Frankie Thomas
Encyclopedia
Frank Marion Thomas, Jr. (April 9, 1921 – May 11, 2006) was an American actor
, author and bridge-strategy expert who played both lead and supporting roles on Broadway, in films, in post-World War II
radio
, and in early television
. He was best known for his starring role in Tom Corbett, Space Cadet
.
to actors Frank M. Thomas
and Mona Bruns
. His uncle, Calvin Thomas
, was also an actor.
He was only 11 when he accompanied his mother to a casting office, where he stood in the background while his mother asked about possible openings in new Broadway shows. The agent replied, "I have nothing that suits you, Mona, but I can use the boy." Thomas wound up in a small part in Carry Nation (1932), where Jimmy Stewart
was cast as a constable. Thomas appeared in six other Broadway plays between 1932 and 1936, including Little Ol' Boy with Burgess Meredith
, Thunder on the Left, Wednesday's Child
, The First Legion, Remember the Day, in which he appeared with his father, and Seen But Not Heard.
In Wednesday's Child he played the role of Bobby Phillips, the longest stage part ever written for a child performer. Thomas also developed a life long fascination with the character of Sherlock Holmes
during this period, when he saw William Gillette
perform the part during his farewell tour.
When Wednesday's Child was filmed in 1934, Thomas and his family traveled to Hollywood. His parents found character parts in films, while Thomas played the role of Bobby Phillips for the cameras. The following year he played Nello Daas in the film adaptation of the novel, A Dog of Flanders
, by Ouida
. In 1937 he appeared in the serial Tim Tyler's Luck, based on the comic strip by Lyman Young
. Thomas often said that the serial was his equivalent of attending college, since he met so many notable silent-film stars who were in the cast. When not busy in Hollywood, Thomas would return to Broadway; however, after the serial, he was not seen on Broadway for nearly five years, and that brief return to the stage was his swan song there.
Thomas's last "A" film was Boys' Town (1938) with Spencer Tracy
and Mickey Rooney
. Thomas was Freddy Fuller, Boys' Town's mayor, and was not asked to appear in the sequel, Men of Boys' Town (1941). Thomas thereafter appeared in "B" films such as Little Tough Guys in Society
and Nancy Drew
, Detective (both 1938), Nancy Drew... Reporter
, Code of the Streets, Nancy Drew, Troubleshooter, The Angels Wash Their Faces
,
Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase
, On Dress Parade
and Invisible Stripes (all 1939). In 1941 he had small parts in Flying Cadets and One Foot in Heaven. His last film roles were small roles in Always in My Heart and The Major and the Minor (1942), where he played a military school cadet who flirted with the character played by Ginger Rogers
.
His last appearance on Broadway was in Your Loving Son, which closed after just two performances in April 1941.
, Thomas joined the US Navy in 1942. He was commissioned and assigned to the United States Coast Guard
. He served as third officer
on patrols in the Atlantic, and was discharged in Philadelphia in 1944.
Following the war, Thomas and his parents lived in Manhattan
and worked in the daily and weekly radio series originating in the studios of the four major networks. By 1948 all three Thomases had moved into television. In 1949 Frankie Thomas was a regular on two pioneering TV soap operas, A Woman to Remember
and One Man's Family
.
In the fall of 1950 he became the idol of millions of children when he played the starring role in Tom Corbett, Space Cadet
, beginning on CBS
and transferring to ABC
in January 1951. Thomas had beaten out Jack Lemmon
for the part. The series continued its three-a-week 15-minute broadcasts until the spring of 1952. Kinescope
s were rebroadcast on NBC
in the summer of 1951, with live introductions by Thomas as Tom Corbett. During the spring of 1952, the TV cast of Tom Corbett also performed a twice a week 30-minute broadcast on ABC radio. The TV series reappeared on DuMont
, alternating Saturdays with Secret Files of Captain Video
for 30 minutes, before going off the air in May 1954. Thomas became a regular on the soap opera First Love, but in December 1954, Tom Corbett began on NBC, running until June 1955. By this time Tom Corbett's rivals Captain Video
and Commander Buzz Corry of Space Patrol had been off the air for several months. None of the science fiction series was ever revived, though there was talk of doing so in 1957, in the aftermath of Sputnik.
