Frank Langella

Frank Langella
Langella at the 2012 Deauville American Film Festival
Born	(1938-01-01) January 1, 1938 (age 85) Bayonne, New Jersey, U.S.
Alma mater	Syracuse University
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1963–present
Spouse	Ruth Weil ​ ​ (m. 1977;div. 1995)​
Partner	Whoopi Goldberg (1995–2000)
Children	2

Frank A. Langella Jr. ( /lænˈdʒɛlə/ ; ^[1] born January 1, 1938) is an American actor known for his roles on stage and screen. Langella eschewed the career of a traditional film star by always making the stage the focal point of his career, appearing frequently on Broadway. He's received numerous accolades including four Tony Awards, a Drama Desk Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award as well as nominations for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, an Emmy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards.

He has won four Tony Awards: two for Best Leading Actor in a Play for his performance as Richard Nixon in Peter Morgan's Frost/Nixon ^[2] and as André in Florian Zeller's The Father , and two for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performances in Edward Albee's Seascape and Ivan Turgenev's Fortune's Fool . His other Tony-nominated roles were in Dracula in 1978, Match in 2004, and Man and Boy in 2012.

His reprisal of the Nixon role in the film production of Frost/Nixon directed by Ron Howard earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. ^[3] Langella's other notable film roles include parts in Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970), Mel Brooks' The Twelve Chairs (1970), Dracula (1979), Dave (1993), The Ninth Gate (1999), Good Night, and Good Luck (2005), Starting Out in the Evening (2007), Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010), Robot & Frank (2012), Noah (2014), Captain Fantastic (2016), and The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020).

He also played Supreme Court Justice Warren Burger in the HBO movie Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight (2013) and Senator Richard Russell Jr. in All the Way (2016). Langella also is had a recurring role as Gabriel, the KGB handler for the lead characters in the FX series The Americans (2013–2017) and Sebastian Piccirillo in the Showtime series Kidding (2018–2020).

Early life

Langella, an Italian American, ^[4] was born January 1, 1938, ^[5] in Bayonne, New Jersey, ^[6] the son of Angelina and Frank A. Langella Sr. (d. 1991), a business executive who was president of the Bayonne Barrel and Drum Company. ^[7] Langella attended Washington Elementary School and Bayonne High School in Bayonne. ^[8] After the family moved to South Orange, New Jersey, he graduated from Columbia High School in the South Orange-Maplewood School District in 1955 and later graduated from Syracuse University in 1959 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in drama. ^[9]

Career

Early roles and breakthrough

Langella appeared off-Broadway (in The Immoralist at the Bouwerie Lane Theatre in 1963 ^[10] and Robert Lowell's The Old Glory in 1965 among other shows) before he made his first foray onto a Broadway stage in New York in Federico García Lorca's Yerma at the Vivian Beaumont Theater, Lincoln Center, on December 8, 1966. He followed this role by appearing in William Gibson's A Cry of Players, playing a young, highly fictionalized William Shakespeare opposite Anne Bancroft in 1968.

Bancroft suggested Langella to her husband Mel Brooks, who cast him in a leading role in The Twelve Chairs (1970). ^[11] The same year, he also appeared in Frank Perry's Diary of a Mad Housewife , being nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer. Langella won his first Tony Award for his performance in Edward Albee's Seascape in 1975 and was nominated again for what may have been the performance for which he was best known in the early part of his career: the title role of the 1977 Broadway production of Dracula . Despite his initial misgivings about continuing to play the role, he was persuaded to star opposite Laurence Olivier in the subsequent film version directed by John Badham.

Langella continued to juggle film and television with his stage work, playing Sherlock Holmes in a 1981 adaptation of William Gillette's play Sherlock Holmes . He repeated the role on Broadway in 1987 in Charles Marowitz's play Sherlock's Last Case. That same year, he portrayed the villain Skeletor in Masters of the Universe , one of his favorite parts. ^[12] In 1988, he co-starred in the film And God Created Woman . In 1982 Langella portrayed Antonio Salieri the Broadway production of Amadeus replacing Ian McKellen. During this time he also acted in Passion in 1983, Noël Coward's Design for Living in 1984, Arthur Miller's After the Fall in 1984, and David Rabe's Hurlyburly in 1985. He also portrayed Prospero in the revival of William Shakespeare revival The Tempest .

