Arthur Sofield Franz (February 29, 1920 - June 17, 2006) was an American B-movie and television actor, whose most notable feature film role was as Lieutenant, Junior Grade, H. Paynter Jr. in The Caine Mutiny (1954). He also appeared in Roseanna McCoy (1949), Eight Iron Men (1952), Invaders From Mars (1953), Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951), and The Unholy Wife (1957), among many others. In The Sniper (1952), he played a rare lead in the film's title role as a tormented killer; earlier, he co-starred with John Wayne in the WWII film Sands of Iwo Jima (1949) and with Ronald Reagan in Hellcats of the Navy (1957).

Early life

Franz was born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. His interest in acting developed while he was still a student in high school.

During World War II, Franz served as a B-24 Liberator navigator in the United States Army Air Forces. He was shot down over Romania and incarcerated in a POW camp, from which he later escaped.

Career

Franz portrayed automobile magnate Henry Ford in the 1955 television film, A Story About Henry Ford, with Karen Sharpe as Ford's wife, Clara Bryant Ford.

Franz was also a familiar face on American television series; he made five guest appearances on Perry Mason, twice playing the defendant and one time the murderer. In 1958 he played the title role of Danny Harrison in "The Case of the Married Moonlighter," and in 1959 he played Richard Vanaman in "The Case of the Golden Fraud." In 1962 he played murderer Mr. Evans in "The Case of the Captain's Coin." He appeared on dozens of other series, including Schlitz Playhouse, Crossroads, Ripcord, The Alaskans, Mr. Novak, The F.B.I., The Mod Squad, Hawaii Five-O, Rich Man, Poor Man Book II, Custer, Mannix, Storefront Lawyers, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Virginian, Gunsmoke and Rawhide.

Franz played the role of U. S. president James Madison in the 1965 episode "George Mason" of the NBC documentary series Profiles in Courage. William Bakewell played George Wythe, and Laurence Naismith played the title role of George Mason.

Franz portrayed U. S. representative Charles A. Halleck of Indiana in the 1974 made-for-television film The Missiles of October, based on the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Franz's last role was in 1982 film That Championship Season.

Franz died in Henderson, Nevada, at the age of 86 from emphysema and heart disease.

Selected filmography

• Jungle Patrol (1948)
• Red Stallion in the Rockies (1949)
• The Doctor and the Girl (1949)
• Red Light (1949)
• Roseanna McCoy (1949)
• Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)
• Tarnished (1950)
• Three Secrets (1950)
• Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951)
• Strictly Dishonorable (1951)
• Submarine Command (1951)
• Flight to Mars (1951)
• The Sniper (1952)
• Castle in the Air (1952)
• Eight Iron Men (1952)
• The Member of the Wedding (1952)
• Invaders from Mars (1953)
• Flight Nurse (1953)
• Bad for Each Other (1953)
• The Eddie Cantor Story (1953)
• The Caine Mutiny (1954)
• The Steel Cage (1954)
• Battle Taxi (1955)
• New Orleans Uncensored (1955)
• Bobby Ware is Missing (1955)
• Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956)
• Running Target (1956)
• The Wild Party (1956)
• Hellcats of the Navy (1957)
• The Unholy Wife (1957)
• Back from the Dead (1957)
• The Devil's Hairpin (1957)
• The Young Lions (1958)
• The Flame Barrier (1958)
• Monster on the Campus (1958)
• Woman Obsessed (1959)
• The Atomic Submarine (1959)
• The Carpetbaggers (1964)
• Alvarez Kelly (1966)
• The Sweet Ride (1968)
• Anzio (1968)
• Dream No Evil (1970)
• Million Dollar Duck (1971)
• So Long, Blue Boy (1973)
• The Missiles of October (1974)
• The 'Human' Factor (1975)
• Sisters of Death (1976)
• King Monster (1976)
• Rich Man, Poor Man Book II (1976)
• The Amazing Howard Hughes (1977)
• The Last Hurrah (1977)
• That Championship Season (1982)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]