Franchot Tone
Encyclopedia
Franchot Tone was an American stage, film, and television actor, star of Mutiny on the Bounty
(1935) and many other films through the 1960s. In the early 1960s Tone appeared in character roles on TV dramas like Bonanza
, Wagon Train
, The Twilight Zone
, and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.
, the youngest son of Dr. Frank Jerome Tone, the wealthy president of the Carborundum Company, and his socially-prominent wife, Gertrude Van Vrancken Franchot. Tone was a distant relative of Wolfe Tone: his great-great-great-great-grandfather John was a first cousin of Peter Tone, whose eldest son was Theobald Wolfe Tone. Tone was of French Canadian
, Irish
, English
and Basque
ancestry.
Tone attended The Hill School in Pottstown, PA and Cornell University
, where he was President of the drama club and was elected to the Sphinx Head Society. He also joined Alpha Delta Phi
fraternity. He gave up the family business to pursue an acting career in the theatre. After graduating, he moved to Greenwich Village
, New York
, and got his first major Broadway
role in the 1929 Katharine Cornell
production of The Age of Innocence.
and played Curly in their production of Green Grow the Lilacs
(later to become the famous musical Oklahoma!
). He later became a founding member of the famed Group Theatre, together with Harold Clurman
, Cheryl Crawford
, Lee Strasberg
, Stella Adler
, Clifford Odets
, and others, many of whom had worked with the Theatre Guild. Strasberg had been a castmate of Tone's in Green Grow the Lilacs. These were intense and productive years for him: among the productions of the Group he acted in were 1931 (1931) and Success Story (1932).
The same year, however, Tone was the first of the Group to turn his back on the theatre and go to Hollywood when MGM offered him a film contract. In his memoir on the Group Theatre, The Fervent Years, Harold Clurman recalls Tone as the most confrontational and egocentric of the group in the beginning. Nevertheless, he always considered cinema far inferior to the theatre and recalled his stage years with longing. He often sent financial support to the Group Theatre, which often needed it. He eventually returned to the stage from time to time after the 1940s.
Tone summered at Pine Brook Country Club
, located in the countryside of Nichols, Connecticut
, which became the Group Theatre summer rehearsal headquarters during the 1930s.
Tone's screen debut was in the 1932 movie The Wiser Sex
. He achieved fame in 1933, when he made seven movies that year, including Today We Live
, written by William Faulkner
, Bombshell
, with Jean Harlow
(with whom he co-starred in three other movies), and the smash hit Dancing Lady
, again with then-wife Joan Crawford
and Clark Gable
. In 1935, he starred in Mutiny on the Bounty
(for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor
), The Lives of a Bengal Lancer
and Dangerous
opposite Bette Davis
.
Tone worked steadily through the 1940s, but he often played second leads or love interests in films that focused on a major female star. Frequently typecast as the wealthy cafe-society playboy, he notably played against type in films like Five Graves to Cairo
(1943), a World War II
espionage story directed by Billy Wilder
, and Phantom Lady (1944), a film noir
thriller.
In 1949 he produced and starred in The Man on the Eiffel Tower
, a troubled production whose reputation has benefited from restorations in the 2000s that have coincided with theatrical showings and vastly improved DVD releases. Tone's tour de force role as a manic depressive sociopath included performing many of his own stunts on the Paris landmark
.
In the 1950s, facing subtle blacklisting in Hollywood, he found parts in New York
-based live television
, including the original production of Twelve Angry Men. He also returned to Broadway
, notably appearing in A Moon for the Misbegotten
with Wendy Hiller
in 1957. Also that year he co-produced, co-directed, and starred in an adaptation of Chekhov's
Uncle Vanya
, which was filmed concurrently with an off-Broadway
revival.
In the early 1960s, Tone returned to Hollywood and, appearing aged beyond his years, essayed many showcase character roles on popular TV dramas like Bonanza
, Wagon Train
, The Twilight Zone
, and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. He also co-starred in the Ben Casey
medical series from 1965 to 1966 as Casey's supervisor, Robert Ashton.
On film, he received acclaim as the charismatic, dying president in Otto Preminger's
1962 film version of Advise & Consent. His final movie appearances were cameos in Preminger's
1965 film In Harm's Way
(in which he portrayed Admiral
Husband E. Kimmel
) and Nobody Runs Forever
(1968).
; they were divorced in 1939. They made seven films together: Today We Live
(1933), Dancing Lady
(1933), Sadie McKee
(1934), No More Ladies
(1935), The Gorgeous Hussy
(1936), Love On The Run
(1936) and The Bride Wore Red
(1937).
In 1951, Tone's relationship with actress Barbara Payton
made headlines when he suffered numerous facial injuries and fell into a coma for 18 hours following a fistfight with actor Tom Neal
, a rival for Payton's attention. Plastic surgery nearly restored his broken nose and cheek, and Tone subsequently married Payton, divorcing her in 1952 after obtaining incriminating photographs proving she had continued her relationship with Neal.
He married and divorced two other times:
in New York City
in 1968. His remains were cremated
and his ashes were scattered.
For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Franchot Tone has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
at 6558 Hollywood Blvd.
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935 film)
Mutiny on the Bounty is a 1935 film starring Charles Laughton and Clark Gable, and directed by Frank Lloyd based on the Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall novel Mutiny on the Bounty.The film was one of the biggest hits of its time...
(1935) and many other films through the 1960s. In the early 1960s Tone appeared in character roles on TV dramas like Bonanza
Bonanza
Bonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...