Tom Corbett had the distinction of appearing on all four Golden-Age TV networks, and during the summer of 1951 appeared on two different networks simultaneously. Like most child stars, Thomas never made the transition to adult roles. Despite the fact that he was 34 years old at the end, his Tom Corbett character was supposedly a teenager attending Space Academy to become an officer of the Solar Guard.
In 1956, Thomas and his now-retired parents returned to California, where he appeared in a few radio series such as Suspense and wrote soap-opera scripts. He turned his hobby of bridge into a career, becoming the editor of several bridge-related periodicals and president of the American Bridge Teachers' Association. He wrote several books on bridge. Thomas traveled the country to compete in bridge tournaments and to instruct in the game's strategies.
In the late 1970s he began writing and publishing novels and short-story collections featuring consulting detective Sherlock Holmes
.
During the last decade of his life Thomas appeared as a celebrity guest at conventions on old-time radio, the Golden Age of Hollywood, and the Golden Age of Television. He often appeared wearing his original Tom Corbett uniform, which he still fit into.
hospital of respiratory failure, following a stroke. At his request, he was buried in his Space Cadet uniform. He rests beside his parents at Forest Lawn Cemetery
in the Hollywood Hills. His wife, Virginia, had preceded him in death in 1997.
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, author and bridge-strategy expert who played both lead and supporting roles on Broadway, in films, in post-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...
radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
, and in early television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
. He was best known for his starring role in Tom Corbett, Space Cadet
Tom Corbett, Space Cadet
Tom Corbett is the main character in a series of Tom Corbett — Space Cadet stories that were depicted in television, radio, books, comic books, comic strips, coloring books, punch-out books and View-Master reels in the 1950s....
.
Early years
Thomas was born in New York CityNew 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...
to actors Frank M. Thomas
Frank M. Thomas
Frank Marion Thomas , was an American actor on the stage, screen and television.Born in St. Joseph, Missouri, to Jesse and Virginia Thomas, he first appeared on Broadway in 1914. Thomas also played many supporting roles in films from the 1930s through the 1970s...
and Mona Bruns
Mona Bruns
Mona Bruns was an American actress on the stage, films, radio, and television.Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Bruns appeared on Broadway with her husband, Frank M. Thomas. They moved to Los Angeles in the 1930s, where she acted in several films. She played the role of Aunt Emily on the CBS soap...
. His uncle, Calvin Thomas
Calvin Thomas (actor)
Calvin Louis Thomas was an American stage, film and television actor, and a theatre director.Born in Kansas City, Missouri, to Jesse and Virginia Thomas, he was the older brother of actor Frank M. Thomas...
, was also an actor.
He was only 11 when he accompanied his mother to a casting office, where he stood in the background while his mother asked about possible openings in new Broadway shows. The agent replied, "I have nothing that suits you, Mona, but I can use the boy." Thomas wound up in a small part in Carry Nation (1932), where Jimmy Stewart
James Stewart (actor)
James Maitland Stewart was an American film and stage actor, known for his distinctive voice and his everyman persona. Over the course of his career, he starred in many films widely considered classics and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one in competition and receiving one Lifetime...
was cast as a constable. Thomas appeared in six other Broadway plays between 1932 and 1936, including Little Ol' Boy with Burgess Meredith
Burgess Meredith
Oliver Burgess Meredith , known professionally as Burgess Meredith, was an American actor in theatre, film, and television, who also worked as a director...
, Thunder on the Left, Wednesday's Child
Wednesday's Child
Wednesday's Child may refer to any of the following:*Wednesday's Child - the nursery rhyme*Wednesday's Child - the 1999 film*Wednesday's Child - the adoption TV program*Wednesday's Child - a novel by crime-writer Peter Robinson...
, The First Legion, Remember the Day, in which he appeared with his father, and Seen But Not Heard.
In Wednesday's Child he played the role of Bobby Phillips, the longest stage part ever written for a child performer. Thomas also developed a life long fascination with the character of Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
during this period, when he saw William Gillette
William Gillette
William Hooker Gillette was an American actor, playwright and stage-manager in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who is best remembered today for portraying Sherlock Holmes....
perform the part during his farewell tour.
