Frank Langella
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Frank Langella was born January 1st, 1940 in Bayonne, New Jersey. The young Frank grew up in Bayonne and South Orange, New Jersey. As a teenager he would ride the bus into Times Square and search the record stores for John Gielgud records to help him alter his native New Jersey accent.
Frank landed his first dramatic role at age 11, playing an 85 year old man in an Abraham Lincoln Pageant at School No. 3 in Bayonne. He graduated from Syracuse University Drama department in 1959 .
He studied with Elia Kazan at the Lincoln Reperatory Theatre and performed extensively in local theatres in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and the Berkshires (Massachusetts).
Mr. Langella's distinctive New York stage career began with the leading role in the 1963 Off-Broadway revival of The Immoralist. He earned three OBIE Awards for The Old Glory: Benito Cereno , The White Devil , and Good Day , and the Drama Desk Award for his portrayal of Will Shakespeare in William Gibson's A Cry of Players . He made his Broadway debut as a lizard in Edward Albee's Seascape. This role earned him the Tony Award, another Drama Desk Award, and the Los Angeles Critics' Circle Award.
His motion picture career began with Diary of a Mad Housewife , for which he was awarded the National Society of Film Critics' Award. He has had leading or supporting roles in over thirty films, and has produced and directed a number of plays for the Broadway and Off-broadway stage. Three of his PBS "Theatre in America" specials are avaiable on VHS tape (see bottom of Stage Credits page). He also wrote, directed and had the title role in the 1997 Broadway production of Cyrano.
Filmography
- Frost/Nixon (2008)
- On the Hook (2008)
- "Great Performances" (2 episodes, 2004-2007)
- Starting Out in the Evening (2007)
- Superman Returns (2006)
- "Kitchen Confidential" (5 episodes, 2005-2006)
- Return to Rajapur (2006)
- 10.5: Apocalypse (2006)
- The Water Is Wide (2006)
- Capitol Law (2006)
- Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005)
- How You Look to Me (2005)
- "Unscripted" (10 episodes, 2005)
- Now You See It... (2005)
- Back in the Day (2005)
- Breaking the Fifth (2004)
- The Novice (2004)
- House of D (2004)
- "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (1 episode, 2003)
- 111 Gramercy Park (2003)
- Red Dragon (2002)
- "The Beast" (1 episode, 2001)
- Sweet November (2001)
- Cry Baby Lane (2000)
- Stardom (2000)
- Jason and the Argonauts (2000)
- Dark Summer (2000)
- The Ninth Gate (1999)
- Kilroy (1999)
- I'm Losing You (1998)
- Small Soldiers (1998)
- Alegría (1998)
- Lolita (1997)
- Eddie (1996)
- Cutthroat Island (1995)
- Moses (1995)
- Bad Company (1995)
- Junior (1994)
- Doomsday Gun (1994)
- Brainscan (1994)
- "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" (3 episodes, 1993)
- Dave (1993)
- Body of Evidence (1993)
- Lincoln (1992)
- 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992)
- True Identity (1991)
- "Monkey House" (1991)
- The Magic Balloon (1990)
- "CBS Summer Playhouse" (1 episode, 1988)
- And God Created Woman (1988)
- Masters of the Universe (1987)
- The Men's Club (1986)
- Liberty (1986)
- I, Leonardo: A Journey of the Mind (1983)
- Sherlock Holmes (1981)
- Sphinx (1981)
- Those Lips, Those Eyes (1980)
- Dracula (1979)
- The Prince of Homburg (1977)
- Eccentricities of a Nightingale (1976)
- "Swiss Family Robinson" (2 episodes, 1976)
- The American Woman: Portraits of Courage (1976)
- The Seagull (1975)
- The Mark of Zorro (1974)
- "Love Story" (1 episode, 1973)
- "Mannix" (1 episode, 1973)
- "Marcus Welby, M.D." (1 episode, 1973)
- The Wrath of God (1972)
- Maison sous les arbres, La (1971)
- The Twelve Chairs (1970)
- Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970)
- "NET Playhouse" (1 episode, 1967)
- "The Trials of O'Brien" (1 episode, 1965)
Awards
- Tony Best performance by a leading actor in a play "Frost/Nixon" 2007
- Tony Best performance by a featured actor in a play "Fortune's Fool" 2002
- Drama Desk Award Outstanding Actor in a Play "The Father" 1996
- CableACE Award Best Actor in a Dramatic Series "Kurt Vonnegut's Monkey House: Fortitude" 1992
- Drama Desk Award Outstanding Actor in a Play "Seascape" 1975
- Tony Best performance by a featured actor in a play "Seascape" 1975
- National Board of Review Award Best Supporting Actor "Diary of a Mad Housewife" and "The Twelve Chairs" 1970
- Drama Desk Award Outstanding Actor in a Play "A Cry of Players" 1969
- OBIE Award Distinguished Performance "Good Day" and "The White Devil" 1965 - 66
- OBIE Award Best Performance "The Old Glory" 1964 - 65
