Jonathan Frakes facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jonathan Frakes
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Frakes at GalaxyCon Austin in 2023
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Jonathan Scott Frakes
August 19, 1952 Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, U.S.
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| Alma mater | Pennsylvania State University (BFA) Harvard University (MA) |
| Occupation | Actor, director, television presenter |
| Years active | 1977–present |
| Spouse(s) |
Genie Francis
(m. 1988) |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Ivor Francis (father-in-law) |
Jonathan Scott Frakes (born August 19, 1952) is an American actor and director. He is famous for playing William Riker in the TV show Star Trek: The Next Generation. He also directed many Star Trek movies and TV episodes. Besides Star Trek, he hosted Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction and voiced characters in cartoons like Gargoyles.
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Early Life and School
Jonathan Frakes was born in 1952 in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. His mom was Doris and his dad was James. His father was a professor who taught English and American studies at Lehigh University. He also wrote reviews for The New York Times Book Review. Jonathan had a younger brother, Daniel, who passed away in 1997 from a serious illness.
Jonathan grew up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He went to Liberty High School. There, he ran track and played the trombone in the school band. He finished high school in 1970.
After high school, Jonathan went to Pennsylvania State University. He was part of a theater group called the Thespians. He earned a degree in Theater Arts in 1974. Even though he liked acting in plays in middle and high school, he didn't think about it as a career until college. One summer, while working at a theater, a director saw him and asked him to join a play's chorus. This experience changed his mind, and he switched his main subject from psychology to theater.
Later, Jonathan went to Harvard University. He joined the university's acting group, the Loeb Drama Center. He received his Master of Arts degree in 1976.
Career Highlights
Starting Out in Acting
In the late 1970s, Jonathan Frakes worked for Marvel Comics. He dressed up as Captain America for events and conventions. He says this helped him learn how to talk with fans, which was useful later for Star Trek events. After Harvard, he moved to New York City. He joined a theater company called the Impossible Ragtime Theater. He acted in his first off-Broadway play there.
His first time on Broadway was in 1976 in the musical Shenandoah. Around the same time, he got a role in the TV soap opera The Doctors. When his character left the show, Jonathan moved to Los Angeles. He then got guest roles in many popular TV shows. These included The Waltons, Eight Is Enough, Hart to Hart, and Hill Street Blues.
He also played Charles Lindbergh in a 1983 episode of Voyagers!. In the mid-1980s, he had roles in TV shows like Falcon Crest and the mini-series North and South.
Becoming a Star in Star Trek
In 1987, Jonathan Frakes was chosen to play Commander William T. Riker on Star Trek: The Next Generation. He was one of only two actors to appear in every episode of the show. While working on the show, Jonathan learned a lot about making TV. He watched how actors were chosen, how sets were designed, and how episodes were put together. This helped him prepare to become a director.
He directed eight episodes of The Next Generation. After the TV series ended in 1994, he continued to play Riker in the Star Trek: The Next Generation movies. He even directed two of these movies: Star Trek: First Contact (1996) and Star Trek: Insurrection (1998).
Jonathan has appeared in many other Star Trek shows. These include Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Picard, and Star Trek: Lower Decks. This makes him the only regular Star Trek actor to appear in six different Star Trek series. He has also directed episodes in six of these shows.
After Star Trek
After his time on Star Trek, Jonathan Frakes directed other films. He directed the family movie Clockstoppers in 2002. His next film, Thunderbirds (2004), wasn't very popular. He has said that this movie made it hard for him to get directing jobs for a while. It took several years before he directed for television again. Thunderbirds is still his last movie he directed for theaters.
Much of Jonathan's acting work after Star Trek has been voice acting for cartoons. He famously voiced David Xanatos in the animated series Gargoyles. He also voiced an adult version of Finn the Human in the cartoon Adventure Time.
Jonathan was also a producer for the TV series Roswell. He directed several episodes and even appeared in three of them. He also hosted The Paranormal Borderline and seasons 2 through 6 of Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction, both shows about mysterious events.
He has directed many episodes for other TV shows. Some of these include Leverage, Castle, NCIS: Los Angeles, Burn Notice, and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. He also directed for The Librarians and The Orville.
Jonathan also teaches classes on film direction in Maine. He and his wife used to own a home furnishings store there, but it closed because she became too busy with her acting.
Personal Life
Jonathan Frakes met actress Genie Francis while working on the TV show Bare Essence. They met again when filming the mini-series North and South. They started dating in 1985 and got married on May 28, 1988. They have two children together.
In 2008, they moved from Maine to Beverly Hills, California, and later to Calabasas, California.
Awards and Recognitions
Jonathan Frakes has received several awards for his work:
- In 1997, he was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Director for Star Trek: First Contact.
- In 2013, he received The Life Career Award at the Saturn Awards. This award celebrates a person's long and successful career.
- In 2024, he won a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor on Television for his role in Star Trek: Picard.
- Also in 2024, the entire cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Saturn Awards.
See also
In Spanish: Jonathan Frakes para niños