, Wagon Train
Wagon Train
Wagon Train is an American Western series that ran on NBC from 1957–62 and then on ABC from 1962–65...
, The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone is an American television anthology series created by Rod Serling. Each episode is a mixture of self-contained drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science fiction, suspense, or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist...
, and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.
Early life
He was born as Stanislaus Pascal Franchot Tone in Niagara Falls, New YorkNiagara Falls, New York
Niagara Falls is a city in Niagara County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 50,193, down from the 55,593 recorded in the 2000 census. It is across the Niagara River from Niagara Falls, Ontario , both named after the famed Niagara Falls which they...
, the youngest son of Dr. Frank Jerome Tone, the wealthy president of the Carborundum Company, and his socially-prominent wife, Gertrude Van Vrancken Franchot. Tone was a distant relative of Wolfe Tone: his great-great-great-great-grandfather John was a first cousin of Peter Tone, whose eldest son was Theobald Wolfe Tone. Tone was of French Canadian
French Canadian
French Canadian or Francophone Canadian, , generally refers to the descendents of French colonists who arrived in New France in the 17th and 18th centuries...
, Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and Basque
Basque people
The Basques as an ethnic group, primarily inhabit an area traditionally known as the Basque Country , a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France.The Basques are known in the...
ancestry.
Tone attended The Hill School in Pottstown, PA and Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
, where he was President of the drama club and was elected to the Sphinx Head Society. He also joined Alpha Delta Phi
Alpha Delta Phi
Alpha Delta Phi is a Greek-letter social college fraternity and the fourth-oldest continuous Greek-letter fraternity in the United States and Canada. Alpha Delta Phi was founded on October 29, 1832 by Samuel Eells at Hamilton College and includes former U.S. Presidents, Chief Justices of the U.S....
fraternity. He gave up the family business to pursue an acting career in the theatre. After graduating, he moved to Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, and got his first major Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
role in the 1929 Katharine Cornell
Katharine Cornell
Katharine Cornell was an American stage actress, writer, theater owner and producer. She was born to American parents and raised in Buffalo, New York.Cornell is known as the greatest American stage actress of the 20th century...
production of The Age of Innocence.
Career
The following year, he joined the Theatre GuildTheatre Guild
The Theatre Guild is a theatrical society founded in New York City in 1918 by Lawrence Langner, Philip Moeller, Helen Westley and Theresa Helburn. Langner's wife, Armina Marshall, then served as a co-director. It evolved out of the work of the Washington Square Players.Its original purpose was to...
and played Curly in their production of Green Grow the Lilacs
Green Grow the Lilacs (play)
Green Grow the Lilacs is a 1930 play by Lynn Riggs named for the popular folk song of the same name. It was performed 64 times on Broadway, opening on January 26, 1931 and closing March 21, 1931. It also played January 19, 1931 through January 24, 1931 at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C. It...
(later to become the famous musical Oklahoma!
Oklahoma!
Oklahoma! is the first musical written by composer Richard Rodgers and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs. Set in Oklahoma Territory outside the town of Claremore in 1906, it tells the story of cowboy Curly McLain and his romance...
). He later became a founding member of the famed Group Theatre, together with Harold Clurman
Harold Clurman
Harold Edgar Clurman was a visionary American theatre director and drama critic, "one of the most influential in the United States". He was most notable as one of the three founders of the New York City's Group Theatre...
, Cheryl Crawford
Cheryl Crawford
Cheryl Crawford was an American theatre producer and director.Born in Akron, Ohio, Crawford majored in drama at Smith College. Following graduation, she moved to New York City and enrolled at the Theatre Guild's school...
, Lee Strasberg
Lee Strasberg
Lee Strasberg was an American actor, director and acting teacher. He cofounded, with directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931, which was hailed as "America's first true theatrical collective"...
, Stella Adler
Stella Adler
Stella Adler was an American actress and an acclaimed acting teacher, who founded the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York City and the The Stella Adler Academy of Acting in Los Angeles with long-time protege Joanne Linville, who continues to teach and furthers Adler's legacy...
, Clifford Odets
Clifford Odets
Clifford Odets was an American playwright, screenwriter, socialist, and social protester.-Early life:Odets was born in Philadelphia to Romanian- and Russian-Jewish immigrant parents, Louis Odets and Esther Geisinger, and raised in Philadelphia and the Bronx, New York. He dropped out of high...
, and others, many of whom had worked with the Theatre Guild. Strasberg had been a castmate of Tone's in Green Grow the Lilacs. These were intense and productive years for him: among the productions of the Group he acted in were 1931 (1931) and Success Story (1932).
The same year, however, Tone was the first of the Group to turn his back on the theatre and go to Hollywood when MGM offered him a film contract. In his memoir on the Group Theatre, The Fervent Years, Harold Clurman recalls Tone as the most confrontational and egocentric of the group in the beginning. Nevertheless, he always considered cinema far inferior to the theatre and recalled his stage years with longing. He often sent financial support to the Group Theatre, which often needed it. He eventually returned to the stage from time to time after the 1940s.
Tone summered at Pine Brook Country Club
Pine Brook Country Club
-Introduction:Pine Brook Country Club began when Benjamin Plotkin purchased Pinewood Lake and the surrounding countryside on Mischa Hill in the historic village of Nichols, Connecticut. Plotkin built an auditorium with a revolving stage and forty rustic cabins and incorporated as the Pine Brook...
