Anthony Franciosa

Anthony George Franciosa, born Anthony Papaleo on October 25, 1928, in the Little Italy neighborhood of New York City, was an American stage and screen actor who performed on Broadway from 1953 to 1990. His grandparents had emigrated from Melfi, Basilicata, in southern Italy in 1890. His parents separated when he was one year old, and he was raised by his mother and aunt, taking his mother's maiden name, Franciosa. After finishing high school, he held jobs as a welder, ship steward, and cook before discovering acting at age 18 through a free dancing class at the YMCA, where he was offered a part in a production of The Seagull.

Franciosa trained privately for two years with Joseph Geigler and received a four-year scholarship to the Dramatic Workshop, which led to work with the New York Repertory Theatre. In 1948 he joined the Cherry Lane Theatre Group off Broadway, and within two years had been accepted as a member of the Actors Studio. To support himself during those early years, he worked as a waiter, dishwasher, day laborer, and messenger. He also appeared in a San Francisco production of Detective Story in 1950 and worked in Theatre of the Sky on Lake Tahoe.

His Broadway career began in 1953 with End as a Man, in which he appeared alongside Ben Gazzara, followed by Wedding Breakfast in 1954. His breakthrough came with the Actors Studio production of A Hatful of Rain, which ran from 1955 to 1956 under the direction of Elia Kazan. Franciosa played Polo, the brother of the drug-addicted Johnny, a role that earned him a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play and a Theatre World Award in 1956. Shelley Winters, who played Johnny's wife in the production, married Franciosa the following year. He later appeared in Grand Hotel, extending his Broadway presence through 1990.

Franciosa made his film debut in Kazan's A Face in the Crowd in 1957, alongside Andy Griffith, Patricia Neal, and Lee Remick. That same year he reprised his stage role in the film adaptation of A Hatful of Rain, directed by Fred Zinnemann at 20th Century Fox, with Don Murray and Eva Marie Saint in the roles originated by Gazzara and Winters. His performance earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and won him the Venice Film Festival Award for Best Actor. He also appeared that year in This Could Be the Night at MGM, directed by Robert Wise, and in Wild Is the Wind alongside Anna Magnani and Anthony Quinn, directed by George Cukor. Producer Hal B. Wallis placed him under a multi-film contract following Wild Is the Wind.

His subsequent film work included The Long, Hot Summer in 1958 with Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, in which he played Jody Varner opposite Orson Welles, directed by Martin Ritt. He portrayed Francisco Goya in MGM's The Naked Maja alongside Ava Gardner, earning $250,000 due to production delays. Career in 1959, made for Wallis with Dean Martin and Shirley MacLaine, brought him the Golden Globe for Best Actor. That same year he appeared in The Story on Page One with Rita Hayworth, written and directed by Clifford Odets at Fox. His early 1960s film credits included Go Naked in the World with Gina Lollobrigida, the Italian production Careless with Claudia Cardinale, and Period of Adjustment with Jane Fonda, all released between 1961 and 1962.

In television, Franciosa guest-starred on programs including Studio One in Hollywood, Kraft Theatre, Goodyear Playhouse, and Ford Star Jubilee before taking on lead roles in five series. He starred in the sitcom Valentine's Day from 1964 to 1965, then headlined the drama The Name of the Game from 1968 to 1971, alternating the lead role of reporter Jeff Dillon with Gene Barry and Robert Stack. He was fired from that series in 1970. He subsequently starred in Search from 1972 to 1973, rotating the lead with Hugh O'Brian and Doug McClure as agent Nick Bianco, followed by Matt Helm in 1975 and Finder of Lost Loves in 1984.

Later in his career Franciosa worked extensively in Europe, appearing in the erotic drama The Cricket in 1980 and in Dario Argento's giallo film Tenebrae in 1982. He died on January 19, 2006.