Actor Steve Franken 1932-2012 - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Zoneboy · 08-29-2012, 08:31 PM

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Steve Franken, a veteran comic character actor who played Dwayne Hickman’s rich playboy rival on the classic 1960s sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, died Aug. 24 in the Los Angeles area. He was 80.

During a career that spanned almost 60 years and more than 150 film and TV appearances, Franken also starred as Dick opposite Joyce Bulifant and Don Galloway in the short-lived 1964-65 comedy Tom, Dick and Mary and played a paleontology professor who dates Rhoda (Valerie Harper) on two episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

His film résumé includes a memorable slapstick turn as a drunken servant opposite Peter Sellers in Blake Edwards’ The Party (1968) and roles in The Americanization of Emily (1964), Panic in the City (1968), Which Way to the Front? (1970), Westworld (1973), The Reincarnation of Peter Proud (1975), The Missouri Breaks (1976), The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu (1980), Curse of the Pink Panther (1983), Nurse Betty (2000), Angels & Demons (2009) and Reach, a movie not yet released.
On The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, which ran from 1959-63 on CBS, Franken played Chatsworth Osborne Jr., a millionaire dilettante who spars with Dobie (Hickman) and beatnik Maynard G. Krebs (Bob Denver). Chatsworth is introduced in the show’s first season as a cousin to Warren Beatty’s character, Milton Armitage. (Beatty left the series after one season.)

A Brooklyn native and son of a press agent, Franken also had a supporting role in the 1963-64 NBC series The Lieutenant, the first series created by Star Trek’s Gene Roddenberry. He played six characters in seven episodes of ABC’s Bewitched, appeared on Love, American Style five times and had guest shots in other series like McHale’s Navy, That Girl, Mod Squad, Adam-12, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Charlie’s Angels, Barney Miller, Hotel, Seinfeld and The King of Queens.

old grouch · 08-30-2012, 04:31 PM

My favorite Steve Franken character was the dog-like alien that he played on 'Bewitched'. RIP.

1960'sTVfan · 08-30-2012, 04:52 PM

That's too bad about Steve Franken, I always liked him as an actor. He was funny in that Peter Sellers movie The Party where he plays the drunken waiter. He also appears as Patty's date in the Patty Duke Show episode Do You Trust Your Daughter, the episode where Patty's dad thinks Patty got home late from her date, then angrily scolds her the next day, only to find out he was mistaken and Patty actually got home on time, then episode ends with Patty and Poppo making up with each other in a real tearjerker of a scene.

AB · 08-30-2012, 05:13 PM

Rest in peace. And I had no idea that he was 80 years old.

Marvo301 · 08-30-2012, 05:37 PM

Steve Franken. I loved him as the drunken waiter in "The Party" but I will always remember him as Chatsworth Osborne Jr.

70s show watcher · 08-31-2012, 05:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AB

Rest in peace. And I had no idea that he was 80 years old.

i didn;t know the he was 80 ether he always looked so much younger

AB · 08-31-2012, 04:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 70s show watcher

i didn;t know the he was 80 ether he always looked so much younger

Yes, to me he looked younger than the rest of the cast of Dobie Gillis (Dobie, Maynard, Thalia & Milton).

CommonTater · 08-31-2012, 07:44 PM

I remember him from Bewitched and Dobie Gillis.

May he RIP

Ohio8 · 09-01-2012, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by retroTVfan4ever

That's too bad about Steve Franken, I always liked him as an actor. He was funny in that Peter Sellers movie The Party where he plays the drunken waiter. He also appears as Patty's date in the Patty Duke Show episode Do You Trust Your Daughter, the episode where Patty's dad thinks Patty got home late from her date, then angrily scolds her the next day, only to find out he was mistaken and Patty actually got home on time, then episode ends with Patty and Poppo making up with each other in a real tearjerker of a scene.

He was on "TPDS" in two different episodes, actually. The first was in "Sick in Bed."

Ohio8 · 09-02-2012, 12:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ohio8

He was on "TPDS" in two different episodes, actually. The first was in "Sick in Bed."

catlover79 · 10-14-2012, 04:03 PM

Loved his characters on Bewitched, as well as his hilarious turn as "The Arsonist" on the Barney Miller episode of the same name. From everything I've heard/read, Mr. Franken seemed like a great person as well as a great actor.