, located in the countryside of Nichols, Connecticut
Nichols, Connecticut
Nichols, a historic village in southeastern Trumbull on the Gold Coast of Fairfield County, was named after the family who maintained a large farm in its center for almost 300 years. The Nichols Farms Historic District, which encompasses part of the village, is listed on the National Register of...
, which became the Group Theatre summer rehearsal headquarters during the 1930s.
Tone's screen debut was in the 1932 movie The Wiser Sex
The Wiser Sex
The Wiser Sex is a 1932 crime drama film made by Paramount Pictures, directed by Berthold Viertel and Victor Viertel, and starring Claudette Colbert, Melvyn Douglas, Lilyan Tashman, William Boyd and Ross Alexander....
. He achieved fame in 1933, when he made seven movies that year, including Today We Live
Today We Live
Today We Live is a 1933 film starring Joan Crawford, Gary Cooper, Robert Young, and Franchot Tone. The film is based on "Turnabout" by William Faulkner. Faulkner also provided the dialogue for the film, making it the only film version of his work that Faulkner co-wrote. Joan Crawford's character...
, written by William Faulkner
William Faulkner
William Cuthbert Faulkner was an American writer from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner worked in a variety of media; he wrote novels, short stories, a play, poetry, essays and screenplays during his career...
, Bombshell
Bombshell (film)
Bombshell is a Pre-Code film directed by Victor Fleming and starring Jean Harlow, Lee Tracy, Frank Morgan, C. Aubrey Smith, Mary Forbes and Franchot Tone.-Plot:...
, with Jean Harlow
Jean Harlow
Jean Harlow was an American film actress and sex symbol of the 1930s. Known as the "Blonde Bombshell" and the "Platinum Blonde" , Harlow was ranked as one of the greatest movie stars of all time by the American Film Institute...
(with whom he co-starred in three other movies), and the smash hit Dancing Lady
Dancing Lady
Dancing Lady is a 1933 musical film starring Joan Crawford and Clark Gable, and featuring Franchot Tone, the fourth of eight collaborations between Crawford and Gable. It was directed by Robert Z. Leonard, produced by John W. Considine Jr. and David O. Selznick, and was based on the novel of the...
, again with then-wife Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....
and Clark Gable
Clark Gable
William Clark Gable , known as Clark Gable, was an American film actor most famous for his role as Rhett Butler in the 1939 Civil War epic film Gone with the Wind, in which he starred with Vivien Leigh...
. In 1935, he starred in Mutiny on the Bounty
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935 film)
Mutiny on the Bounty is a 1935 film starring Charles Laughton and Clark Gable, and directed by Frank Lloyd based on the Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall novel Mutiny on the Bounty.The film was one of the biggest hits of its time...
(for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor
Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
), The Lives of a Bengal Lancer
The Lives of a Bengal Lancer
The Lives of a Bengal Lancer is a 1935 American adventure film loosely adapted from the 1930 book of the same name by Francis Yeats-Brown. The plot of the movie, which bears little resemblance to Yeats-Brown's memoir, concerns British soldiers defending the borders of India against rebellious...
and Dangerous
Dangerous (film)
Dangerous is a 1935 American drama film directed by Alfred E. Green and starring Bette Davis in her first Oscar-winning role. The screenplay by Laird Doyle is based on his story Hard Luck Dame.-Plot synopsis:...
opposite Bette Davis
Bette Davis
Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis was an American actress of film, television and theater. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres, from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional...
.
Tone worked steadily through the 1940s, but he often played second leads or love interests in films that focused on a major female star. Frequently typecast as the wealthy cafe-society playboy, he notably played against type in films like Five Graves to Cairo
Five Graves to Cairo
Five Graves to Cairo is a 1943 World War II film by Billy Wilder, starring Franchot Tone and Anne Baxter. It is one of a number of films based on Lajos Biró's play Színmü négy felvonásban, including Hotel Imperial .-Plot:...
(1943), a World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
espionage story directed by Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder
Billy Wilder was an Austro-Hungarian born American filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, artist, and journalist, whose career spanned more than 50 years and 60 films. He is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Hollywood's golden age...
, and Phantom Lady (1944), a film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
thriller.
In 1949 he produced and starred in The Man on the Eiffel Tower
The Man on the Eiffel Tower
The Man on the Eiffel Tower is a 1949 American mystery film directed by Burgess Meredith, Charles Laughton, Irving Allen and starring Charles Laughton, Franchot Tone, Meredith, and Robert Hutton. It is based on the 1931 novel La Tête d'un homme by Belgian writer Georges Simenon featuring his...
, a troubled production whose reputation has benefited from restorations in the 2000s that have coincided with theatrical showings and vastly improved DVD releases. Tone's tour de force role as a manic depressive sociopath included performing many of his own stunts on the Paris landmark
Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower is a puddle iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris. Built in 1889, it has become both a global icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world...
.
In the 1950s, facing subtle blacklisting in Hollywood, he found parts in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
-based live television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
, including the original production of Twelve Angry Men. He also returned to Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
, notably appearing in A Moon for the Misbegotten
A Moon for the Misbegotten
A Moon for the Misbegotten is a play by Eugene O'Neill. The play can be thought of as a sequel to the autobiographical Long Day's Journey into Night...
with Wendy Hiller
Wendy Hiller
Dame Wendy Margaret Hiller DBE was an Academy Award-winning English film and stage actress, who enjoyed a varied acting career that spanned nearly sixty years. The writer Joel Hirschorn, in his 1984 compilation Rating the Movie Stars, described her as "a no-nonsense actress who literally took...
in 1957. Also that year he co-produced, co-directed, and starred in an adaptation of Chekhov's
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
Uncle Vanya
Uncle Vanya
Uncle Vanya is a play by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first published in 1897 and received its Moscow première in 1899 in a production by the Moscow Art Theatre, under the direction of Konstantin Stanislavski....
