Franchot Tone facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Franchot Tone
Mutiny on the Bounty screenshot from the 1935 trailer
Born	Stanislaus Pascal Franchot Tone (1905-02-27)February 27, 1905 Niagara Falls, New York, U.S.
Died	September 18, 1968(1968-09-18) (aged 63) New York City, U.S.
Alma mater	Cornell University
Occupation	Actor producer director
Years active	1926–1968
Spouse(s)	Joan Crawford ​ ​ (m. 1935; div. 1939)​ Jean Wallace ​ ​ (m. 1941; div. 1948)​ Barbara Payton ​ ​ (m. 1951; div. 1952)​ Dolores Dorn ​ ​ (m. 1956; div. 1959)​
Children	2

Franchot Tone's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6558 Hollywood Blvd.

Stanislaus Pascal Franchot Tone (born February 27, 1905 – died September 18, 1968) was an American actor, producer, and director. He worked in theater, movies, and television. In the 1930s and early 1940s, he was a popular leading man. He was known for playing sophisticated gentlemen. Later, in the 1950s, he took on supporting roles.

Tone acted in many types of films. These included romantic movies and noir films. He also appeared in World War I movies. He was a guest star on famous TV shows like The Twilight Zone. He also appeared on The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. He kept acting and producing in theater and movies until the late 1960s.

Tone was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. This was for his role as Midshipman Roger Byam in Mutiny on the Bounty (1935). His co-stars Clark Gable and Charles Laughton were also nominated. This was the only film where three actors were nominated for Best Actor at the same time. This led to the creation of the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor award.

Early Life and Education

Franchot Tone was born in Niagara Falls, New York. He was the youngest son of Dr. Frank Jerome Tone. His father was a rich president of the Carborundum Company. His mother, Gertrude Van Vrancken Franchot, came from a well-known family. Tone was also related to Wolfe Tone, who is famous in Irish Republicanism. His family had French Canadian, Irish, and English roots.

Tone went to The Hill School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. He was asked to leave for "being a subtle influence for disorder." After that, he went to Cornell University. There, he was the president of the drama club. He acted in plays by Shakespeare. He also joined the Sphinx Head Society and the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity. After graduating in 1927, he decided to become an actor. He moved to Greenwich Village, New York, to start his theater career.

Franchot Tone's Acting Career

Broadway Beginnings (1927–1932)

Tone started his acting career on Broadway. He appeared in plays like The Belt (1927) and Centuries (1927–28). He also acted in The International (1928). A popular play he was in was The Age of Innocence (1928–29) with Katherine Cornell.

He then performed in Uncle Vanya (1929) and Cross Roads (1929). Other plays included Red Rust (1929–30), Hotel Universe (1930), and Pagan Lady (1930–31).

Tone joined the Theatre Guild. He played Curly in Green Grow the Lilacs (1931). He even sang in this play! This play later became the famous musical Oklahoma!. Critics praised his performance. The play was a success, running for 64 shows on Broadway.

Tone was also a founder of the Group Theatre. This group included Harold Clurman, Cheryl Crawford, and Lee Strasberg. Playwright Clifford Odets said Tone was one of the most talented young actors he knew. Lee Strasberg, a director and teacher of "The Method," had acted with Tone.

These were busy years for Tone. He acted in Group Theatre productions like 1931 (1931) and Night Over Taos (1932). He also appeared in The House of Connelly (1931) and Success Story (1932). Outside the Group, he was in A Thousand Summers (1932).

Tone made his first movie, The Wiser Sex (1932). He starred with Claudette Colbert. This film was made by Paramount at their Astoria Studios.

The MGM Years (1933–1939)

June Walker, Helen Westley, and Tone in the original Broadway production of Green Grow the Lilacs (1931).

Franchot Tone was the first actor from the Group Theatre to go to Hollywood. MGM offered him a movie contract. He still supported the Group Theatre financially later on.