Established actor

In 1993, he made a three-episode appearance on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as the devious Bajoran Minister Jaro Essa. That same year, he also starred in the political comedy Dave starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver. He also played a supporting role in the Ivan Reitman comedy Junior alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger, Danny DeVito, and Emma Thompson. In 1994, he narrated the American Masters documentary on Tennessee Williams. In 1996, Langella starred in the Broadway revival of August Strindberg's The Father . That same year, Langella starred in the comedy film Eddie , starring Whoopi Goldberg, with whom he was involved romantically until 2001. He also played Clare Quilty in the 1997 film adaptation of Lolita , starring Jeremy Irons and Melanie Griffith. In 1999, he starred opposite Johnny Depp in Roman Polanski's film The Ninth Gate .

Langella at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival

In 2000, Langella played Ebenezer Scrooge in a musical version of A Christmas Carol at Madison Square Garden. ^[13] He has also appeared in notable off-Broadway productions, including in the title role of Robert Kalfin's Chelsea Theater Center production of The Prince of Homburg, which was filmed by PBS for the Theatre in America series. ^[14] Langella also appeared as Al Baker in "Dominance", a 2003 episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and had a recurring role as Pino in the 2005 short-lived sitcom Kitchen Confidential .

Broadway success

Langella returned to the stage in the 2002 Broadway revival of the Ivan Turgenev play Fortune's Fool . In the play Langella portrayed Flegont Alexandrovitch Tropatcho opposite Alan Bates. The production received critical acclaim with Langella winning his second Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play and a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play. In 2004 he acted in the original Broadway play Match by Stephen Belber. In the play, Langella portrayed an aging dance choreographer. He acted alongside Jane Adams, and Ray Liotta. Langella received a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play, his fourth nomination. He starred as Sir Thomas More in the 2008 Broadway revival of A Man for All Seasons . ^[15]

He was cast as Richard Nixon opposite Michael Sheen in Peter Morgan's play Frost/Nixon , which received enthusiastic reviews during a run at the Donmar Warehouse and Gielgud Theatre in London before moving to Broadway in New York's Bernard B. Jacobs Theater in April 2007. Langella won his third Tony Award for the role. He reprised the role of Nixon in the 2008 Oscar-nominated film of the play directed by Ron Howard. Langella also earned Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, and BAFTA nominations for Best Actor for the same performance. He was also nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Actor category for the role, losing to Sean Penn's performance in Milk .

Expansion into film and television

Langella's film work also includes roles in George Clooney's Good Night, and Good Luck (2005) as former CBS chief executive William S. Paley, for which he was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Ensemble Cast. He also appeared in Bryan Singer's Superman Returns (2006) as Daily Planet editor Perry White. Langella received critical acclaim as well as the Boston Society of Film Critics Award in 2007 for his sensitive portrayal of an elderly novelist in Starting Out in the Evening . In late 2009, he starred in the Richard Kelly film The Box with Cameron Diaz and James Marsden. ^[16] In 2010, he played Louis Zabel in Oliver Stone's Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps , alongside Michael Douglas, Shia LaBeouf, and Carey Mulligan. That same year, he played a supporting role in All Good Things , with Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst. In 2011, Langella starred in the drama thriller Unknown , opposite Liam Neeson and Diane Kruger. ^[17] In 2012, he earned critical praise for his role in the independent film Robot & Frank , with Peter Travers of Rolling Stone magazine calling his performance "a masterclass in acting". ^[18]

In 2013, Langella starred as Chief Justice Warren E. Burger in the Stephen Frears' HBO film Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight , with Christopher Plummer playing Justice John Marshall Harlan. In October and November 2013, Langella played King Lear at the Minerva, Chichester Festival Theatre in Chichester, UK. The play travelled to the Harvey Theater at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York in 2014. Langella also played Cleveland Browns owner Anthony Molina in the movie Draft Day, which also starred Kevin Costner, Jennifer Garner, and Dennis Leary. In 2015, Langella joined the cast of FX's critically praised drama The Americans with Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys. ^[19] He appeared in seasons 3 through 5.

In 2016, he played the title role in Doug Hughes' production of the US premiere of Florian Zeller's play The Father at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on Broadway. ^[20] He won his fourth Tony Award for that performance. ^[21] That same year, he appeared in Captain Fantastic with Viggo Mortensen and was again nominated with the ensemble cast for the Screen Actors Guild Award. He also starred in the HBO television movie All the Way (2016) as Senator Richard Russell Jr., with Bryan Cranston as Lyndon B. Johnson. Langella received a Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Movie/Miniseries nomination for his performance. From 2018 to 2020, Langella appeared as Sebestian in Showtime's Kidding , starring Jim Carrey. The show's executive producer was Michel Gondry, and it received positive reviews.

