JONATHAN FRAKES

'Jonathan Frakes' (born August 19, 1952) is an American actor and director best known for his portrayal of Commander William T. Riker in the television series '' and David Xanatos on Disney's ''Gargoyles''.
Moving on to directing in recent years, Frakes directed and also starred in '', which earned him the nickname "Two-Takes" Frakes for his speed.

Contents

Personal life

Film and television career

Acting filmography

Feature Films

Television Series

Directing filmography

Feature films

Individual episodes of television series

Footnotes

External links

Personal life

Frakes was born in Bellefonte, in central Pennsylvania to Doris J. Yingling and James R. Frakes, Ph.D.^[1] He grew up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of the state. He is a 1970 graduate of Bethlehem's Liberty High School, where he ran track and played with the famous Liberty High Hurricane Grenadiers Band. ^[2] Frakes received a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Theater Arts at Penn State University in the early 1970s, where he was a member of the Thespians and also was a member of the Penn State Blue Band. He continued his studies at Harvard and spent several seasons performing at the Loeb Drama Center.
For a time in the 1970s, Frakes worked for Marvel Comics, appearing at conventions in costume as Captain America. [1]
His father, James R. Frakes, was a well-respected book critic for the ''New York Times Book Review'', a book editor, and professor of English literature at Lehigh University from 1958-2001, where he was the Edmund W. Fairchild Professor in American Studies. He died in early 2002.^[3] Frakes had one brother, Daniel, who died in 1997 from pancreatic cancer.^[4] His mother, Doris, is a homemaker who still lives in the Bethlehem area.
Frakes married soap opera actress Genie Francis on May 28, 1988. They live in Maine with their son, Jameson Ivor, born in 1994, and daughter, Elizabeth Francis, born in 1997. Frakes, an avid dog lover, prides himself on the daily upkeep of his pure bred sheepdog Carlo. Frakes works with The Workshops, The Waterfall Arts Center and The Saltwater Film Society, all located in Maine, where he teaches classes on film direction. He co-owns a home furnishings store with his wife in Belfast, Maine called ''The Cherished Home''.[2]

Film and television career

The 6 ft 4 inch (193cm) Frakes moved to New York City and became a member of "The Impossible Ragtime Theater." In that company, Frakes did his first off-Broadway acting in Eugene O'Neill's ''The Hairy Ape''. His first Broadway appearance was in ''Shenandoah''. At the same time, he landed a role in the NBC soap opera ''The Doctors''. When his character was dismissed from the soap, Frakes moved to Los Angeles, California and played guest spots in many of the top television shows of the 1970s and 1980s, including ''The Waltons'', ''The Dukes of Hazzard'', ''Matlock'', and Steven Bochco's ''Hill Street Blues''. He played the part of Charles Lindbergh in a 1983 episode of ''Voyagers!'' titled ''An Arrow Pointing East''. In 1983, he had a role in the short-lived NBC prime time soap opera ''Bare Essence'' (which also starred his future wife Genie Francis). He also had recurring roles in ''Falcon Crest'' and ''North & South'' before signing for the role of Riker on ''Star Trek: The Next Generation''. ^[5]
He has done animation voice acting, most notably voicing the recurring role of David Xanatos in the animated series ''Gargoyles'', and he provided the voice of his own head in a jar in the ''Futurama'' episode "Where No Fan Has Gone Before." He hosted '' and had a small, uncredited role in the 1994 movie ''Camp Nowhere''.
Frakes is the only ''Star Trek'' regular besides Majel Barrett to appear on four different ''Star Trek'' series ('', '', '' and ''). He has also directed episodes in three of them (''TNG'', ''DS9'' and ''VOY'') and was a popular and innovative director on the Star Trek set, often finding completely new ways to shoot the show's familiar sets. His directing career has included the films '' and ''. Additionally, Frakes was an executive producer for the WB show ''Roswell'', directed several episodes and guest-starred in three episodes. His relationship with Star Trek is made light of in the episode "Secrets and Lies", in which the alien character Max ironically auditions for a guest role as an alien for Star Trek: Enterprise.
Outside of acting, Frakes appeared on the Phish album ''Hoist'', playing trombone on the track titled "Riker's Mailbox." Frakes would occasionally perform on the trombone during his tenure as Commander Riker.

Acting filmography

Feature Films

★ '' (2006) -uncredited as 'Carl'

★ ''Thunderbirds'' (2004) -uncredited as 'Policeman'

★ ''Clockstoppers'' (2002) -uncredited as 'Janitor'

★ '' (2002) -Cmdr./Capt. William T. Riker

★ '' (1998) -Cmdr. William T. Riker

★ '' (1996) -Cmdr. William T. Riker

★ '' (1994) -Cmdr. William T. Riker

Television Series

★ '' -Cmdr. William T. Riker

★ '' -Lt. Tom Riker

★ '' -Cmdr. William T. Riker/Lt. Tom Riker

★ '' -Cmdr. William T. Riker

★ ''North and South'' -Stanley Hazard

★ ''Bare Essence'' -Marcus Marshall

★ ''Beulah Land'' -Adam Davis

★ ''Lois & Clark'' -Tim Lake in episode "Don't Tug on Superman's Cape"

★ ''Dukes of Hazzard'' -Jamie Lee Hogg in episode "Mrs. Daisy Hogg"

★ ''The Waltons'' -Ashley Longworth Jr.

★ '' -Himself (presenter)

★ ''Gargoyles'' -David Xanatos, Coyote (voice)

★ ''Five Mile Creek'' -Adam Scott in two episodes.

★ ''Search for Alien Planets'' -(voice)(presenter)

Directing filmography

Feature films

★ '' (2006)

★ ''Thunderbirds'' (2004)

★ ''Clockstoppers'' (2002)

★ '' (1998)

★ '' (1996)

★ '' (1996) - interactive movie

Individual episodes of television series

★ ''Masters of Science Fiction''

★ ''The New Twilight Zone''

★ ''

★ ''University Hospital''

★ ''

★ ''

★ ''

★ ''Roswell''

Footnotes

1. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~battle/celeb/frakes.htm
2. SYLVIA LAWLER, The Morning Call. Morning Call. Allentown, Pa.: Sep 25, 1988. pg. T.01
3. The Morning Call. Allentown, Pa.: Mar 15, 2002. pg. B.10
4. Morning Call. Allentown, Pa.: May 19, 1997. pg. A.09
5. SYLVIA LAWLER, The Morning Call. Morning Call. Allentown, Pa.: May 5, 1986. pg. D.01

External links

★

★ Jonathan Frakes profile at NNDB