John Franklin | |
|---|---|
 John Franklin in 2014 | |
| Born | John Paul Salapatek June 16, 1959 Blue Island, Illinois, U.S. |
| Education | Dwight D. Eisenhower High School University of Illinois |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active |
|
| Height | 5 ft (1.52 m) |
John Franklin (born John Paul Salapatek; June 16, 1959) is an American actor, writer and former school teacher. He is best known for playing Isaac Chroner in Children of the Corn (1984), and Cousin Itt in The Addams Family (1991).
He was born John Paul Salapatek in Blue Island, Illinois, a southern suburb of Chicago, on June 16, 1959. As a child, Franklin had a growth hormone deficiency; as a result, his adult height is "barely 5 feet", or roughly 152 centimeters. [1]
In 1977, John graduated from Dwight D. Eisenhower High School. He graduated from the University of Illinois in 1983 with a BFA in theater and teaching.
In 1983, John Franklin moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue a career in acting. He appeared in commercials before successfully auditioning for the role of Isaac in Stephen King's Children of the Corn .
After Children of the Corn, Franklin went on to guest star in two episodes of the kids' variety show Kids Incorporated , "The Leprechaun" and "Space Case." He appeared in many commercials before guest starring on Highway to Heaven as Arnie, a mentally handicapped teenage runaway. He also played "Walkabout-Chucky" during the 'Good Guy' doll commercial in the 1988 movie Child's Play .
In 1991, Franklin landed the role of Cousin Itt in The Addams Family ; he reprised the role in 1993's Addams Family Values . Throughout the 1990s, Franklin appeared as a guest on several TV shows, including Chicago Hope and Star Trek: Voyager . He co-starred with David Morse in the independent 1997 film George B. and with Steve Guttenberg in Disney’s TV movie Tower of Terror the same year.
In 1999, Franklin reprised his debut role, Isaac, in Children of the Corn 666: Isaac's Return , co-writing the script with his cousin Tim Sulka. In 2000, he landed a small role in Python and co-starred as Morluv in The Christmas Secret .
Franklin formerly worked as an English teacher at Golden Valley High School in Santa Clarita, California. [2] [3] He explained,
After the events of 9/11, I saw the shallowness of showbiz and felt a great desire to leave a greater legacy than just being Cousin Itt. Teaching seemed to be a perfect fit for my theatrical talents and to touch many lives." [2]
At the end of the 2015–16 school year, Franklin announced to the students and staff of Golden Valley High School that he would be retiring from teaching to reprise his career as an actor and writer. He later was reported to be working on several projects, including a young adult novel. [4]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Children of the Corn | Isaac Chroner | |
| 1986 | Highway to Heaven | Arnie | Episode: "Alone" |
| 1986 | The Kingdom Chums: Little David's Adventure | Magical Mose | Television film; voice role |
| 1988 | A Night at the Magic Castle | Twit | |
| 1988 | Beauty and the Beast | Young Vincent | Episode: "Promises of Someday" |
| 1988 | Child's Play | Walkabout Chucky | Voice |
| 1988 | Andy Colby's Incredible Adventure | The Gatekeepers dog | |
| 1991 | The Addams Family | Cousin Itt | |
| 1993 | Addams Family Values | Cousin Itt | |
| 1994 | Tammy and the T-Rex | Bobby | |
| 1996 | Chicago Hope | Jimmy Dunston | Episode: "V-Fibbing" |
| 1997 | George B. | Little Mike | |
| 1997 | Tower of Terror | Dewey Todd | |
| 1997 | Wag the Dog | Jockey #1 | |
| 1998 | The Killing Grounds | Owner | |
| 1999 | Children of the Corn 666: Isaac's Return | Isaac Chroner | Direct-to-video; also co-writer |
| 2000 | Python | Floyd Fuller | |
| 2000 | Star Trek: Voyager | Kipp | Episode: "Critical Care" |
| 2000 | The Christmas Secret | Morluv | Television film |
| 2004 | Tales of a Fly on the Wall | Master Keldar | Television film |
| 2014 | Hag | Marriage counselor | Short film |
| 2015 | Hell's Kitty | Isaiah | Episode: "The Medium" |
| 2017 | Brooklyn Nine-Nine | Christina "Tina" Boyle | Episode: "Chasing Amy" (credited as “Josh Franklin”) |
| 2018 | Fresh Off the Boat | Lorenzo | Episode: "Measure Twice, Cut Once" |
| 2018 | Hell's Kitty | Isaiah | |
James Todd Spader is an American actor. He is known for often portraying eccentric and morally ambiguous characters. He started his career in critically acclaimed independent films before transitioning into television for which he received numerous awards and acclaim including three Primetime Emmy Awards as well as nominations for three Golden Globe Awards, and ten Screen Actors Guild Awards.
The Addams Family is a fictional family created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. They originally appeared in a series of 150 standalone single-panel comics, about half of which were originally published in The New Yorker between 1938 and their creator's death in 1988. They have since been adapted to other media, such as television, film, video games, comic books, a musical, and merchandise.
John Leslie Coogan was an American actor and comedian who began his film career as a child actor in silent films. Coogan's role in Charlie Chaplin's film The Kid (1921) made him one of the first child stars in the history of Hollywood.
Paul Le Mat is an American actor. He first came to prominence with his role in American Graffiti (1973); his performance was met with critical acclaim and earned him the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year - Actor.
Herman Ray Walston was an American actor and comedian. Walston started his career on Broadway earning the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his performance as Mr. Applegate in Damn Yankees (1956).
