Frank Langella facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Frank Langella
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Langella in 2012
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| Born | January 1, 1938 Bayonne, New Jersey, U.S.
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| Education | Syracuse University (BA) |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1963–present |
| Spouse(s) |
Ruth Weil
(m. 1977; div. 1995) |
| Partner(s) | Whoopi Goldberg (1995–2000) |
| Children | 2 |
Frank A. Langella Jr. (born January 1, 1938) is an American actor famous for his work in theater. He chose to focus on his stage career, appearing often on Broadway, instead of becoming a traditional movie star.
Over his long career, Langella has won four Tony Awards, which are the highest honors in American theater. He has also been nominated for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, an Emmy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards.
Langella is known for playing a wide variety of characters. He won Tony Awards for playing a talking lizard in the play Seascape (1975) and a cruel landowner in Fortune's Fool (2002). He also won for his roles as U.S. President Richard Nixon in Frost/Nixon (2007) and an elderly man with memory loss in The Father (2016).
He later played Richard Nixon again in the movie version of Frost/Nixon, which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. Some of his other well-known movies include Dracula (1979), Dave (1993), Good Night, and Good Luck (2005), Robot & Frank (2012), and The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020).
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Early Life and Education
Frank Langella was born on January 1, 1938, in Bayonne, New Jersey. He is an Italian American. His father, Frank Sr., was a business executive, and his mother was Angelina.
Langella went to elementary and high school in Bayonne. His family later moved to South Orange, New Jersey, where he graduated from Columbia High School in 1955. He then went to Syracuse University and earned a degree in drama in 1959.
Acting Career
Starting on Stage and Screen
Langella began his acting career in off-Broadway shows in the 1960s. His first big role on Broadway was in 1966. He soon became known for playing a young William Shakespeare in the play A Cry of Players in 1968.
His first major movie roles were in The Twelve Chairs and Diary of a Mad Housewife in 1970. For Diary of a Mad Housewife, he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award as a promising newcomer.
In 1975, he won his first Tony Award for the play Seascape. However, one of his most famous early roles was playing the title character in the 1977 Broadway production of Dracula. He later starred in the 1979 movie version of the story.
Throughout the 1980s, Langella continued to work in theater and film. He played the famous detective Sherlock Holmes on stage. He also played the villain Skeletor in the movie Masters of the Universe (1987), which he said was one of his favorite roles.
Success as a Character Actor
In the 1990s, Langella appeared in many different types of movies. He had a role in the political comedy Dave (1993) and the action movie Cutthroat Island (1995). He also starred opposite Johnny Depp in the mystery film The Ninth Gate (1999).
In 2000, he played Ebenezer Scrooge in a musical version of A Christmas Carol at Madison Square Garden. He won his second Tony Award in 2002 for the play Fortune's Fool.
His role as President Richard Nixon in the play Frost/Nixon brought him major acclaim. The play was a hit in London before moving to Broadway in 2007, where Langella won his third Tony Award. He then starred in the 2008 movie version directed by Ron Howard. His performance earned him nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and a BAFTA Award.
Recent Work
Langella has remained a busy actor in film, television, and theater. In 2012, he received praise for his role in the independent film Robot & Frank, where he played an elderly man who becomes friends with a robot.
From 2015 to 2017, he had a recurring role as a KGB handler named Gabriel in the TV series The Americans. In 2016, he won his fourth Tony Award for playing a man named André in the play The Father.
In 2020, he played Judge Julius Hoffman in the movie The Trial of the Chicago 7. The film is about a real-life trial of protestors in the 1960s. In 2022, Langella was replaced in the TV series The Fall of the House of Usher after disagreements on set.
Personal Life
Langella was married to Ruth Weil from 1977 to 1995, and they have two children. He was later in a relationship with actress and comedian Whoopi Goldberg from 1995 to 2000.
In 2012, Langella published a memoir called Dropped Names: Famous Men and Women As I Knew Them. In the book, he shares stories about the many famous people he has met throughout his life.
Selected Roles
Langella has appeared in dozens of plays, movies, and television shows. Here are some of his most notable roles.
Theater
- Seascape (1975) as Leslie
- Dracula (1977) as Count Dracula
- Amadeus (1982) as Antonio Salieri
- Fortune's Fool (2002) as Flegont Alexandrovitch Tropatcho
- Frost/Nixon (2006) as Richard Nixon
- King Lear (2013) as Lear
- The Father (2016) as André
Film
- The Twelve Chairs (1970) as Ostap Bender
- Dracula (1979) as Count Dracula
- Masters of the Universe (1987) as Skeletor
- Dave (1993) as Bob Alexander
- Good Night, and Good Luck (2005) as William S. Paley
- Superman Returns (2006) as Perry White
- Frost/Nixon (2008) as Richard Nixon
- Robot & Frank (2012) as Frank
- Captain Fantastic (2016) as Jack Bertrang
- The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020) as Judge Julius Hoffman
Television
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993) as Minister Jaro Essa
- Jason and the Argonauts (2000) as King Aeëtes
- The Americans (2015–2017) as Gabriel
- All the Way (2016) as Senator Richard Russell Jr.
- Kidding (2018–2020) as Sebastian Piccirillo
See also
In Spanish: Frank Langella para niños
- List of actors with Academy Award nominations