08-29-2012, 08:31 PM	#1
Zoneboy RIP, I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU :( Moderator Forum Superstar Join Date: Jul 13, 2003 Location: AT HOME WISHING ALL THIS WAS JUST A DREAM AND THAT I'LL WAKE UP FROM THIS NIGHTMARE. Posts: 34,349	Actor Steve Franken 1932-2012 Link Steve Franken, a veteran comic character actor who played Dwayne Hickman’s rich playboy rival on the classic 1960s sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, died Aug. 24 in the Los Angeles area. He was 80. During a career that spanned almost 60 years and more than 150 film and TV appearances, Franken also starred as Dick opposite Joyce Bulifant and Don Galloway in the short-lived 1964-65 comedy Tom, Dick and Mary and played a paleontology professor who dates Rhoda (Valerie Harper) on two episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. His film résumé includes a memorable slapstick turn as a drunken servant opposite Peter Sellers in Blake Edwards’ The Party (1968) and roles in The Americanization of Emily (1964), Panic in the City (1968), Which Way to the Front? (1970), Westworld (1973), The Reincarnation of Peter Proud (1975), The Missouri Breaks (1976), The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu (1980), Curse of the Pink Panther (1983), Nurse Betty (2000), Angels & Demons (2009) and Reach, a movie not yet released. On The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, which ran from 1959-63 on CBS, Franken played Chatsworth Osborne Jr., a millionaire dilettante who spars with Dobie (Hickman) and beatnik Maynard G. Krebs (Bob Denver). Chatsworth is introduced in the show’s first season as a cousin to Warren Beatty’s character, Milton Armitage. (Beatty left the series after one season.) A Brooklyn native and son of a press agent, Franken also had a supporting role in the 1963-64 NBC series The Lieutenant, the first series created by Star Trek’s Gene Roddenberry. He played six characters in seven episodes of ABC’s Bewitched, appeared on Love, American Style five times and had guest shots in other series like McHale’s Navy, That Girl, Mod Squad, Adam-12, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Charlie’s Angels, Barney Miller, Hotel, Seinfeld and The King of Queens.
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08-30-2012, 05:37 PM	#5
Marvo301 I'm NOT a Blockhead! Forum Celebrity Join Date: May 17, 2002 Location: The Great White North Posts: 21,452	Steve Franken. I loved him as the drunken waiter in "The Party" but I will always remember him as Chatsworth Osborne Jr.
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08-31-2012, 07:44 PM	#8
CommonTater no longer a forum member Frequent Poster Join Date: Mar 09, 2010 Posts: 298	I remember him from Bewitched and Dobie Gillis. May he RIP
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10-14-2012, 04:03 PM	#11
catlover79 God Bless Val Forum Addict Join Date: May 29, 2006 Location: Bewitched in Ohio Posts: 70,376	Loved his characters on Bewitched, as well as his hilarious turn as "The Arsonist" on the Barney Miller episode of the same name. From everything I've heard/read, Mr. Franken seemed like a great person as well as a great actor.
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08-30-2012, 04:31 PM	#2
old grouch Member Senior Member Join Date: May 13, 2010 Location: montana Posts: 1,877	My favorite Steve Franken character was the dog-like alien that he played on 'Bewitched'. RIP.

08-30-2012, 04:52 PM	#3
1960'sTVfan Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Sep 30, 2009 Posts: 6,073	That's too bad about Steve Franken, I always liked him as an actor. He was funny in that Peter Sellers movie The Party where he plays the drunken waiter. He also appears as Patty's date in the Patty Duke Show episode Do You Trust Your Daughter, the episode where Patty's dad thinks Patty got home late from her date, then angrily scolds her the next day, only to find out he was mistaken and Patty actually got home on time, then episode ends with Patty and Poppo making up with each other in a real tearjerker of a scene.

08-30-2012, 05:13 PM	#4
AB Member Eternal Member Forum Icon Join Date: Dec 26, 2006 Location: The South Posts: 59,429	Rest in peace. And I had no idea that he was 80 years old.