In 2020, he played Judge Julius Hoffman in Aaron Sorkin's The Trial of the Chicago 7 . The film follows the Chicago Seven, a group of anti-Vietnam War protesters charged with conspiracy and crossing state lines with the intention of inciting riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. It was released in September, by Netflix.

In 2022, Langella was fired from his role in The Fall of the House of Usher following investigations into claims of sexual harassment on set. ^[22] In a guest column for Deadline , reacting to his firing, Langella claimed to have been "canceled," denying allegations of unacceptable behavior and telling his version of events. ^[23]

Personal life

Langella has dated actresses Diane Baker ^[24] and Elizabeth Taylor. ^[25] He was married to Ruth Weil from November 6, 1977 to their divorce in 1995. ^[26] They have two children, Frank III and Sara. He also lived with actress/comedian Whoopi Goldberg, whom he met on the set of Eddie , from 1995 until they separated in 2000. ^[27]

Memoir

Langella published a memoir in 2012 called Dropped Names: Famous Men and Women As I Knew Them. ^[25]

In a review in the New York Times Book Review , Ada Calhoun wrote that "Langella's book celebrated sluttiness as a worthy—even noble—way of life. There was so much happy sexuality in this book that reading it was like being flirted with for a whole party by the hottest person in the room. It was no wonder Langella was invited everywhere." ^[28]

Acting credits

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Theatre(s)
1963–1964	The Immoralist	Michael	Bouwerie Lane Theatre
1964	The Old Glory	Don Benito Cereno	Theater at St. Clement's Church
1965	Good Day	The Young Men	Cherry Lane Theatre
1965–1966	The White Devil	Flamineo	Circle in the Square Theatre
1966–1967	Yerma		Vivian Beaumont Theatre
1968–1969	A Cry of Players	Will	Vivian Beaumont Theatre
1975	Seascape	Leslie	Shubert Theatre
1976	The Prince of Homburg	Prince Friedrich Arthur of Homburg	Westside Theatre
1977–1978	Dracula	Count Dracula	Martin Beck Theatre
1982	Amadeus	Antonio Salieri	Broadhurst Theatre
1983	Passion	Jim	Longacre Theatre
1984	Design for Living	Otto	Circle in the Square Theatre
1984	After the Fall	Quentin	Playhouse 91
1985	Hurlyburly	Eddie	Ethel Barrymore Theatre
1987	Sherlock's Last Case	Sherlock Holmes	Nederlander Theatre
1989	The Tempest	Prospero	Union Square Theatre
1994	Booth	Junius	York Theatre
1996	The Father (Strindberg)	The Cavalry Captain	Criterion Center Stage Right
1996–1997	Present Laughter	Garry Essendine	Walter Kerr Theatre
1997–1998	Cyrano De Bergerac	Cyrano de Bergerac	Also director Laura Pels Theatre
2000	A Christmas Carol	Ebenezer Scrooge	Madison Square Garden
2002	Fortune's Fool	Flegont Alexandrovitch Tropatcho	Music Box Theatre
2004	Match	Tobi	Plymouth Theatre
2006–2007	Frost/Nixon	Richard Nixon	Donmar Warehouse Gielgud Theatre Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre
2008	A Man for All Seasons	Sir Thomas More	American Airlines Theatre
2011	Man and Boy	Gregor Antonescu	American Airlines Theatre
2013–2014	King Lear	Lear	Chichester Festival Theatre Harvey Theatre
2016	The Father (Zeller)	André	Samuel J. Friedman Theatre