, which was filmed concurrently with an off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
revival.
In the early 1960s, Tone returned to Hollywood and, appearing aged beyond his years, essayed many showcase character roles on popular TV dramas like Bonanza
Bonanza
Bonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...
, Wagon Train
Wagon Train
Wagon Train is an American Western series that ran on NBC from 1957–62 and then on ABC from 1962–65...
, The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone is an American television anthology series created by Rod Serling. Each episode is a mixture of self-contained drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science fiction, suspense, or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist...
, and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. He also co-starred in the Ben Casey
Ben Casey
Ben Casey is an American medical drama series which ran on ABC from 1961 to 1966. The show was known for its opening titles, which consisted of a hand drawing the symbols "♂, ♀, *, †, ∞" on a chalkboard, as cast member Sam Jaffe intoned, "Man, woman, birth, death, infinity." Neurosurgeon Joseph...
medical series from 1965 to 1966 as Casey's supervisor, Robert Ashton.
On film, he received acclaim as the charismatic, dying president in Otto Preminger's
Otto Preminger
Otto Ludwig Preminger was an Austro–Hungarian-American theatre and film director.After moving from the theatre to Hollywood, he directed over 35 feature films in a five-decade career. He rose to prominence for stylish film noir mysteries such as Laura and Fallen Angel...
1962 film version of Advise & Consent. His final movie appearances were cameos in Preminger's
Otto Preminger
Otto Ludwig Preminger was an Austro–Hungarian-American theatre and film director.After moving from the theatre to Hollywood, he directed over 35 feature films in a five-decade career. He rose to prominence for stylish film noir mysteries such as Laura and Fallen Angel...
1965 film In Harm's Way
In Harm's Way
In Harm's Way is a 1965 American epic war film produced and directed by Otto Preminger and starring John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Patricia Neal, Tom Tryon, Paula Prentiss, Stanley Holloway, Burgess Meredith, Brandon De Wilde, Jill Haworth, Dana Andrews, and Henry Fonda.It was the last black-and-white...
(in which he portrayed Admiral
Admiral
Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...
Husband E. Kimmel
Husband E. Kimmel
Husband Edward Kimmel was a four-star admiral in the United States Navy. He served as Commander-in-chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet at the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Because of the attack, he was removed from office and was reduced to his permanent two-star rank of rear admiral...
) and Nobody Runs Forever
Nobody Runs Forever
Nobody Runs Forever also called The High Commissioner is a 1968 film directed by Ralph Thomas based on Jon Cleary's 1966 novel The High Commissioner. It stars Rod Taylor as Australian policeman Scobie Malone and Christopher Plummer as the Australian High Commissioner in England caught up in...
(1968).
Personal life
In 1935, Tone married actress Joan CrawfordJoan Crawford
Joan Crawford , born Lucille Fay LeSueur, was an American actress in film, television and theatre....
; they were divorced in 1939. They made seven films together: Today We Live
Today We Live
Today We Live is a 1933 film starring Joan Crawford, Gary Cooper, Robert Young, and Franchot Tone. The film is based on "Turnabout" by William Faulkner. Faulkner also provided the dialogue for the film, making it the only film version of his work that Faulkner co-wrote. Joan Crawford's character...
(1933), Dancing Lady
Dancing Lady
Dancing Lady is a 1933 musical film starring Joan Crawford and Clark Gable, and featuring Franchot Tone, the fourth of eight collaborations between Crawford and Gable. It was directed by Robert Z. Leonard, produced by John W. Considine Jr. and David O. Selznick, and was based on the novel of the...
(1933), Sadie McKee
Sadie McKee
Sadie McKee is a 1934 motion picture, directed by Clarence Brown, and starring Joan Crawford, Gene Raymond, Franchot Tone and Edward Arnold. In the film, Crawford plays the title character—a young working girl suffering through three troubled relationships on her road to prosperity.-Synopsis:Sadie...
(1934), No More Ladies
No More Ladies
No More Ladies is a 1935 film starring Joan Crawford, Robert Montgomery, and Franchot Tone, directed by Edward H. Griffith and George Cukor. It is based on a play by A.E. Thomas...
(1935), The Gorgeous Hussy
The Gorgeous Hussy
The Gorgeous Hussy is a 1936 film directed by Clarence Brown, and starring Joan Crawford and Robert Taylor. The film's plot tells a fictionalized account of President of the United States Andrew Jackson and an innkeeper's daughter...
(1936), Love On The Run
Love on the Run (1936 film)
Love on the Run is a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer feature film starring Joan Crawford, Franchot Tone, and Clark Gable in a story about rival newspaper correspondents assigned to cover the marriage of a socialite. The screenplay by Gladys Hurlbut, John Lee Mahin and Manuel Seff was based upon the story by...
(1936) and The Bride Wore Red
The Bride Wore Red
The Bride Wore Red is a 1937 motion picture, directed by Dorothy Arzner, and starring Joan Crawford, Franchot Tone, Robert Young and Billie Burke. It was based on the unproduced play The Bride from Trieste by Ferenc Molnár. In this "rags to riches" tale, Crawford plays a cabaret singer who poses as...