When Wednesday's Child was filmed in 1934, Thomas and his family traveled to Hollywood. His parents found character parts in films, while Thomas played the role of Bobby Phillips for the cameras. The following year he played Nello Daas in the film adaptation of the novel, A Dog of Flanders
A Dog of Flanders
A Dog of Flanders is an 1872 novel by English author Marie Louise de la Ramée published with her pseudonym "Ouida". It is about a Flemish boy named Nello and his dog Patrasche....
, by Ouida
Ouida
Ouida was the pseudonym of the English novelist Maria Louise Ramé .-Biography:...
. In 1937 he appeared in the serial Tim Tyler's Luck, based on the comic strip by Lyman Young
Lyman Young
Lyman W. Young was an American cartoonist who created the strip Tim Tyler's Luck. His younger brother, Chic Young, was the creator of Blondie....
. Thomas often said that the serial was his equivalent of attending college, since he met so many notable silent-film stars who were in the cast. When not busy in Hollywood, Thomas would return to Broadway; however, after the serial, he was not seen on Broadway for nearly five years, and that brief return to the stage was his swan song there.
Thomas's last "A" film was Boys' Town (1938) with Spencer Tracy
Spencer Tracy
Spencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, ranking among the top ten box office draws for almost every year from 1938 to 1951...
and Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. He has won multiple awards, including an Honorary Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award...
. Thomas was Freddy Fuller, Boys' Town's mayor, and was not asked to appear in the sequel, Men of Boys' Town (1941). Thomas thereafter appeared in "B" films such as Little Tough Guys in Society
Little Tough Guys in Society
Little Tough Guys in Society is a 1938 Universal Studios film that starred several of the Dead End Kids. It was the second film that Universal made in their series and the first of three that they made without any of the original Dead End Kids....
and Nancy Drew
Nancy Drew
Nancy Drew is a fictional young amateur detective in various mystery series for all ages. She was created by Edward Stratemeyer, founder of the Stratemeyer Syndicate book packaging firm. The character first appeared in 1930. The books have been ghostwritten by a number of authors and are published...
, Detective (both 1938), Nancy Drew... Reporter
Nancy Drew... Reporter
Nancy Drew... Reporter is a 1939 American film directed by William Clemens and starring Bonita Granville, as Nancy Drew.- Synopsis :Nancy Drew, competing in the local newspaper's amateur reporter contest, clears a girl named Eula Denning of murder charges.- Cast :*Bonita Granville as Nancy...
, Code of the Streets, Nancy Drew, Troubleshooter, The Angels Wash Their Faces
The Angels Wash Their Faces
The Angels Wash Their Faces is a 1939 Warner Bros. film starring Ronald Reagan and The Dead End Kids.-Plot:Gabe Ryan is released from reform school and it taken to a new house by his sister Joy to start a new life where no one knows of his past...
,
Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase
Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (film)
Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase is the fourth and last in a series of films starring Bonita Granville as teenage amateur detective Nancy Drew, Frankie Thomas as her boyfriend, and John Litel as her father. It was loosely based on the novel of the same name by Mildred Wirt Benson.-Plot:The...
, On Dress Parade
On Dress Parade
On Dress Parade is a 1939 Warner Bros. film that marked the first time The Dead End Kids headlined a film without any other well-known actors.-Plot:...
and Invisible Stripes (all 1939). In 1941 he had small parts in Flying Cadets and One Foot in Heaven. His last film roles were small roles in Always in My Heart and The Major and the Minor (1942), where he played a military school cadet who flirted with the character played by Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers was an American actress, dancer, and singer who appeared in film, and on stage, radio, and television throughout much of the 20th century....
.
His last appearance on Broadway was in Your Loving Son, which closed after just two performances in April 1941.
Later years
With the entry of the United States into World War IIWorld 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...
, Thomas joined the US Navy in 1942. He was commissioned and assigned to the United States Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
. He served as third officer
Third Officer
Third Officer may refer to:*Third Officer , a rarely used rank in civil aviation companies*Third mate, a merchant marine rank*A rank in the Women's Royal Naval Service corresponding to Sub-Lieutenant in the Royal Navy...
on patrols in the Atlantic, and was discharged in Philadelphia in 1944.
