Early life

Franz was born in Maywood, Illinois, the son of German immigrants Eleanor, a postal worker, and Franz Schlachta, who was a baker and postal worker. He has two older sisters, Heidi (born 1935) and Marlene (born 1938). Franz is a graduate of Proviso East High School (in Maywood), Wilbur Wright College and Southern Illinois University Carbondale. After graduating from college, Franz was drafted into the United States Army. He served eleven months with the 82nd Airborne Division in Vietnam.

Career

Franz began his acting career at Chicago's Organic Theater Company. Although he has in the past performed Shakespeare, his appearance led to his being typecast early in his career as a police officer. (By Franz's own count, the character of Andy Sipowicz was his 28th role as a police officer). He has also guest starred in shows such as The A-Team. Other major roles were on the television series Hill Street Blues in which he played two characters over the run of that show. Franz first played the role of Detective Sal Benedetto, a corrupt cop in the 1983 season, who later kills himself. Due to his popularity with fans, he returned in 1985 as Lt. Norm Buntz, remaining until the show's end in 1987. He also starred in the short-lived Beverly Hills Buntz as the same character.

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Franz worked regularly with directors Brian De Palma and Robert Altman. He appeared in three of Altman's films from this period, and five of De Palma's, most prominently as a low budget movie director in Body Double (1984).

Franz went on to win four Emmy Awards for his portrayal of Andy Sipowicz on NYPD Blue. The character of Sipowicz was ranked #23 on Bravo's 100 Greatest TV Characters list.

In 1994 Franz made a cameo appearance as himself in The Simpsons episode "Homer Badman" - when Homer is accused of sexually harassing a babysitter, the case becomes tabloid fodder, generating an exploitative television movie, Homer S.: Portrait of an Ass-Grabber, in which Franz portrays Homer.

On May 11, 2001, Franz was a contestant on a celebrity edition of the hit television game show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, winning $US250,000 for his charity.

Franz also was a commercial spokesman for Nextel in the early 2000s. The concept was that Franz "refused" to do the commercials, saying they were not something he did.

He starred as Earl, the abusive husband, in the Dixie Chicks' music video "Goodbye Earl", as airport police captain Carmine Lorenzo in the 1990 film Die Hard 2 and as Nathaniel Messinger in the 1998 film, City of Angels.

Franz has stayed out of the acting spotlight since 2005 to focus on his private life. He has told Access Hollywood he would be interested in returning to acting if given the right opportunity.

Personal life

Franz is married to Joanie Zeck, whom he met in 1982 and married in 1995. He is stepfather to Zeck's two daughters, Tricia and Krista, from a previous marriage.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1965	Mickey One	N/A	Uncredited
1978	Remember My Name	Franks
1978	The Fury	Bob
1978	A Wedding	Koons
1978	Stony Island	Jerry Domino
1979	A Perfect Couple	Costa
1979	Bleacher Bums	Zig	Television movie
1980	Dressed to Kill	Detective Marino
1980	Popeye	Spike
1980	Chicago Story	Officer Joe Gilland	Television movie
1981	Blow Out	Manny Karp
1983	Psycho II	Warren Toomey
1983	Scarface	Immigration Officer	Uncredited
1984	Body Double	Rubin
1985	Deadly Messages	Detective Max Lucas	Television movie
1985	Runaway Train	Cop	Uncredited
1986	A Fine Mess	Phil
1987	Tales from the Hollywood Hills	Louie	Television movie
1989	Kiss Shot	Max Fleischer	Television movie
1989	The Package	Lt. Milan Delich
1990	Die Hard 2	Captain Carmine Lorenzo
1990	Nasty Boys, Part 2: Lone Justice	Lt. Stan Krieger	Television movie/series episode
1991	NYPD Mounted	Tony Spampatta	Unsold tv pilot
1991	The Sid Story	Sid
1992	In the Line of Duty: Siege at Marion	Bob Bryant
1994	Moment of Truth: Caught in the Crossfire	Gus Payne	Television movie
1995	Texas Justice	Richard Haynes	Television movie
1996	Healing the Hate	Host
1996	American Buffalo	Don Dubrow
1997	Mighty Ducks the Movie: The First Face-Off	Captain Klegghorn
1998	City of Angels	Nathaniel Messinger

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1982	Chicago Story	Officer Joe Gilland	13 episodes
1983	Hill Street Blues	Det. Sal Benedetto	5 episodes
1983	Bay City Blues	Angelo Carbone	8 episodes
1984	Hardcastle & McCormick	Tony Boutros	Episode: "Did You See the One That Got Away?"
1984	The A-Team	Sam Friendly	Episode: "Chopping Spree"
1984	Riptide	Earl Bertrane	Episode: "Double Your Pleasure"
1984	E/R	The Boyfriend	Episode: "The Sister"
1984	T.J. Hooker	Andros Margolis	Episode: "Hardcore Connection"
1985-1987	Hill Street Blues	Lt. Norman Buntz	44 episodes
1985	Simon & Simon	Frank Mahoney	Episode: "Almost Foolproof"
1985	The A-Team	Brooks	Episode: "Beverly Hills Assault"
1985	Hardcastle & McCormick	Joe Hayes	Episode: "There Goes the Neighborhood"
1985	MacGruder and Loud	Roche	Episode: "On the Wire"
1985	Hunter	Sgt. Jackie Molinas	2 episodes
1985	Street Hawk	Inspector Frank Menlo	Episode: "Female of the Species"
1985	Scene of the Crime	Pat Grandy	Episode: "A Vote for Murder"
1987-1988	Beverly Hills Buntz	Norman Buntz	13 episodes
1989	Matlock	Jack Brennert	2 episodes
1989	Christine Cromwell	Detective Grainger	Episode: "Easy Come, Easy Go"
1990	Nasty Boys	Lt. Stan Krieger	12 episodes
1991	Civil Wars	Murray Seidelman	Episode: "Pilot"
1993-2005	NYPD Blue	Detective Andy Sipowicz	261 episodes
1994	The Simpsons	Himself	Episode: "Homer Badman"
1996-1997	Mighty Ducks	Captain Klegghorn	17 episodes

Awards and nominations

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Dennis Franz

[ Source: Wikipedia ]