He was born in the Little Italy district of New York to an Italian-American family. His grandparents emigrated from Melfi, Basilicata, in the center of the boot of Southern Italy, in 1890.[4] His parents separated when he was one and he was raised by his mother and aunt, adopting his mother's maiden name Franciosa.[5]
After high school he worked as a welder, ship steward and cook. At the age of 18 he was doing free dancing lessons at the YMCA, where he was offered a role in a production of The Seagull, and the experience made him want to be an actor.[3][6]
Career
Theatre
Franciosa studied privately for two years with Joseph Geigler. He got a four-year scholarship at the Dramatic Workshop which led to the New York Repertory Theatre.[7]
In 1948, Franciosa joined the Cherry Lane Theatre Group off Broadway (at the same time as actress Bea Arthur). Within two years, he had been accepted as a member of the Actors Studio, which would prove an invaluable resource throughout his career[8] but it would be a few years more before Franciosa could make a living from acting. In the meantime, he accepted a variety of jobs which included being a waiter, dishwasher, day laborer, and messenger boy at CBD. He worked in Theatre of the Sky on Lake Tahoe. In 1950 he was in a San Francisco production of Detective Story.[9][10]
In 1953, Franciosa made his Broadway debut in End as a Man alongside Ben Gazzara, and the following year in Wedding Breakfast (1954).[11]
Franciosa's breakthrough role came when cast in the Actors Studio production of A Hatful of Rain (1955–56) under the direction of Elia Kazan. He played Polo, the brother of the drug addicted Johnny (Ben Gazzara). Shelley Winters played Johnny's wife and she would marry Franciosa the following year. Franciosa was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance.[3]
Franciosa reprised his role in A Hatful of Rain in the film version, directed by Fred Zinnemann at 20th Century Fox, with Don Murray and Eva Marie Saint playing the roles originated by Gazzara and Winters. Hedda Hopper pointed out that these three films were made before the first one had been released.[10]
Franciosa's performance in Hatful of Rain earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.[1]
In December 1957, he spent 10 days in jail for hitting a press photographer in April of that year.[14][15] However he was much in demand: In an interview in December, he said he owed Fox and MGM three films each over five years, Kazan two more films, and Wallis one film a year over seven years.[7]
He was meant to star in Orpheus Descending (which became The Fugitive Kind) with Anna Magnani, but the producers decided to cast Marlon Brando, and Franciosa was paid out $75,000. He was mentioned as a possibility for one of the roles in The Magnificent Seven and for the title role in a proposed Simon Bolivar biopic that Dino De Laurentiis was going to make.[18]
In 1959, he served 30 days at an open-prison farm for possession of marijuana. The same year, he was in a car accident.[19]
In a 1966 interview he confessed that Hollywood stardom had come a little too early: "It was an incredible amount of attention, and I wasn't quite mature enough psychologically or emotionally for it."[3]
Tony Franciosa returned to regular series with The Name of the Game (1968–71) (based on Fame Is the Name of the Game), as lead role of charismatic but doggedly determined star reporter Jeff Dillon, alternating the regular lead spot with Gene Barry and Robert Stack. The three leading actors were never onscreen at the same time at any point in the series. He was fired from the show in 1970 because of his temper.
With Laraine Stephens in a publicity photo for the TV series Matt Helm in 1975
He had his own series with Matt Helm (1975), a television version of the spy-spoof theatrical films that starred Dean Martin, but it only lasted 14 episodes.
In the 1985 revival of The Twilight Zone, he appeared in the third-season episode "Crazy as a Soup Sandwich," playing a gangster who is revealed to be the ultimate demon.
Later performances included Blood Vows: The Story of a Mafia Wife (1987), Death House (1988), Fashion Crime (1989), Ghost Writer (1989), Backstreet Dreams (1990), and Double Threat (1992). In 1990–91, he portrayed Colonel Doctor Otternschlag in the U.S. national tour of the musical Grand Hotel at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and other national tour locations.[28][29]
In his autobiography The Garner Files, actor James Garner stated that Franciosa, on the set of A Man Could Get Killed, constantly abused the stunt crew by not pulling punches in fight scenes, resulting in a physical confrontation with Garner.[31]
Personal life
Franciosa was married four times, and had three children. His first marriage to Beatrice Bakalyar in 1952 ended in divorce in 1957. On May 4, 1957, he married actress Shelley Winters; the couple divorced in 1960.[22]
He next wed the former Judith Balaban, daughter of Barney Balaban, and author of the book The Bridesmaids about her friend Princess Grace of Monaco, in whose wedding she served as a bridesmaid. This union produced Franciosa's only daughter, Nina.[6]
His fourth and final marriage was to Rita Thiel on November 27, 1970 -- coincidentally, the day his final episode of The Name Of The Game aired. The marriage lasted until his death in 2006. The pair had two sons, organic farmer Marco and actor Christopher.[6]
When asked about Franciosa's hair-trigger temper, Thiel said "He was never taught how to control his temper ... I changed him a lot ... We still have good fights once in a while, but I can scream back at him."[32]
Franciosa, reflecting about Thiel's influence on him, said
"It took years of therapy and simply living through things to finally accept and enjoy myself. My wife Rita's influence has been profound in that process. Her family was a product of The Great Disaster — World War II. She emerged from the flames with a remarkable buoyancy. Each day she rises with an optimism, a serenity toward life that is certainly contagious. Does that sound romantic? If so, so be it."[33]
During his later years, Franciosa lived in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. He died on January 19, 2006, five days after the death of his second wife Shelley Winters, at age 77 at nearby UCLA Medical Center after suffering a massive stroke.[22]
^Lipton, Michael A. (March 18, 1996). "Back in the Game". People. Retrieved August 18, 2012. By 22, Anthony Franciosa (he had taken his mother's maiden name) was studying at the Actors Studio. At 25, he made his Broadway debut in End as a Man.
^The Life Story of ANTHONY FRANCIOSA
Picture Show; London Vol. 70, Iss. 1827, (Apr 5, 1958): 12.
^Scheuer, Philip K. (February 20, 1959). "Franciosa Strong 'Bolivar' Prospect: Busy Actor, Set in 10 Films, Gives Answer to Pessimists". Los Angeles Times.
^Anderson, Robert (November 12, 1960). "SOUL IN SEARCH OF A BODY: Anthony Franciosa Has an Off-beat Role for His Return to Television". Chicago Daily Tribune.
^"Four Actors Address Negro Rally in Alabama: RACIAL RALLY". Los Angeles Times. August 23, 1963.