(1937).
In 1951, Tone's relationship with actress Barbara Payton
Barbara Payton
Barbara Payton was an American film actress best known for her stormy social life and eventual battles with alcohol and drug addiction. Her life has been the subject of several books including Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye: The Barbara Payton Story , by John O'Dowd, and L.A...
made headlines when he suffered numerous facial injuries and fell into a coma for 18 hours following a fistfight with actor Tom Neal
Tom Neal
Thomas Neal was an American actor best known for appearing in the critically lauded film Detour, a tryst with Barbara Payton and later committing manslaughter.-Career:...
, a rival for Payton's attention. Plastic surgery nearly restored his broken nose and cheek, and Tone subsequently married Payton, divorcing her in 1952 after obtaining incriminating photographs proving she had continued her relationship with Neal.
He married and divorced two other times:
- Fashion model-turned-actress Jean WallaceJean WallaceJean Wallace was an American television and film actress.-Biography:Born Jean Walasek in Chicago to John T. Walasek and Mary A. Walasek , Wallace began her career as a model then got her first small movie role at the age of seventeen...
(1941–48), with whom he had two sons and who appeared with Tone in both Jigsaw and The Man on the Eiffel TowerThe Man on the Eiffel TowerThe Man on the Eiffel Tower is a 1949 American mystery film directed by Burgess Meredith, Charles Laughton, Irving Allen and starring Charles Laughton, Franchot Tone, Meredith, and Robert Hutton. It is based on the 1931 novel La Tête d'un homme by Belgian writer Georges Simenon featuring his... - Actress Dolores Dorn (1956–59), with whom he appeared in Uncle VanyaUncle Vanya (1957 film)Uncle Vanya is a 1957 American film adaptation of the play Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov. Filmed concurrently with an Off Broadway production, it was both co-produced and co-directed by actor Franchot Tone, who starred as Dr. Astroff...
Death
Tone died of lung cancerLung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1968. His remains were cremated
Cremation
Cremation is the process of reducing bodies to basic chemical compounds such as gasses and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high-temperature burning, vaporization and oxidation....
and his ashes were scattered.
For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Franchot Tone has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
at 6558 Hollywood Blvd.
Selected filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1932 | The Wiser Sex The Wiser Sex The Wiser Sex is a 1932 crime drama film made by Paramount Pictures, directed by Berthold Viertel and Victor Viertel, and starring Claudette Colbert, Melvyn Douglas, Lilyan Tashman, William Boyd and Ross Alexander.... |
Phil Long | |
| 1933 | Today We Live Today We Live Today We Live is a 1933 film starring Joan Crawford, Gary Cooper, Robert Young, and Franchot Tone. The film is based on "Turnabout" by William Faulkner. Faulkner also provided the dialogue for the film, making it the only film version of his work that Faulkner co-wrote. Joan Crawford's character... |
Ronnie | |
| 1933 | Gabriel Over the White House Gabriel Over the White House Gabriel Over the White House is a 1933 American Pre-Code film variously described as a "bizarre political fantasy" or a "comedy drama" that "is surprisingly socialist in tone " and which "posits a favorable view of fascism."The film stars Walter Huston, Karen Morley, Franchot Tone, C. Henry Gordon,... |
Hartley "Beek" Beekman | |
| 1933 | Midnight Mary Midnight Mary Midnight Mary is a 1933 film that reveals in flashbacks the hard life of a woman on trial for murder. It stars Loretta Young, Ricardo Cortez, and Franchot Tone.-Cast:*Loretta Young as Mary Martin AKA "Midnight Mary"*Ricardo Cortez as Leo Darcy... |
Thomas "Tom" Mannering, Jr. | |
| 1933 | Dancing Lady Dancing Lady Dancing Lady is a 1933 musical film starring Joan Crawford and Clark Gable, and featuring Franchot Tone, the fourth of eight collaborations between Crawford and Gable. It was directed by Robert Z. Leonard, produced by John W. Considine Jr. and David O. Selznick, and was based on the novel of the... |
Tod Newton | |
| 1933 | Stage Mother Stage Mother (film) Stage Mother is a 1933 American musical drama. A backstage musical, the film follows the story of Kitty Lorraine, a frustrated vaudeville performer who pushes her daughter into becoming a star dancer. Selfishness, deceit and blackmail drive mother and daughter apart until a last-reel reconciliation... |
Warren Foster | |
| 1934 | Moulin Rouge Moulin Rouge (1934 film) Moulin Rouge is a 1934 film starring actress Constance Bennett. It contained the songs Coffee in the Morning and Kisses in the Night and Boulevard of Broken Dreams with music by Harry Warren and lyrics by Al Dubin. Lucille Ball is an uncredited show girl in the film... |
Douglas Hall | |
| 1934 | Sadie McKee Sadie McKee Sadie McKee is a 1934 motion picture, directed by Clarence Brown, and starring Joan Crawford, Gene Raymond, Franchot Tone and Edward Arnold. In the film, Crawford plays the title character—a young working girl suffering through three troubled relationships on her road to prosperity.-Synopsis:Sadie... |
Michael Alderson | |
