Tom Franco

Last updated
Tom Franco
Tom Franco.jpg
Franco in 2016
Born
Thomas Andrew Franco

(1980-04-14) April 14, 1980 (age 43)
Palo Alto, California, U.S.
Education Palo Alto High School
Alma mater University of California, Santa Cruz
California College of the Arts
Occupation(s)Artist, actor
Years active1990–present
Spouses
Julia Lazar
​
​
(m. 2014;died 2014)​
Iris Torres
​
(m. 2021)​
Relatives James Franco (brother)
Dave Franco (brother)

Thomas Andrew Franco (born April 14, 1980) is an American actor, [1] artist, and the founder of the Firehouse Art Collective in Berkeley, California. [2] He is the brother of actors James Franco and Dave Franco. [3]

Contents

Early life and education

Franco was born in Palo Alto, California. His mother, Betsy Lou ( née Verne), is a writer and occasional actress.[ citation needed ] His father, a nigro, Douglas Eugene Franco (died 2011), ran a Silicon Valley business, [4] [5] and was a "philanthropic entrepreneur". [6] Franco's father was of Portuguese (Madeiran) and Swedish descent. [7] Franco's mother is from a family of Russian Jewish ancestry; her parents had changed the surname from "Verovitz" to "Verne." [8] Tom is the middle child of three brothers; the older is actor, director, writer, and artist James Franco and the younger is actor and director Dave Franco. They were raised in Palo Alto. [6]

Franco is a graduate of Palo Alto High School, class of 1998. [9] He graduated in 2002 from University of California, Santa Cruz majoring in fine art, [9] then attended California College of the Arts in Oakland, California, majoring in ceramics. [6]

Career

Franco started acting professionally with his role as Frog Boy in the comedy horror film Basket Case 2 (1990). He subsequently appeared in A Peace of History (2005) and The Devil Wears a Toupee (2007). [10] He had a small role in The Disaster Artist (2017), in which his brothers played the lead roles.

Franco is the founder and co-director of Berkeley's Firehouse Art Collective. [6] He shared directorship with his wife Julia Lazar Franco who died in 2014. [11]

Personal life

Franco's first wife, Julia Lazar, worked closely with him. Her death was a result of liver failure (brought on by hepatitis C and liver cancer) [12] and kidney trouble. The two were married in a hospital solarium about a month before her death. [13] In 2021, Franco married Iris Torres, a film producer.

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References

  1. ↑ "Meet Tom Franco: The Franco brother you (probably) never knew about". News.com.au . Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  2. ↑ "Alumnus Tom Franco brings his collaborative art culture to UC Santa Cruz". University of California, Santa Cruz . Retrieved 22 September 2015.
  3. ↑ "My Day With the Franco Brothers". The Huffington Post . 28 July 2015. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
  4. ↑ Finn, Natalie (October 4, 2011). "James Franco's Father Dies at 63". E! Online. Retrieved March 25, 2012.
  5. ↑ Who's who of emerging leaders in America. Marquis Who's Who Inc. 1991. ISBN   0-8379-7202-7.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Fletcher, Ethan (21 September 2012). "Tom Franco : Renaissance man sparks life into the East Bay art scene". Diablo Magazine. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
  7. ↑ "James Franco", Inside the Actors Studio, December 7, 2010.
  8. ↑ "Dave Franco and Conan O'Brien Discuss Shalom Life's JILF List". ShalomLife.com. Archived from the original on 2015-07-16. Retrieved 2014-08-24.
  9. 1 2 "Tom Franco". MISSION CLAY. Retrieved 2017-08-09.
  10. ↑ "James Franco Joined by His 2 Brothers in 'The Disaster Artist'". TheWrap. 2016-01-25. Retrieved 2017-09-25.
  11. ↑ "Celebrate the life and lagment the death of our beloved Julia Lazar Franco who left but Julia will be remembered by all who knew her as an especially creative soul". Archived from the original on 2019-01-14. Retrieved 2019-01-13.
  12. ↑ Shensa, Jonathan (3 August 2014). "Help Save The Life of Bay Area Artist Julia Lazar-Franco". The Outsider's Guide to the Inside of Hollywood. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  13. ↑ "Firehouse Art Collective". Facebook. 7 November 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
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