Biography:
A brawny, firm-jawed, sandy-haired player of 60s and 70s primetime TV, Frank
Converse seemed to be one of those handsome tough-guy action figures that
could go by the wasteside after the demise of their famous series. Instead,
this stage-trained actor persevered as a well-respected, all-purpose
character actor in a career that has now passed its fourth decade.
Born on May 2, 1938 in St. Louis, Missouri, Frank received his early
education at the Phillips Andover Academy in Andover, Massac...
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husetts, and
earned his BFA degree in drama in 1962 at the Carnegie Institute of
Technology in Pittsburgh. In the 1960s he built up his Shakespearean resume
with roles in "King Lear", "Caesar and Cleopatra", "Hamlet", "The Comedy of
Errors", "Richard III", "Henry V" and "Much Ado About Nothing" before making
his 1966 Broadway debut in "First One Asleep, Whistle", which closed that
same day. By this time he had set his sights on film but it was strong-armed
TV drama that made him a name.
1967 was a banner year for Frank. Not only did he appear to good advantage
in the films Hour of the Gun (1967) as Virgil Earp, and the Southern-baked
melodrama Hurry Sundown (1967), he earned surprise stardom in his first TV
vehicle "Coronet Blue" (1967). Probably best remembered for this short-lived
series (filmed in 1965, but televised as a summer replacement series from
May to September 1967), Converse played the very mysterious Michael Alden,
who was roughed up and dumped unceremoniously into the New York harbor by
would-be assassins. Left for dead and having lost his memory, the only key
to his past are the code words "Coronet Blue". Although audiences never
found out just what those words meant (the show ended abruptly and without a
proper conclusion), they at least now knew the name Frank Converse.
>From there the actor ventured on (still in a New York City setting) with the
police drama "N.Y.P.D." (1967). He fared better this time around alongside
co-stars Jack Warden and Robert Hooks as three plainclothes detectives
tracking down the city's most virulent. This show lasted until 1969. His
third and last major series co-starred burly trucker Claude Akins in the
big-rig action-adventure "Movin' On" (1974). In all three series, Converse
owned a quiet, reserved, somewhat detached quality that invited "mystery
man" appeal. During this stage of his popularity he starred or co-starred in
a number of mini-movies including Dr. Cook's Garden (1971) (TV) with Bing
Crosby and Blythe Danner, A Tattered Web (1971) (TV), The Widowing of Mrs.
Holroyd (1974/I) (TV), Killer on Board (1977) (TV), Cruise Into Terror
(1978) (TV) and, most notably, Sergeant Matlovich vs. the U.S. Air Force
(1978) (TV). He also guested on such popular 70s shows as "The Mod Squad",
"Medical Center", "Police Story", "Rhoda" "The Love Boat", "Baa Baa Black
Sheep" and "The Bionic Woman". Despite his hectic TV schedule, he continued
to return to his theater roots appearing in the original cast of John Guares
bizarre black comedy "The House of Blue Leaves" (1971) and earning
challenging parts in "The Seagull" in 1973 and "Hobson's Choice" in 1977.
Having achieved semi-hunk status as a result of his trio of series work,
Frank could have easily drifted away by decade's end. Instead he continued
to impressed on the stage. In the 1980s he made a strong return to Broadway
opposite Blythe Danner in "The Philadelphia Story" (1980) and later appeared
as Mitch opposite Danner's Blanche DuBois in "A Streetcar Named Desire"
(1988). Other 80s Broadway shows included "Brothers (1983) and "Design for
Living" (1984), the latter in which he replaced actor Frank Langella. Other
productions around the country included that of "The Crucible", "Death of a
Salesman", "A Man for All Seasons", "Misalliance", "The Shadow Box", "Two
for the Seesaw" and even the musical "South Pacific".
On the TV/film front, Frank showed up in stalwart character form on a number
of daytime soaps during the 1980s ("One Life to Live") and the 1990s ("As
the World Turns", "All My Children"). A return to series TV with "The Family
Tree" (1983) and "Dolphin Cove" (1989) were again very short-lived. More
recently he showed up on stage as Doc Gibb in "Our Town", which starred Paul
Newman and was later televised, and has been a guest star on such shows as
"Law & Order". He has been married to his third wife, Tony-nominated stage
actress Maureen Anderman, since 1982. They have two children along with his
two children from a previous marriage.
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