MGM quickly gave Tone many important roles. In 1933, he was in six pre-Code films. He started with a supporting role in Today We Live. This was a romantic WWI drama. He then played the romantic lead in Gabriel Over the White House with Walter Huston. Next, he had a lead role with Loretta Young in Midnight Mary.

Tone also starred with Miriam Hopkins in The Stranger's Return. He was the male lead in Stage Mother. He also had a role in Bombshell with Jean Harlow. His last film in this series was Dancing Lady. In this movie, he was part of a love triangle with his future wife, Joan Crawford, and Clark Gable.

Twentieth Century Pictures borrowed Tone for Moulin Rouge (1934). He starred with Constance Bennett. The New York Times praised his "clever" performance. Back at MGM, he again co-starred with Crawford in Sadie McKee (1934). Then, Fox borrowed him for The World Moves On (1934) with Madeleine Carroll.

After The Girl from Missouri (1934) with Harlow, MGM gave Tone top billing in Straight Is the Way (1934). This was a "B" film, meaning it had a lower budget. Warner Bros. then borrowed him for Gentlemen Are Born (1934).

At Paramount, Tone co-starred in the hit movie The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (1935) with Gary Cooper. He was top-billed in One New York Night (1935). He supported Crawford and Robert Montgomery in No More Ladies (1935). He also had a big success with Mutiny on the Bounty. For this film, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor.

Warner Bros. borrowed him again for Dangerous (1935). He played Bette Davis's leading man. After a lead role in Exclusive Story (1935), he worked with Loretta Young again in The Unguarded Hour (1936). He also starred with Grace Moore in The King Steps Out (1936). This film was notable for the debut of a young Gwen Verdon.

Tone and Harlow co-starred again in Suzy (1936) with Cary Grant. The film was popular. Critics, however, were not very kind. The New York Times said Tone provided the "few honest moments of drama." Tone also had a supporting role in Love on the Run (1936) with Crawford and Gable.

RKO borrowed him to appear with Katharine Hepburn in Quality Street (1937). This costume drama did not make money. Back at MGM, he supported Spencer Tracy in They Gave Him a Gun (1937).

Franchot Tone top-billed in a 1937 film poster for Between Two Women.

He had the main role in Between Two Women (1937). He co-starred for the last time with Crawford in The Bride Wore Red (1937). Then he joined Myrna Loy in Man-Proof (1938) and Gladys George in Love Is a Headache (1938).

In Three Comrades (1938), Tone worked with Robert Taylor and Margaret Sullavan. This film was about soldiers returning to Germany after World War I. He made Three Loves Has Nancy (1938) with Janet Gaynor. He also co-starred with Franciska Gaal in The Girl Downstairs (1938). He then starred in a "B" picture, Fast and Furious (1939), with Ann Sothern.

After his contract ended, Tone left MGM in 1939. He returned to Broadway to act in plays. He often worked with members of "the Group" and playwrights like Eugene O'Neill. He was in The Gentle People (1939) and The Fifth Column (1940).

Later Film Roles (1940–1949)

Tone signed a contract with Universal. He starred in his first Western, Trail of the Vigilantes (1940). He then supported female stars like Deanna Durbin in Nice Girl? (1941).

Tone also signed a deal with Columbia. He made two films with Joan Bennett: She Knew All the Answers (1941) and The Wife Takes a Flyer (1942).

Back at Universal, he was top-billed in This Woman Is Mine (1941). Tone went to Paramount to star in Five Graves to Cairo (1942). This was a World War II spy story directed by Billy Wilder.

He returned to MGM for Pilot No. 5 (1943). Then it was back to Universal for His Butler's Sister (1943) with Durbin.

Tone made two more films at Paramount: True to Life (1943) with Mary Martin and The Hour Before the Dawn (1944) with Veronica Lake. He had one of his best roles in Universal's Phantom Lady (1944). This was an early film noir movie, and he played a villain. His performance in Dark Waters (1944) with Merle Oberon was also impressive.

Tone and Ella Raines in Phantom Lady; an early noir and villainous role for him.

He continued his stage career. He performed on Broadway in Hope for the Best (1945).

