Biography
Mike Frankovich (born Mitchell John Frankovich, September 29, 1909 β January 1, 1992), also known professionally as M. J. Frankovich, was an American football player turned film actor and producer. Frankovich was the adopted son of actor Joe E. Brown and his wife, Kathryn. Frankovich attended Belmont High School in Downtown Los Angeles. He played football for UCLA and was inducted into UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame in 1986.
Frankovich began his motion picture career in 1935, as an actor. He usually played radio announcers or masters of ceremonies; today's audiences probably know him from Abbott and Costello's Buck Privates (1941), in which "Mike Frankovich" reports the army war games to the radio audience. He was working at Republic Pictures when his career was interrupted by service in the Army Air Corps during World War II. After the war, he returned to Republic and became a film producer. He supervised four adventure serials in 1947-48.
He moved to Europe with his wife, British actress Binnie Barnes. He became managing director of Columbia Pictures in Britain in 1955. Frankovich moved back to Los Angeles in 1963. In 1968 he gave up his position as vice president and became an independent producer at Columbia.He served as president of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission in the early 1980s, and helped to bring the Los Angeles Raiders football team and 1984 Summer Olympics to Los Angeles.He received the Academy Awards' Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1983.
Filmography
all 20
Movies 20
Producer 20
From Noon Till Three (1976)
The Shootist (1976)
Report to the Commissioner (1975)
40 Carats (1973)
Butterflies Are Free (1972)
Stand Up and Be Counted (1972)
$ (1971)
The Love Machine (1971)
Doctors' Wives (1971)
There's a Girl in My Soup (1970)
Cactus Flower (1969)
Marooned (1969)
Soho Incident (1956)
Thunderstorm (1956)
Joe Macbeth (1955)
Footsteps in the Fog (1955)
Malaga (1954)
Decameron Nights (1953)
Fugitive Lady (1950)
G-Men Never Forget (1948)
Ratings
Information
Known ForProduction
GenderMale
Birthday1909-09-29
Deathday1992-01-01 (82 years old)
Birth PlaceBisbee, United States of America
RelationshipsBinnie Barnes (1940-01-01 - 1992-01-01)
CitizenshipsUnited States of America
Also Known AsM. J. Frankovich
AwardsJean Hersholt Humanitarian Award
This article uses material from Wikipedia.
- Mike Frankovich
- Filmography
- Information
- Related Persons