| 1934 | The World Moves On The World Moves On -Plot:The story opens 185 years ago when two families, cotton merchants in England and America, with branches in France and Prussia swear to stand by each other in a belief that a great business firmly established in four countries will be able to withstand even such another calamity as the... |
Richard Girard | |
| 1934 | The Girl from Missouri The Girl from Missouri The Girl from Missouri is a 1934 American romantic comedy-drama film starring Jean Harlow and Franchot Tone. The movie was written by Anita Loos and directed by Jack Conway.-Plot:... |
T.R. Paige, Jr. | Alternative titles: 100 Per Cent Pure Born to Be Kissed |
| 1934 | Gentlemen Are Born Gentlemen Are Born Gentlemen Are Born is a 1934 drama film directed by Alfred E. Green and starring Franchot Tone.The film's pre-release title was Just Out of College. A news item in Daily Variety notes that Warner Bros. was sued for $250,000 by Ronald Wagoner and James F... |
Bob Bailey | |
| 1935 | The Lives of a Bengal Lancer The Lives of a Bengal Lancer The Lives of a Bengal Lancer is a 1935 American adventure film loosely adapted from the 1930 book of the same name by Francis Yeats-Brown. The plot of the movie, which bears little resemblance to Yeats-Brown's memoir, concerns British soldiers defending the borders of India against rebellious... |
Lieutenant Forsythe | |
| 1935 | Reckless Reckless (1935 film) Reckless is a 1935 American musical film directed by Victor Fleming and starring Jean Harlow, William Powell and Franchot Tone. The story was based on the scandal of the 1931 marriage between torch singer Libby Holman and tobacco heir Zachary Smith Reynolds and his subsequent alleged... |
Robert "Bob" Harrison, Jr. | |
| 1935 | No More Ladies No More Ladies No More Ladies is a 1935 film starring Joan Crawford, Robert Montgomery, and Franchot Tone, directed by Edward H. Griffith and George Cukor. It is based on a play by A.E. Thomas... |
Jim "Jimsy Boysie" Salston | |
| 1935 | Mutiny on the Bounty Mutiny on the Bounty (1935 film) Mutiny on the Bounty is a 1935 film starring Charles Laughton and Clark Gable, and directed by Frank Lloyd based on the Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall novel Mutiny on the Bounty.The film was one of the biggest hits of its time... |
Midshipman Roger Byam | Nominated: Academy Award for Best Actor Academy Award for Best Actor Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry... |
| 1935 | Dangerous Dangerous (film) Dangerous is a 1935 American drama film directed by Alfred E. Green and starring Bette Davis in her first Oscar-winning role. The screenplay by Laird Doyle is based on his story Hard Luck Dame.-Plot synopsis:... |
Don Bellows | |
| 1936 | The Unguarded Hour The Unguarded Hour The Unguarded Hour is a 1936 film starring Loretta Young and Franchot Tone under the direction of Sam Wood. The prosecutor in a murder trial is unaware that his wife is involved.-Cast:*Loretta Young as Lady Helen Dudley Dearden... |
Sir Alan Dearden | |
| 1936 | Suzy Suzy (1936 film) Suzy is a 1936 drama film starring Jean Harlow, Franchot Tone, and Cary Grant. The film was partially written by Dorothy Parker and directed by George Fitzmaurice, based on a novel by Herman Gorman... |
Terry | |
| 1936 | The Gorgeous Hussy The Gorgeous Hussy The Gorgeous Hussy is a 1936 film directed by Clarence Brown, and starring Joan Crawford and Robert Taylor. The film's plot tells a fictionalized account of President of the United States Andrew Jackson and an innkeeper's daughter... |
John Eaton | |
| 1936 | Love on the Run Love on the Run (1936 film) Love on the Run is a Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer feature film starring Joan Crawford, Franchot Tone, and Clark Gable in a story about rival newspaper correspondents assigned to cover the marriage of a socialite. The screenplay by Gladys Hurlbut, John Lee Mahin and Manuel Seff was based upon the story by... |
Barnabus Pells | |
| 1937 | Quality Street | Dr. Valentine Brown | |
| 1937 | The Bride Wore Red The Bride Wore Red The Bride Wore Red is a 1937 motion picture, directed by Dorothy Arzner, and starring Joan Crawford, Franchot Tone, Robert Young and Billie Burke. It was based on the unproduced play The Bride from Trieste by Ferenc Molnár. In this "rags to riches" tale, Crawford plays a cabaret singer who poses as... |
Giulio | |
| 1937 | Man-Proof Man-Proof Man-Proof is a 1938 romantic comedy film directed by Richard Thorpe. The film is based on the 1937 novel The Four Marys written by Fannie Heaslip Lea.-Plot:... |
Jimmy Kilmartin | |
| 1938 | Three Comrades Three Comrades (film) Three Comrades 1938 is a drama film directed by Frank Borzage and produced by Joseph L. Mankiewicz for MGM. The screenplay is by F. Scott Fitzgerald and Edward E. Paramore Jr., and was adapted from the novel Three Comrades by Erich Maria Remarque... |
Otto Koster | |
| 1938 | Three Loves Has Nancy Three Loves Has Nancy Three Loves Has Nancy is a romantic comedy film starring Janet Gaynor, Robert Montgomery and Franchot Tone. Set in New York City, it was directed by Richard Thorpe.-Cast:*Janet Gaynor as Nancy Briggs*Robert Montgomery as Mal Niles... |
Robert "Bob" Hanson | |
| 1939 | Fast and Furious Fast and Furious Fast & Furious is a 2009 street racing action film directed by Justin Lin. It is the fourth film in The Fast and the Furious film series and the third installment in terms of chronology. The plot connects with the original film of the series from which Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez,... |
