In Remembrance: Anthony Franciosa

     Anthony Franciosa, the handsome Broadway actor who segued to starring film roles, has passed away on January 19, 2006 in Los Angeles, CA. He was 77.

     Born Anthony Papaleo on October 25, 1928 in New York City, Franciosa’s parents divorced when he was one year old. After graduating high school, he took a variety of odd jobs while he tried to figure out what he wanted to do with his life. During a chance visit to a YMCA to take a free dance lesson, Franciosa stumbled into a play audition and wound up being offered a part. Several other stage roles soon followed with Franciosa, who had by this time adopted his mother’s maiden name, making his Broadway debut in End As A Man in 1953.

     During his time in New York, Franciosa also studied at the Actors Studio under the legendary Lee Strasberg. In 1955 he starred in an Actors Studio workshop production of A Hatful Of Rain. The production was so well received that it later moved to Broadway, where Franciosa earned an Outer Critics Circle Award and a Tony Award nomination. He also earned the attention of Hollywood, who had him reprise his role of Polo Pope, the brother of a heroin addict, when the play was adapted for the silver screen in 1957. His performance garnered him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

     For the next several years, Franciosa starred in a variety of films including A Face In The Crowd (1957), The Long, Hot Summer (1958), Career (1959), Period Of Adjustment (1962), Rio Conchos (1964), The Pleasure Seekers, The Swinger (both 1966) and Fathom (1967).

     In 1968, Franciosa began work on the televisions series The Name Of The Game, a spin-off from Fame Is The Name Of The Game, a made-for-television movie he made two years earlier. Although the show proved popular with audiences, network executives fired Franciosa after two seasons, stating that his mercurial temper was causing too many problems on the set. Franciosa would later admit in a 1996 interview that he was a little too young to fully handle his sudden stardom- “It was an incredible amount of attention, and I wasn't quite mature enough psychologically and emotionally for it."
 

     Franciosa also starred in the series Valentine’s Day, Matt Helm, Search and Finder Of Lost Loves. His later films include Death Wish II, Tenebre (both 1982), Death House (1987) and Double Threat (1993).