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1970	Diary of a Mad Housewife	George Prager
	The Twelve Chairs	Ostap Bender
1971	The Deadly Trap	Philippe
1972	The Wrath of God	De La Plata
1974	The Mark of Zorro	Don Diego Vega
1979	Dracula	Count Dracula
1980	Those Lips, Those Eyes	Harry Crystal
1981	Sphinx	Akmed Khazzan
1986	The Men's Club	Harold Canterbury
1987	Masters of the Universe	Skeletor
1988	And God Created Woman	James Tiernan
1991	True Identity	Leland Carver
1992	1492: Conquest of Paradise	Santangel
1993	Body of Evidence	Jeffrey Roston
	Dave	White House Chief of Staff Bob Alexander
1994	Brainscan	Detective Hayden
	Junior	Noah Banes
1995	Bad Company	Vic Grimes
	Cutthroat Island	Dawg Brown
1996	Eddie	Wild Bill Burgess
1997	Lolita	Clare Quilty
1998	Small Soldiers	Archer	Voice
	I'm Losing You	Perry Needham Krohn
	Alegría	Giulietta's father/Fleur
1999	The Ninth Gate	Boris Balkan
2000	Stardom	Blaine De Castillon
2001	Sweet November	Edgar Price
2004	House of D	Reverend Duncan
	The Novice	Father Tew
2005	Back in the Day	Lt. Bill Hudson
	How You Look to Me	Professor Driskoll
	Good Night, and Good Luck	William S. Paley
2006	Superman Returns	Perry White
2007	Starting Out in the Evening	Leonard Schiller
2008	The Caller	Jimmy Stevens
	Frost/Nixon	Richard Nixon
	The Tale of Despereaux	The Mayor	Voice
2009	The Box	Arlington Steward
2010	Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps	Louis Zabel
	All Good Things	Sanford Marks
2011	Unknown	Rodney Cole
2012	Robot & Frank	Frank
	The Time Being	Warner Dax
2013	Parts per Billion	Andy
2014	Muppets Most Wanted	Beefeater Vicar	Cameo
	Noah	Og	Voice
	Draft Day	Anthony Molina
	5 to 7	Sam
	Grace of Monaco	Father Francis Tucker
	Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet	Pasha	Voice
2015	The Driftless Area	Tim Geer
2016	Captain Fantastic	Jack Bertrang
	Youth in Oregon	Raymond Engersol
2020	The Trial of the Chicago 7	Julius Hoffman
2022	Angry Neighbors	Harry March

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1965	The Trials of O'Brien	Michael Romani	Episode: "How Do You Get to Carnegie Hall?"
1967	NBC Experiment in Television	The Young Man	Episode: "Good Day"
	NET Playhouse		Episode: "Benito Cereno"
1973	Marcus Welby, M.D.	Carey Robins	Episode: "Friends in High Places"
	Mannix	Harry Tass	Episode: "Silent Target"
	Love Story	Jimmy Lewin	Episode: "When the Girls Came Out to Play"
1974	The Mark of Zorro	Don Diego de la Vega / Zorro	Television movie
1976	Swiss Family Robinson	Jean Lafitte	2 episodes
1981	Sherlock Holmes	Sherlock Holmes	Television recording of live stage production
1986	Liberty	Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi	Television movies
1988	CBS Summer Playhouse	Dr. Paradise	Episode: "Dr. Paradise"
1993	Star Trek: Deep Space Nine	Minister Jaro Essa	3 episodes - uncredited
1994	Doomsday Gun	Gerald Bull	Television movie
1995	Moses	Merneptah	Television movie
1996	The Greatest Pharaohs	Narrator	Voice Documentary
2000	Jason and the Argonauts	King Aeëtes	2 episodes
	Cry Baby Lane	Mr. Bennett	Television movie
2001	The Beast	Jackson Burns	6 episodes
2003	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Al Baker	Episode: "Dominance"
2005	Now You See It...	Max	Television movie
	Unscripted	Goddard Fulton	10 episodes
2005–2006	Kitchen Confidential	Pino	6 episodes
2006	10.5: Apocalypse	Dr. Earl Hill	2 episodes
2013	Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight	Warren Burger	Television movie
2015–2017	The Americans	Gabriel	31 episodes
2016	All the Way	Richard Russell Jr.	Television movie
2018	American Dad!	Commodore Francis Stoat	Voice Episode: "Shell Game"
2018–2020	Kidding	Sebastian Piccirillo	17 episodes

Video game

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2017	Destiny 2	The Consul	Voice

Awards and nominations

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Frank Langella

Year	Award	Category	Nominated Work	Result
2008	Academy Award	Best Actor	Frost/Nixon	Nominated
1975	Tony Award	Best Featured Actor in a Play	Seascape	Won
1978		Best Actor in a Play	Dracula	Nominated
2002		Best Featured Actor in a Play	Fortune's Fool	Won
2004		Best Actor in a Play	Match	Nominated
2007			Frost/Nixon	Won
2012			Man and Boy	Nominated
2016			The Father	Won
1983	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Informational Programming	I, Leonardo: A Journey of the Mind	Nominated
1971	Golden Globe Award	Most Promising Newcomer -Male	Diary of a Mad Housewife	Nominated
2008		Best Actor in a Drama Film	Frost/Nixon	Nominated
2008	British Academy Film Awards	Best Leading Actor		Nominated
2005	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture	Good Night, and Good Luck	Nominated
2008		Best Actor in a Motion Picture	Frost/Nixon	Nominated
		Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture		Nominated
2016			Captain Fantastic	Nominated
2020			The Trial of the Chicago 7	Won
2008	Independent Spirit Award	Best Male Lead	Starting Out in the Evening	Nominated
2016	Drama Desk Award	Actor in a Play	The Father	Won
1965	Obie Awards	Distinguished Performance	Good Day	Won
1966			The White Devil	Won