Following the war, Thomas and his parents lived in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
and worked in the daily and weekly radio series originating in the studios of the four major networks. By 1948 all three Thomases had moved into television. In 1949 Frankie Thomas was a regular on two pioneering TV soap operas, A Woman to Remember
A Woman to Remember
A Woman to Remember is a soap opera which ran on the DuMont Television Network from February 21, 1949 - July 15, 1949. The show initially ran in daytime but starting May 2 aired Monday through Friday from 7:30 - 7:45 pm EST. John Haggart served as creator and writer; Bob Steele was producer and...
and One Man's Family
One Man's Family
One Man's Family, is a long-running American radio soap opera. It was heard for almost three decades, from 1932 to 1959. Created by Carlton E. Morse, it was the longest-running uninterrupted serial in the history of American radio...
.
In the fall of 1950 he became the idol of millions of children when he played the starring role in Tom Corbett, Space Cadet
Tom Corbett, Space Cadet
Tom Corbett is the main character in a series of Tom Corbett — Space Cadet stories that were depicted in television, radio, books, comic books, comic strips, coloring books, punch-out books and View-Master reels in the 1950s....
, beginning on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
and transferring to ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
in January 1951. Thomas had beaten out Jack Lemmon
Jack Lemmon
John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III was an American actor and musician. He starred in more than 60 films including Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Mister Roberts , Days of Wine and Roses, The Great Race, Irma la Douce, The Odd Couple, Save the Tiger John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III (February 8, 1925June...
for the part. The series continued its three-a-week 15-minute broadcasts until the spring of 1952. Kinescope
Kinescope
Kinescope , shortened to kine , also known as telerecording in Britain, is a recording of a television program made by filming the picture from a video monitor...
s were rebroadcast on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
in the summer of 1951, with live introductions by Thomas as Tom Corbett. During the spring of 1952, the TV cast of Tom Corbett also performed a twice a week 30-minute broadcast on ABC radio. The TV series reappeared on DuMont
DuMont Television Network
The DuMont Television Network, also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont, Du Mont, or Dumont was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC for the distinction of being first overall. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont...
, alternating Saturdays with Secret Files of Captain Video
Captain Video
Captain Video and His Video Rangers is an American science fiction television series. It was broadcast on the DuMont Television Network, and was the first series of its kind on American television...
for 30 minutes, before going off the air in May 1954. Thomas became a regular on the soap opera First Love, but in December 1954, Tom Corbett began on NBC, running until June 1955. By this time Tom Corbett's rivals Captain Video
Captain Video
Captain Video and His Video Rangers is an American science fiction television series. It was broadcast on the DuMont Television Network, and was the first series of its kind on American television...
and Commander Buzz Corry of Space Patrol had been off the air for several months. None of the science fiction series was ever revived, though there was talk of doing so in 1957, in the aftermath of Sputnik.
Tom Corbett had the distinction of appearing on all four Golden-Age TV networks, and during the summer of 1951 appeared on two different networks simultaneously. Like most child stars, Thomas never made the transition to adult roles. Despite the fact that he was 34 years old at the end, his Tom Corbett character was supposedly a teenager attending Space Academy to become an officer of the Solar Guard.
In 1956, Thomas and his now-retired parents returned to California, where he appeared in a few radio series such as Suspense and wrote soap-opera scripts. He turned his hobby of bridge into a career, becoming the editor of several bridge-related periodicals and president of the American Bridge Teachers' Association. He wrote several books on bridge. Thomas traveled the country to compete in bridge tournaments and to instruct in the game's strategies.
In the late 1970s he began writing and publishing novels and short-story collections featuring consulting detective Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
.
During the last decade of his life Thomas appeared as a celebrity guest at conventions on old-time radio, the Golden Age of Hollywood, and the Golden Age of Television. He often appeared wearing his original Tom Corbett uniform, which he still fit into.
Death
Frankie Thomas died in 2006 at age 85 at a Sherman Oaks, CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
hospital of respiratory failure, following a stroke. At his request, he was buried in his Space Cadet uniform. He rests beside his parents at Forest Lawn Cemetery
Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
Forest Lawn – Hollywood Hills Cemetery is part of the Forest Lawn chain of Southern California cemeteries. It is at 6300 Forest Lawn Drive in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California, on the lower north slope at the far east end of the Santa Monica...
in the Hollywood Hills. His wife, Virginia, had preceded him in death in 1997.