Eduard Franz

Eduard Franz
File:Eduard Franz-Paul Henreid in Hollow Triumph.jpg Eduard Franz (left)
Born	Eduard Franz Schmidt (1902-10-31)October 31, 1902 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
Died	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Illness
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1918–1987

Eduard Franz (born Eduard Franz Schmidt; October 31, 1902 – February 10, 1987) was an American actor of theatre, film and television. Franz portrayed King Ahab in the 1953 biblical low-budget film Sins of Jezebel, Jethro in Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments (1956), and Jehoam in Henry Koster's The Story of Ruth (1960).

Life and career

Franz was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was a leading Broadway actor for nearly 20 years, in such plays as First Stop to Heaven and Embezzled Heaven, before making his film debut opposite John Wayne in Wake of the Red Witch in 1948. He portrayed Chief Broken Hand in White Feather. He played such intellectuals as Dr. Stern in The Thing (From Another Planet) (1951), a university professor in The Four Skulls of Jonathan Drake (1959), and Justice Louis Brandeis in The Magnificent Yankee. He appeared in a 1957 television adaptation of A. J. Cronin's novel, Beyond This Place, which was directed by Sidney Lumet.

Franz appeared in two separate remakes of Al Jolson's 1927 cinema classic The Jazz Singer, each time playing the key role of the aged and ailing synagogue cantor upset by his son's decision to pursue a secular show-business career rather than continue the family tradition and follow in his father's religious footsteps - the 1952 film version of the story starring Danny Thomas and the 1959 television version starring Jerry Lewis.

In 1956, he guest starred with Joan Fontaine in the episode "The De Santre Story" of the NBC anthology series, The Joseph Cotten Show. By 1958, he was in the second season of Zorro, playing the role of Señor Gregorio Verdugo. He guest starred as Jules Silberg in the 1960 episode "The Test" of CBS's anthology series The DuPont Show with June Allyson, with June Allyson portraying the role of Ruth Taylor.

In 1961, Franz and Scott Marlowe guest starred in the episode "The Duke of Texas" of CBS's western series Have Gun - Will Travel, with Richard Boone, as two Austrians involved in intrigue in the days of Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico. Also, in that same year, Franz guest starred as Gustave Helmer in the ABC legal drama The Law and Mr. Jones with James Whitmore in the title role and Jack Mullaney as a second guest star. About that same time, he appeared on NBC's anthology series, The Barbara Stanwyck Show and on the NBC western Cimarron City.

In 1963, Franz was cast as psychiatric clinic director Dr. Edward Raymer in thirty episodes of the weekly ABC medical drama Breaking Point with co-star Paul Richards.

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1948	The Iron Curtain	Maj. Semyon Kulin
	Hollow Triumph	Frederick Muller
	Wake of the Red Witch	Harmenszoon Van Schreeven
1949	Outpost in Morocco	Emir of Bel-Rashad
	Madame Bovary	Rouault
	Oh, You Beautiful Doll	Gottfried Steiner
	Whirlpool (film)	Martin Avery
1950	Francis	Colonel Pepper
	The Vicious Years	Emilio Rossi
	Emergency Wedding	Doctor Heimer
	The Du Pont Story	Eleuthère Irénée du Pont
	The Magnificent Yankee	Judge Louis Brandeis
	The Goldbergs	Alexander 'Abie' Abel
1951	The Thing from Another World	Doctor Stern
	The Great Caruso	Giulio Gatti-Casazza
	The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel	Colonel Klaus von Stauffenberg
	The Unknown Man	Andrew Jason 'Andy' Layford
1952	Shadow in the Sky	The Doctor
	One Minute to Zero	Dr. Gustav Engstrand
	Because You're Mine	Albert Parkson Foster
	Everything I Have Is Yours	Phil Meisner
	The Jazz Singer	Cantor David Golding
1953	Three Lives
	Cavalcade of America	Samuel Morse	Episodes "Mightier Than the Sword" and "What God Hath Wrought"
	Dream Wife	Khan
	Latin Lovers (1953 film)	Doctor Lionel Y. Newman
	Sins of Jezebel	King Ahab
1954	Beachhead	Bouchard, French Planter
	Living It Up	Doctor Nassau
	Broken Lance	Two Moons
	Treasury Men in Action	Ed Emery	Episode "The Case of the Man Outside"
	Sign of the Pagan	Astrologer
1955	White Feather (1955 film)	Chief Broken Hand
	The Ford Television Theatre	Paul	Episode "Tomorrow We'll Love"
	The Last Command	Lorenzo de Quesada
	Lux Video Theatre	Emil	Episodes "Return to Alsace" and "The Last Confession"
	Lady Godiva of Coventry	King Edward
	The Indian Fighter	Red Cloud
1956	Casablanca	Ben Hassan	Episode "The Alley"
	Three for Jamie Dawn	Anton Karek
	The Burning Hills	Jacob Lantz - Tracker
	The Ten Commandments	Jethro
	The Joseph Cotten Show: On Trial	De Santre	Episode "The De Santre Story"
1957	Crossroads		Episode "Weekend Minister"
	Wagon Train	Dr. Rand, Les Rand's Father	Episode "The Les Rand Story" October 16, 1957
1959	The Jazz Singer	Cantor Rabinowitz	Episode of Lincoln-Mercury Startime, October 13, 1959
1960	The Story of Ruth	Jehoam
	Gunsmoke	Amos Cartwright	Episode 1.23 "Indian Scout"
1961	Francis of Assisi	Pietro Bernardone
1962	Stoney Burke	Terry Meade	Episode: "Child of Luxury"
	Hatari!	Dr. Sanderson
1966	The Fugitive (TV series)	Episode: "94"

The Waltons - The Collision (Season 4, Ep. 24) and The Courtship (Season 1, Ep. 18)

External links

• Eduard Franz at Find a Grave
• Eduard Franz at the Internet Movie Database
• Eduard Franz at the Internet Broadway Database