See also

• List of oldest and youngest Academy Award winners and nominees

References

1. "Theater Talk: Frank Langella in "The Father"". CUNY TV. May 2, 2016. Archived from the original on 2021-11-07. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
2. McGrath, Charles (January 4, 2009). "So Nixonian That His Nose Seems to Evolve" . The New York Times . Retrieved March 27, 2010.
3. Rudd, Andy (January 21, 2009). "Oscar nominations: Frank Langhella – Top 10 facts you need to know about the Academy Award-nominated Frost/Nixon actor". Daily Mirror . London . Retrieved January 1, 2021.
4. Roberts, Sheila (November 22, 2007). "Frank Langella Interview, Starting out in the Evening". MoviesOnline. Retrieved 2007-12-04.
5. "UPI Almanac for Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2019". United Press International . January 1, 2019. Archived from the original on September 2, 2019. Retrieved September 2, 2019. actor Frank Langella in 1938 (age 81)
6. Marks, Peter (February 11, 1996). "Frank Langella Stamps The Father as His Own" . The New York Times. Retrieved April 10, 2008.
7. White, Timothy (1998). The Entertainers: Portraits of Stardom in the 20th Century . Billboard Books. p.  72. ISBN   978-0823076062.
8. Coutros, Evonne E. (January 23, 1994). "Playing a Wicked Streak for All It's Worth" . The Record . Hackensack. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
9. Venutolo, Anthony (November 29, 2008). "From heroes to villains, Frank Langella finds the heart in them all", The Star-Ledger , (Newark). Accessed June 14, 2011. "The family moved to South Orange, where Langella graduated from Columbia High School before heading off to Syracuse to study drama."
10. "The Immoralist". Internet Broadway Database . 17 December 2021.
11. Brooks, Mel (2021). All About Me!. Century. p. 195. ISBN   978-1-529-13507-7.
12. Marshall, Rick. "Frank Langella calls Skeletor "one of my very favorite parts"". IFC . Retrieved June 7, 2015.
13. "Frank Langella Biography (1940?–)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved 2010-03-27.
14. Napoleon, Davi (1991). Chelsea on the Edge: The Adventures of an American Theater. Iowa State University Press. ISBN   0-8138-1713-7.
15. Cox, Gordon (May 21, 2008). "Frank Langella to be 'Man' on B'way". Variety .
16. Barton, Steve (November 1, 2009). "Video Interviews: The Box". Dread Central . Retrieved January 1, 2021.
17. "Frank Langella Scores Starring Role in 'Unknown White Male'". Bloody Disgusting!. December 8, 2009.
18. Travers, Peter (August 16, 2012). "Robot & Frank". Rolling Stone . Retrieved January 1, 2021.
19. Ng, Philiana (October 16, 2014). "Frank Langella Joins FX's 'The Americans'". The Hollywood Reporter .
20. Vine, Hannah (March 30, 2016). "See Frank Langella in the American Premiere of The Father". Playbill .
21. "Frank Langella Tony Awards Info". BroadwayWorld . Retrieved January 1, 2021.
22. Andreeva, Nellie (April 14, 2022). "Frank Langella Fired From Netflix's 'The Fall Of The House Of Usher' After Misconduct Investigation; Role To Be Recast". Deadline. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
23. Langella, Frank (May 5, 2022). "Fired By Netflix, Frank Langella Refutes Allegations Of "Unacceptable Behavior"". Deadline. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
24. Stein, Ruthe (August 27, 2004). "'Extraordinary adventure' lures ex-ingenue". San Francisco Chronicle.
25. Langella, Frank (March 27, 2012). Dropped Names: Famous Men and Women As I Knew Them . HarperCollins. ISBN   978-0062094483.
26. Landman, Beth; Adams Lang, Anne (December 18, 1995). "Making Whoopi, Take Two". New York . p. 14.
27. Fink, Mitchell (March 13, 2000). "Whoopi makes her move, sends Langella packing". New York Daily News . p. 19.
28. Calhoun, Ada (April 22, 2012). "Cheerful Debauchery". New York Times Book Review. Retrieved April 27, 2012.

External links

• Frank Langella at IMDb
• Frank Langella at the Internet Broadway Database
• Frank Langella at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Frank Langella at AllMovie
• Frank Langella on Charlie Rose
• Frank Langella collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Radio interview on Fresh Air (40 mins; 2012)