At Universal, Tone made That Night with You (1945) with Susanna Foster and Because of Him (1946) with Durbin.

Tone made Lost Honeymoon (1947) and Honeymoon (1947) with Shirley Temple. At Columbia, he had roles in Her Husband's Affairs (1947) with Lucille Ball and I Love Trouble (1947). Then, Every Girl Should Be Married (1948) reunited him with Grant at RKO. He played a lead role as an assistant district attorney in the film noir thriller Jigsaw (1949). He also had a supporting part in Without Honor (1949).

Becoming a Producer (1949)

Tone and Laughton in The Man on the Eiffel Tower (1949).

Tone produced and starred in The Man on the Eiffel Tower (1949). This movie had many challenges during filming. Tone played a complex character and performed many of his own stunts on the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Burgess Meredith and Charles Laughton also starred in the film. Meredith is credited as director, but Tone took over directing when Meredith was acting. The film is known for its beautiful shots of the Eiffel Tower.

Television and Theater (1950–1959)

Tone moved to New York. He started appearing in live television shows. These included The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse, Lux Video Theatre, and Suspense. He returned to Hollywood for Here Comes the Groom (1951).

He continued to appear on TV shows like Lights Out and Tales of Tomorrow. But he soon went back to Broadway. He was in the hit play Oh, Men! Oh, Women! (1953–54), which ran for 400 shows. He also appeared in a revival of The Time of Your Life (1955) and Eugene O'Neill's A Moon for the Misbegotten (1957).

During this time, he also acted in TV versions of Broadway plays. He was in Twelve Angry Men. He also appeared on The Elgin Hour and The Ford Television Theatre. Tone continued to act in many other TV shows.

In 1957, Tone co-produced, co-directed, and starred in a film version of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya. His performance was highly praised.

Final Films and Television (1960–1968)

In the early 1960s, Tone appeared in episodes of Bonanza and The Twilight Zone ("The Silence"). He also acted on Broadway in Mandingo (1961). He played a dying president in the film Advise & Consent (1962).

On stage in 1963, he acted in a revival of O'Neill's Strange Interlude. He was also in Bicycle Ride to Nevada. The next year, he appeared in Double Talk.

He was cast in TV shows like The Eleventh Hour and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. He appeared in what might be the first TV movie, See How They Run (1964).

In Europe, Tone made La bonne soupe (1965). He co-starred in the medical series Ben Casey from 1965 to 1966. He played Dr. Daniel Niles Freeland, Casey's supervisor.

He had roles in Otto Preminger's film In Harm's Way (1965). He played Admiral Husband E. Kimmel. He also appeared in Arthur Penn's Mickey One (1965). His last roles were in Shadow Over Elveron (1968) and Nobody Runs Forever (1968).

Personal Life

Tone and first wife Joan Crawford.

In 1935, Tone married actress Joan Crawford. They divorced in 1939. They made seven films together. These included Today We Live (1933) and Dancing Lady (1933). They did not have any children together. Tone found their divorce difficult. Years later, when Tone was very ill, Joan Crawford often took care of him. She even paid for his medical treatments.

In 1941, Tone married Jean Wallace. She was a fashion model and actress. They appeared together in Jigsaw and The Man on the Eiffel Tower. They had two sons. They divorced in 1948. Jean Wallace later married actor Cornel Wilde.

Jean Wallace, a former fashion model and actress, was Tone's second wife.

In 1951, Tone married actress Barbara Payton. They divorced in 1952.

In 1956, Tone married Dolores Dorn. They appeared together in a film version of Uncle Vanya (1957), which Tone also directed and produced. They divorced in 1959.

Death and Legacy

Franchot Tone died in New York City on September 18, 1968, from lung cancer. His ashes were kept by his son until 2022. They were then buried in Quebec, Canada.

On February 8, 1960, Franchot Tone received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. This was to honor his contributions to the movie industry. His star is located at 6558 Hollywood Blvd.

Filmography

Partial TV Credits

Theater Appearances

Radio Appearances

See also

In Spanish: Franchot Tone para niños