Joel Sloane | |
| 1943 | His Butler's Sister His Butler's Sister His Butler's Sister is a 1943 comedy film directed by Frank Borzage. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Sound Recording His Butler's Sister is a 1943 comedy film directed by Frank Borzage. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Sound Recording His Butler's Sister is a 1943... |
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| 1943 | Five Graves to Cairo Five Graves to Cairo Five Graves to Cairo is a 1943 World War II film by Billy Wilder, starring Franchot Tone and Anne Baxter. It is one of a number of films based on Lajos Biró's play Színmü négy felvonásban, including Hotel Imperial .-Plot:... |
Cpl. John J. Bramble/Paul Davos | |
| 1943 | Pilot No. 5 Pilot no. 5 Pilot #5 is a 1943 propaganda war film starring Franchot Tone, Marsha Hunt, Gene Kellyand Van Johnson. It was directed by George Sidney.-Cast:*Franchot Tone as George Braynor Collins*Marsha Hunt as Freddie Andrews*Gene Kelly as Vito S... |
George Braynor Collins | |
| 1944 | Phantom Lady | Jack Marlow | |
| 1944 | Dark Waters Dark Waters (1944 film) Dark Waters is a 1944 Gothic horror film based on the novel of the same name by Francis and Marian Cockrell. It was directed by André De Toth and starred Merle Oberon, Franchot Tone and Thomas Mitchell.-Plot:... |
Dr. George Grover | |
| 1948 | I Love Trouble I Love Trouble (1948 film) I Love Trouble is a film noir written by Roy Huggins from his first novel The Double Take, directed by S. Sylvan Simon, and starring Franchot Tone as Stuart Bailey. The character of Stuart Baily was later portrayed by Efrem Zimbalist, Jr... |
Stuart Bailey | |
| 1948 | Every Girl Should Be Married Every Girl Should Be Married Every Girl Should Be Married is a 1948 romantic comedy film starring Cary Grant and Betsy Drake. -Plot summary:... |
Roger Sanford | |
| 1949 | Jigsaw | Howard Malloy | Alternative title: Gun Moll |
| 1949 | Without Honor Without Honor Without Honor is a film noir starring Laraine Day and Dane Clark.-Plot:A housewife is confronted during her daily chores by her married lover . The man, after a long affair, tells the woman that he has to break off their relationship... |
Dennis Williams | Alternative title: Woman Accused |
| 1950 | The Man on the Eiffel Tower The Man on the Eiffel Tower The Man on the Eiffel Tower is a 1949 American mystery film directed by Burgess Meredith, Charles Laughton, Irving Allen and starring Charles Laughton, Franchot Tone, Meredith, and Robert Hutton. It is based on the 1931 novel La Tête d'un homme by Belgian writer Georges Simenon featuring his... |
Johann Radek | Co-producer |
| 1951 | Here Comes the Groom Here Comes the Groom Here Comes the Groom is a 1951 musical romantic comedy film starring Bing Crosby and Jane Wyman. Directed and produced by Frank Capra, the film was released by Paramount Pictures.-Plot:... |
Wilbur Stanley | |
| 1955 | Four Star Playhouse Four Star Playhouse Four Star Playhouse is an American television anthology series that ran from 1952 to 1956, sponsored in its first bi-weekly season by The Singer Company; Bristol-Myers became an alternate sponsor when it became a weekly series in the fall of 1953... |
Ben Chaney | Episode: "Award" |
| 1956 | General Electric Theater General Electric Theater General Electric Theater is an American anthology series hosted by Ronald W. Reagan that was broadcast on CBS radio and television. The series was sponsored by General Electric's Department of Public Relations.-Radio:... |
Charles Proteus Steinmetz | Episode: "Steinmetz" |
| 1957 | The Kaiser Aluminum Hour The Kaiser Aluminum Hour The Kaiser Aluminum Hour is a dramatic anthology television series which was broadcast in prime time in the United States during the 1956-57 season by NBC.... |
Arthur Baldwin | Episode: "Throw Me a Rope" |
| 1957 | Uncle Vanya Uncle Vanya (1957 film) Uncle Vanya is a 1957 American film adaptation of the play Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekhov. Filmed concurrently with an Off Broadway production, it was both co-produced and co-directed by actor Franchot Tone, who starred as Dr. Astroff... |
Dr. Astroff | Co-producer, co-director |
| 1958 | Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse is an American television anthology series produced by Desilu Productions. The show ran on CBS television between 1958 and 1960... |
Candy Lombe | Episode: "The Crazy Hunter" |
| 1959 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents Alfred Hitchcock Presents Alfred Hitchcock Presents is an American television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock. The series featured dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. By the premiere of the show on October 2, 1955, Hitchcock had been directing films for over three decades... |
Oliver Mathews | Episode: "The Impossible Dream" |
| 1960 | Bonanza Bonanza Bonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the... |
Denver McKee | Episode: "Denver McKee" |
| 1961 | The Twilight Zone The Twilight Zone The Twilight Zone is an American television anthology series created by Rod Serling. Each episode is a mixture of self-contained drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science fiction, suspense, or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist... |
