Zoneboy
08-29-2012, 08:15 PM
Link (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/30/arts/television/steve-franken-actor-in-dobie-gillis-dies-at-80.html)
Steve Franken, a character actor specializing in comedy who appeared in films with Peter Sellers, Jerry Lewis and others, but was best known for playing the wealthy and snobbish Chatsworth Osborne Jr. on the hit sitcom “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis ,” died on Friday in Los Angeles. He was 80.
The cause was cancer, his wife, Jean, said.
Mr. Franken’s television and film career lasted more than 50 years. He was a frequent guest on popular shows like “Bewitched” and “Love, American Style,” and also appeared on “Mission: Impossible,” “Seinfeld” and many other series.
He acted in films with a long list of stars, including Peter Sellers in “The Party ” and “The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu”; Mr. Lewis in “Which Way to the Front? ” and “Hardly Working ”; Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson in “The Missouri Breaks ”; and James Garner and Julie Andrews in “The Americanization of Emily .”
But Mr. Franken first gained widespread attention on “Dobie Gillis,” which ran from 1959 to 1963. His character, Chatsworth, was a boastful rich kid who nonetheless was friendly with Dobie (Dwayne Hickman), a grocer’s son, and his beatnik friend, Maynard G. Krebs (Bob Denver).
Stephen Robert Franken was born on May 27, 1932, in Queens. He graduated from Cornell University and began acting in New York City in plays like “Inherit the Wind,” the fictionalized account of the Scopes trial. He landed the Chatsworth role after going to Los Angeles to be in José Ferrer’s production of “Edwin Booth,” in which he played a young version of the title character.
In addition to his wife, Mr. Franken is survived by their daughter, Anne; two daughters from his marriage to Julia Carter, which ended in divorce, Emily Franken and Abigail Glass; and two grandchildren.
Steve Franken, a character actor specializing in comedy who appeared in films with Peter Sellers, Jerry Lewis and others, but was best known for playing the wealthy and snobbish Chatsworth Osborne Jr. on the hit sitcom “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis ,” died on Friday in Los Angeles. He was 80.
The cause was cancer, his wife, Jean, said.
Mr. Franken’s television and film career lasted more than 50 years. He was a frequent guest on popular shows like “Bewitched” and “Love, American Style,” and also appeared on “Mission: Impossible,” “Seinfeld” and many other series.
He acted in films with a long list of stars, including Peter Sellers in “The Party ” and “The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu”; Mr. Lewis in “Which Way to the Front? ” and “Hardly Working ”; Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson in “The Missouri Breaks ”; and James Garner and Julie Andrews in “The Americanization of Emily .”
But Mr. Franken first gained widespread attention on “Dobie Gillis,” which ran from 1959 to 1963. His character, Chatsworth, was a boastful rich kid who nonetheless was friendly with Dobie (Dwayne Hickman), a grocer’s son, and his beatnik friend, Maynard G. Krebs (Bob Denver).
Stephen Robert Franken was born on May 27, 1932, in Queens. He graduated from Cornell University and began acting in New York City in plays like “Inherit the Wind,” the fictionalized account of the Scopes trial. He landed the Chatsworth role after going to Los Angeles to be in José Ferrer’s production of “Edwin Booth,” in which he played a young version of the title character.
In addition to his wife, Mr. Franken is survived by their daughter, Anne; two daughters from his marriage to Julia Carter, which ended in divorce, Emily Franken and Abigail Glass; and two grandchildren.