John Allen Astin is a retired American actor and director who has appeared in numerous stage, television and film roles, primarily in character roles. He is best known for starring in The Addams Family (1964–1966), as patriarch Gomez Addams, reprising the role in the television film Halloween with the New Addams Family (1977) and the animated series The Addams Family (1992–1993).
George Robert Wendt Jr. is an American actor. He is best known for playing Norm Peterson on the television sitcom Cheers (1982–1993), which earned him six consecutive nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. After Cheers, he starred in his own sitcom, The George Wendt Show (1995), but it was cancelled after only a few episodes. His numerous film roles include Airplane II: The Sequel (1982), No Small Affair (1984), Fletch (1985), The Little Rascals (1994), Spice World (1997), Outside Providence (1999), Santa Buddies (2009), and Sandy Wexler (2017).
Gail Edwards is an American retired actress. She has appeared as Dot Higgins in ABC's It's a Living, Sharon LeMeure in NBC's Blossom, and Vicky Larson in ABC's Full House.
Héctor Elizondo is an American character actor. He is known for playing Phillip Watters in the television series Chicago Hope (1994–2000) and Ed Alzate in the television series Last Man Standing (2011–2021). His film roles include The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974), American Gigolo (1980), Leviathan (1989), Pretty Woman (1990), Beverly Hills Cop III (1994), Runaway Bride (1999), The Princess Diaries (2001), and Valentine's Day (2010).
Peter Billingsley, also known as Peter Michaelsen and Peter Billingsley-Michaelsen, is an American actor and filmmaker. He is best known for portraying Ralphie Parker in A Christmas Story and A Christmas Story Christmas. He also played Jack Simmons in The Dirt Bike Kid, Billy in Death Valley, and Messy Marvin in a series of commercials for Hershey's Syrup in the 1980s. While an infant, he began acting in television commercials.
Addams Family Reunion is a 1998 American comedy horror film based on the characters from the cartoon created by cartoonist Charles Addams. Directed by Dave Payne, the film was intended to serve as a pilot for a new proposed television series produced by Saban. The film stars Daryl Hannah and Tim Curry as Morticia and Gomez Addams respectively while Carel Struycken and Christopher Hart's hand are the only ones to reprise their roles from the last two films. The film's plot focused on the eccentric, macabre aristocratic Addams family mistakenly arriving at the wrong family reunion and encountering a man who seeks to commit murder in order to inherit a fortune.
Cousin Itt is a fictional character in the Addams Family television and film series. He was developed specifically for the 1964 television series and is a regular supporting character in subsequent motion-picture, television and stage adaptations.
Felix Anthony Silla, also credited as Felix Cilla, was an Italian character actor, circus performer, voice artist and movie stuntman, best known for his career in Hollywood in TV and film.
Children of the Corn 666: Isaac's Return is a 1999 American supernatural slasher film directed by Kari Skogland and starring Nancy Allen, Natalie Ramsey, John Franklin, and Stacy Keach. It is the sixth film in the Children of the Corn series.
The Addams Family is an American gothic sitcom based on Charles Addams's New Yorker cartoons. The 30-minute television series was responsible for taking the unnamed characters in the single-panel gag cartoons and giving them names, back stories, and a household setting. It was spearheaded by David Levy, who created and developed the series with Donald Saltzman in cooperation with cartoonist Addams, who gave each character a name and description for the first time. The series was shot in black-and-white, airing for two seasons on ABC from September 18, 1964, to April 8, 1966, for a total of 64 episodes. The show's opening theme was composed and sung by Vic Mizzy.
Max Greenfield is an American actor. He appeared in recurring roles in Veronica Mars and Ugly Betty. He co-starred as Schmidt in the Fox sitcom New Girl, for which he received nominations at the Primetime Emmy Awards, the Golden Globe Awards, and the Critics' Choice Television Awards. Since 2018, Greenfield has portrayed Dave Johnson in the CBS sitcom The Neighborhood.
The Addams Family is an American animated sitcom adaptation of the Charles Addams single-panel comic for The New Yorker. The show was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions for Saturday mornings in 1973, and was later rebroadcast the following season. Jackie Coogan and Ted Cassidy, who played Uncle Fester and Lurch, respectively, in the 1960s television series, returned in voice-over roles. The cast also included 10-year-old Jodie Foster, who performed the voice of Pugsley Addams. The show's theme music was completely different and had no lyrics or finger snapping, but retained a recognizable part of the four-note score from the live-action series.
The Addams Family is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and based on the eponymous comic strip characters by Charles Addams. It is the second cartoon show to feature the characters, and ran from September 12, 1992, to November 6, 1993, on ABC. The series' development began in the wake of the successful 1991 Addams Family feature film. Two seasons were produced. It remained part of ABC's Saturday Morning lineup until it was replaced by Fudge in January 1995.
The New Addams Family is a sitcom that aired from October 1998 to August 1999 on YTV in Canada and Fox Family in the United States and CITV in the United Kingdom on weekends. It was produced by Shavick Entertainment and Saban Entertainment as a revival of the 1960s series The Addams Family. The series was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Halloween with the New Addams Family is a 1977 American made-for-television comedy horror film based on the 1964–1966 sitcom The Addams Family. In contrast to the "new" in the title, most of the original series regulars reprised their roles, including John Astin, Carolyn Jones, Jackie Coogan, Ted Cassidy, Lisa Loring, Ken Weatherwax and Felix Silla. Eleven years after the cancellation of the 1960s TV series, it was the only presentation that brought together most of the original cast in a color production, shot on videotape.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