Col. Archie Taylor | Episode: "The Silence The Silence (The Twilight Zone) "The Silence" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. The plot of this episode was based in part on Anton Chekov's The Bet... " |
| 1962 | Advise & Consent | The President | |
| 1962–1967 | Ben Casey Ben Casey Ben Casey is an American medical drama series which ran on ABC from 1961 to 1966. The show was known for its opening titles, which consisted of a hand drawing the symbols "♂, ♀, *, †, ∞" on a chalkboard, as cast member Sam Jaffe intoned, "Man, woman, birth, death, infinity." Neurosurgeon Joseph... |
Dr. Daniel Niles Freeland | 27 episodes |
| 1964 | See How They Run | Baron Frood | Television movie |
| 1964 | The Alfred Hitchcock Hour | The Great Rudolph | Episode: "The Final Performance" |
| 1965 | In Harm's Way In Harm's Way In Harm's Way is a 1965 American epic war film produced and directed by Otto Preminger and starring John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Patricia Neal, Tom Tryon, Paula Prentiss, Stanley Holloway, Burgess Meredith, Brandon De Wilde, Jill Haworth, Dana Andrews, and Henry Fonda.It was the last black-and-white... |
Admiral Kimmel | |
| 1965 | The Virginian The Virginian (TV series) The Virginian is an American Western television series starring James Drury and Doug McClure, which aired on NBC from 1962 to 1971 for a total of 249 episodes. Filmed in color, The Virginian became television's first 90-minute western series... |
Murdock | Episode: "Old Cowboy" |
| 1967 | Run for Your Life Run for Your Life (TV series) Run for Your Life is an American television drama series starring Ben Gazzara as a man with only a short time to live. It ran on NBC from 1965 to 1968. The series was created by Roy Huggins, who had previously explored the "man on the move" concept with The Fugitive.-Synopsis:Gazzara plays lawyer... |
Judge Taliaferro Wilson | Episode: "Tell It Like It Is" |
| 1968 | Nobody Runs Forever Nobody Runs Forever Nobody Runs Forever also called The High Commissioner is a 1968 film directed by Ralph Thomas based on Jon Cleary's 1966 novel The High Commissioner. It stars Rod Taylor as Australian policeman Scobie Malone and Christopher Plummer as the Australian High Commissioner in England caught up in... |
Ambassador Townsend | Alternative title: The High Commissioner |
Stage career
| Date | Production | Role |
|---|---|---|
| October 19 – November 1927 | The Belt | Bunner |
| November 29 – November 1928 | Centuries | Yankel |
| January 12 – February 1928 | The International The International (play) The International is a play by the American playwright John Howard Lawson. It was first produced by the New Playwrights' Theatre in New York, opening on January 12 1928. Lawson directed this production, while John Dos Passos designed the sets, Edward A... |
David Fitch |
| November 27, 1928 – May 1929 | The Age of Innocence | Newland Archer, Jr. |
| May 24 – May 1929 | Uncle Vanya Uncle Vanya Uncle Vanya is a play by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first published in 1897 and received its Moscow première in 1899 in a production by the Moscow Art Theatre, under the direction of Konstantin Stanislavski.... |
Mikhail lvovich Astrov |
| November 11 – December 1929 | Cross Roads | Duke |
| December 17, 1929 – February 1930 | Red Rust | Fedor |
| April 14 – June 1930 | Hotel Universe | Tom Ames |
| October 20, 1930 – March 1931 | Pagan Lady | Ernest Todd |
| January 26 – March 21, 1931 | Green Grow the Lilacs Green Grow the Lilacs (play) Green Grow the Lilacs is a 1930 play by Lynn Riggs named for the popular folk song of the same name. It was performed 64 times on Broadway, opening on January 26, 1931 and closing March 21, 1931. It also played January 19, 1931 through January 24, 1931 at the National Theatre in Washington, D.C. It... |
Curly McClain |
| September 28 – December 1931 | The House of Connelly | Will Connelly |
| December 10, 1931 – December 1931 | 1931 | |
| March 9, 1932 – March 1932 | Night Over Taos | Federico |
| May 24 – June 1932 | A Thousand Summers | Neil Barton |
| September 26, 1932 – January 1933 | Success Story | Raymond Merritt |
| January 5 – May 1939 | The Gentle People | Harold Goff |
| March 6 – May 18, 1940 | The Fifth Column | Philip Rawlings |
| February 7 – May 19, 1945 | Hope for the Best | Michael Jordan |
| December 17, 1953 – November 13, 1954 | Oh, Men! Oh, Women! | Alan Coles |
| January 19–30, 1955 | The Time of Your Life The Time of Your Life The Time of Your Life is a 1939 five-act play by American playwright William Saroyan. The play is the first drama to win both the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award. The play opened 25 October 1939 at the Booth Theatre in New York City... |
Joe |
| May 2 – June 29, 1957 | A Moon for the Misbegotten A Moon for the Misbegotten A Moon for the Misbegotten is a play by Eugene O'Neill. The play can be thought of as a sequel to the autobiographical Long Day's Journey into Night... |
James Tyrone, Jr. |
| May 22–27, 1961 | Mandingo | Warren Maxwell |
| March 11 – June 29, 1963 | Strange Interlude Strange Interlude Strange Interlude is an experimental play by American playwright Eugene O'Neill. O'Neill finished the play in 1923, but it was not produced on Broadway until 1928, when it won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Lynn Fontanne originated the central role of Nina Leeds on Broadway... |
Professor Henry Leeds |
| September 24, 1963 | Bicycle Ride to Nevada | Winston Sawyer |