Jonathan Frakes

Ancestors

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Biography

Jonathan Scott Frakes was born to Doris J Yingling and Dr. James R Frakes on August 19, 1952 in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. He grew up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He was a 1970 graduate of Liberty High School, where he ran track and played in the Liberty High School Grenadier Band. Jonathan received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater at Penn State University in the early 1970's, where he was a member of the Thespians.^[1]

Jonathan's father was a critic for the New York Times Book Review, a book editor, and a professor of English literature at Lehigh University. Jonathan has a younger brother, Daniel, who died in 1997 from pancreatic cancer.^[2]

Jonathan met actress Genie Francis on the set of the TV soap opera Bare Essence and then again while filming the miniseries North and South. They began dating in 1985, engaged in 1986, and married on May 28, 1988. They have two children.^[3]

Career

One of the most famous roles that Jonathan is known for is his portrayal of Commander William T. Riker (also known as Number One) in the TV series Star Trek: The Next Generation and the films that were to follow. He also hosted Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction. ^[4]

Every actor though has to start out at the very bottom of the pool. This held true for Jonathan. For a time in the 1970's, Jonathan worked for Marvel Comics appearing at conventions in costume as Captain America.^[5]

He moved to New York from there and his first off-Broadway acting was in Eugene O'Neill's The Hairy Ape. It wasn't until he landed and was dismissed from the NBC soap opera The Doctors that he moved out to LA. There he did many guest spots on some very popular TV series such as The Waltons, Eight is Enough, The Dukes of Hazzard, Matlock, and Hill Street Blues.^[6]

In 1983, He had a role on the short-lived NBC prime time soap Bare Essence. In 1984, he gained a supporting role in the equally short-lived primetime soap Paper Dolls. He had recurring roles on Falcon Crest and North and South before signing for the role of Commander William T Riker on Star Trek: The Next Generation.^[7]

The latest that Jonathan has done was in 2013 as the voice for Adult Finn in Adventure Time. ^[8]

Sources

1. ↑ Source: Wikipedia Note: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Frakes
2. ↑ Source: Wikipedia Note: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Frakes
3. ↑ Source: Wikipedia Note: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Frakes
4. ↑ Source: Wikipedia Note: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Frakes
5. ↑ Source: Wikipedia Note: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Frakes
6. ↑ Source: Wikipedia Note: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Frakes
7. ↑ Source: Wikipedia Note: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Frakes
8. ↑ Source: Wikipedia Note: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Frakes