Arthur Franz (actor)

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Arthur Franz (born February 29, 1920 in Perth Amboy , New Jersey , † June 16, 2006 in Oxnard , California ) was an American actor .

biography

After graduating from school, Franz signed up for the US Air Force , for which he worked as a navigator during the Second World War . After a plane was shot down over Romania, he was first interned in a German prisoner of war camp, from which he was later able to escape.

After the war ended, Franz realized his childhood dream by going to Hollywood and applying to be a film actor. In 1948 he made his film debut with a leading role in the drama Jungle Patrol alongside Richard Jaeckel . Well over a hundred roles followed in film and television productions, with Franz taking on leading roles in B-movies and supporting roles in large-scale productions. Mostly he played upright characters. An exception was the 1952 thriller The Sniper directed by Edward Dmytryk , in which Franz played an unstable ex-soldier who mutated into a psychotic female murderer.

He starred in a total of nine films under the direction of the renowned Hollywood veteran Dmytryks: In addition to The Sniper in Eight Iron Men , The Caine Was Her Fate (with Humphrey Bogart ), The Young Lions (with Marlon Brando ), Three Lives , The Human Factor , The Battle of Anzio (with Robert Mitchum ), Alvarez Kelly (with Richard Widmark and William Holden ) and The Insatiable (with George Peppard ).

Franz became known to an international audience through his leading roles in B-movies from the horror and science fiction genre. Under the direction of Jack Arnold, he played the title role in The Horror Creeps through the Night , a Dr.-Jekyll-and-Mr.-Hyde variant in the university environment and the male lead in each of Lesley Selander's Flight to Mars and William Cameron Menzies ' Invasion of Mars .

His other films include the horror film parody Abbott Costello on Sherlock Holmes' footsteps , the war films You Were Our Comrade (with John Wayne ), Company Panther Jump and Hellhounds of the Pacific and the drama Woman Without a Conscience (with Rod Steiger ). He has also made numerous guest roles on television series such as Smoking Colts , Bonanza , 77 Sunset Strip , Cannon and The Waltons .

Franz ended his acting career in 1982 with a last appearance in the television drama Sensation of the Masters (alongside Robert Mitchum, Martin Sheen and Bruce Dern ).

Franz was married four times, including the actresses Anna Minot, Adele Longmire (* 1918) and Doreen Lang (1915-1999). The marriages resulted in a total of three children. Franz spent his twilight years in New Zealand. He only returned to California shortly before his death, where he died of emphysema on June 16, 2006 .

Filmography (selection)

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personal data
SURNAME Franz, Arthur
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-American actor
DATE OF BIRTH February 29, 1920
PLACE OF BIRTH Perth Amboy , New Jersey
DATE OF DEATH June 16, 2006
Place of death Oxnard , California