Jonathan Frakes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Jonathan Frakes | |
 Frakes at the 2005 Dallas Comic Con |
|
| Birth name | Jonathan Scott Frakes |
| Born | August 19, 1952 (age 54) Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Spouse(s) | Genie Francis |
| Notable roles | "William Riker" in Star Trek: The Next Generation |
Jonathan Frakes (born August 19, 1952) is an American actor and director best known for his portrayal of Commander William Riker in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Moving on to directing in recent years, Frakes directed and also starred in Star Trek: First Contact, which earned him the nickname "Two-Takes" Frakes for his speed.
Contents |
[edit] 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. Frakes received a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Theater Arts at Penn State University in the early 1970s, where he was also a member of the Thespians. 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. Frakes had one brother, Daniel, who died in 1997 from pancreatic cancer. 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]
[edit] Film and television career
He 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 and had recurring roles in Falcon Crest and North & South before signing for the role of Riker on Star Trek: The Next Generation.
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 Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction 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 (Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Enterprise). 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 Star Trek: First Contact and Star Trek: Insurrection.
His talents are not limited to the acting arts. Frakes appears on the Phish album Hoist, playing trombone on the track titled "Riker's Mailbox." Indeed, Frakes would occasionally perform on the trombone during his tenure as Commander Riker.
[edit] Acting filmography
[edit] Feature Films
- The Librarian: Return to King Solomon's Mines (2006) -uncredited as 'Carl'
- Thunderbirds (2004) -uncredited as 'Policeman'
- Clockstoppers (2002) -uncredited as 'Janitor'
- Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) -Cmdr./Capt. William T. Riker
- Star Trek: Insurrection (1998) -Cmdr. William T. Riker
- Star Trek: First Contact (1996) -Cmdr. William T. Riker
- Star Trek: Generations (1994) -Cmdr. William T. Riker
[edit] Television Series
- Star Trek: Voyager -Cmdr. William T. Riker
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine -Lt. Tom Riker
- Star Trek: The Next Generation -Cmdr. William T. Riker/Lt. Tom Riker
- Star Trek: Enterprise -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.
- Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction? -Himself (presenter)
- Gargoyles -David Xanatos, Coyote (voice)
- Search for Alien Planets (2000 science chan) -(voice)(presenter)
[edit] Directing filmography
[edit] Feature films
- The Librarian: Return to King Solomon's Mines (2006)
- Thunderbirds (2004)
- Clockstoppers (2002)
- Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)
- Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
- Star Trek: Klingon (1996) - interactive movie
[edit] Individual episodes of television series
- The New Twilight Zone
- Diagnosis: Murder
- University Hospital
- Star Trek: Voyager
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
- Star Trek: The Next Generation
- Star Trek: Enterprise
- Roswell
[edit] Footnotes
[edit] External links
- Jonathan Frakes at the Internet Movie Database
- Jonathan Frakes profile at NNDB
- Jonathan Frakes article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki.
| Major Cast Members of Star Trek: The Next Generation | |||
| Patrick Stewart | Jonathan Frakes | Brent Spiner | LeVar Burton | Michael Dorn | Gates McFadden | Marina Sirtis | Wil Wheaton | Denise Crosby | Diana Muldaur | |||
Categories: American film actors | American film directors | American television actors | American television directors | American voice actors | English-language film directors | Falcon Crest cast members | Star Trek behind the scenes | Gargoyles cast members | Matlock cast members | Harvard University alumni | Penn State University alumni | People from the Lehigh Valley | 1952 births | Living people
