter Mitchell | Episode: "The House" |
| 1970-1973 | Love, American Style | Various roles | 5 episodes |
| 1970-1979 | Insight | Various roles | 6 episodes |
| 1971 | Marcus Welby, M.D. | Dr. Weitzman | Episode: "A Passing of Torches" |
| 1971 | Bewitched | Bruce | Episode: "Samantha and the Loch Ness Monster" |
| 1971 | Adam-12 | Ralph Salisbury | Episode: "The Ferret" |
| 1972 | Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law | Kurt Balks | Episode: "The Trouble with Ralph" |
| 1972 | Adam-12 | Officer Albert Porter | 2 episodes |
| 1972 | Norman Corwin Presents | | Episode: "Odyssey in Progress" |
| 1972 | The Mary Tyler Moore Show | Jonas Lasser | 2 episodes |
| 1974 | The Rookies | Alvin Conrad | Episode: "Key Witness" |
| 1974 | Sierra | Tommy | Episode: "Taking Cody Winslow" |
| 1974 | Emergency! | Bernard Goldberg | Episode: "Daisy's Pick Blind Date" |
| 1975 | Kolchak: The Night Stalker | Neil | Episode: "Chopper" |
| 1975 | Police Story | D.A. Wallberger | 2 episodes |
| 1975 | Barney Miller | Edward Foreman | Episode: "The Arsonist" |
| 1976 | Doc | Harvey Kramer | Episode: "Oldies but Goodies" |
| 1976 | Good Heavens | Mr. Dee | Episode: "See Jane Run" |
| 1976 | Holmes & Yoyo | Jerry | Episode: "Funny Money" |
| 1977 | Man from Atlantis | Doctor | Episode: "Man from Atlantis" |
| 1977 | Lanigan's Rabbi | Will Stopes | Episode: "The Cadaver in the Clutter" |
| 1977 | Charlie's Angels | Fred Olsen | Episode: "Pretty Angels All in a Row" |
| 1977 | Petticoat Affair | Milton | Episode: "A Party for the Captain" |
| 1977 | C.P.O. Sharkey | Dr. Simon | Episode: "Sharkey Files Over the Cuckoo's Nest" |
| 1977 | Police Woman | Clerk | Episode: "Do You Still Beat Your Wife?" |
| 1978 | Police Woman | J.P. Thompson | Episode: "Murder with Pretty People" |
| 1978 | Kojak | Arnie Goldman | Episode: "May the Horse Be with You" |
| 1978 | Quincy, M.E. | Dr. Kitei | Episode: "The Last Six Hours" |
| 1978 | Alice | Holdup Man | Episode: "Better Never Than Late" |
| 1978 | CHiPs | Student Driver | Episode: "Crash Diet" |
| 1979 | Kaz | | Episode: "Kazinski Versus Bennett" |
| 1979 | Supertrain | | Episode: "The Queen and the Improbable Knight" |
| 1979 | One Day at a Time | Victor Mulhern | Episode: "The Piano Teacher" |
| 1980 | Disneyland | Virgil Quinby | Episode: "The Ghosts of Buxley Hall" |
| 1980 | Trapper John, M.D. | Bernie Chalmers | Episode: "Slim Chance" |
| 1981 | Barney Miller | Edward Novak | Episode: "Resignation" |
| 1981 | The Love Boat | Harry Mason | 2 episodes |
| 1982 | CHiPs | Alan Drummond | Episode: "Force Seven" |
| 1982 | Trapper John, M.D. | Patient | Episode: "Three on a Mismatch" |
| 1982 | Simon & Simon | Tunridge | Episode: "The Ten Thousand Dollar Deductible" |
| 1983 | Ryan's Four | | Episode: "Ryan's Four" |
| 1983 | Fantasy Island | Wes Perry | Episode: "The Wedding Picture/Castaways" |
| 1984 | The Smurfs | Additional voices | Episode: "Symbols of Wisdom/Blue Eyes Returns"; uncredited |
| 1984 | Jessie | Mr Anderson | Episode: "The Psychic Connection" |
| 1985 | Diff'rent Strokes | Mr. Anderson | Episode: "Arnold Saves the Squirrel" |
| 1985 | Hill Street Blues | Arnold Solomon | Episode: "Queen for a Day" |
| 1985 | MacGyver | Walt, the Pilot | Episode: "Last Stand" |
| 1985 | Hotel | Carmondy | Episode: "Echoes" |
| 1986 | On Wings of Eagles | Mort Myerson | Miniseries |
| 1986 | Our House | Forrester | Episode: "See You in Court" |
| 1987 | One Big Family | Dickie Tyler | Episode: "Stagestruck" |
| 1987 | Rags to Riches' | Dennis Baxter | Episode: "Born to Ride" |
| 1987 | Small Wonder | Doctor | Episode: "Everyone Into the Pool" |
| 1988 | Freddy's Nightmares | Mr. Birdwell | Episode: "Killer Instinct" |
| 1989 | Freddy's Nightmares | Mr. Sexton | Episode: "Silence Is Golden" |
| 1989 | Hunter | Lou | Episode: "The Legion" |
| 1990 | The Adventures of Don Coyote and Sancho Panda | Additional voices | Episode: "Pity the Poor Pirate" |
| 1990 | China Beach | Judge Julius H. Hoffman | Episode: "The Call" |
| 1992 | Harry and the Hendersons | Dr. J | Episode: "The Girl Who Cried Bigfoot" |
| 1992 | Human Target | Quentin Firth | Episode: "Designed by Chance" |
| 1993 | Batman: The Animated Series | Rundle | Voice, episode: "The Mechanic" |
| 1994 | Herman's Head | Mr. Prescott | Episode: "Bedtime for Hermo" |
| 1994 | Sisters | Huey Short | Episode: "Heroes" |
| 1995 | ER | Hank Travis | Episode: "Full Moon, Saturday Night" |
| 1996 | The Young and the Restless | Dr. Everhart | 1 episode |
| 1996 | Sparks | Judge | Episode: "Porky's Revenge" |
| 1996-1997 | Road Rovers | Professor Eugene Atwater | Voice, 2 episodes |
| 1997-1999 | Todd McFarlane's Spawn | Additional voices | Recurring role |
| 1998 | The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries | President Generic | Voice, episode: "Spooker of the House" |
| 1998 | Seinfeld | Brendan | Episode: "The Maid" |
| 1998 | Murphy Brown | College Roommate | Episode: "Dial and Substance" |
| 1998 | Maggie Winters | Mr. Addison | Episode: "Dinner at Rachel's" |
| 1999 | Detention | Mr. Beal | Voice, 2 episodes |
| 2000 | Chicken Soup for the Soul | Mr. Bellinger | Episode: "A Mason-Dixon Memory" |
| 2000 | Static Shock | Mr. Janus | Voice, episode: "Grounded" |
| 2001 | Family Law | Teacher | Episode: "Obligations" |
| 2005 | The Comeback | | Episode: "Valerie Stands Out on the Red Carpet" |
| 2005 | The King of Queens | Vasili | Episode: "Move Doubt" |
| 2006 | Threshold | Graham Bolton | Episode: "Alienville" |
| 2012 | The Jeff Lewis 5 Minute Comedy Hour | Father | Episode: "Deathbed" |