Dennis Franz

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dennis Franz
Dennis Franz (23845357384).jpg
Franz in 2008
Born
Dennis Franz Schlachta

(1944-10-28) October 28, 1944 (age 76)
Maywood, Illinois, U.S.
Alma mater
OccupationActor
Years active1978–2005
Spouse(s)
Joanie Zeck
​
(m. 1995)​
Children2 stepdaughters

Dennis Franz Schlachta (/frɑːnz/; born October 28, 1944), known professionally as Dennis Franz, is a retired American actor best known for his role as NYPD Detective Andy Sipowicz in the ABC television series NYPD Blue (1993–2005), a role that earned him a Golden Globe Award, three Screen Actors Guild Awards and four Primetime Emmy Awards. He also portrayed Lt. Norman Buntz in the similar NBC series Hill Street Blues (1985–1987) and its short-lived spinoff, Beverly Hills Buntz (1987–1988).

Early life[]

Franz was born October 28, 1944, in Maywood, Illinois, the son of German immigrants[1][2][3] Eleanor (née Mueller), a postal worker, and Franz Ferdinand Schlachta, who was a baker and postal worker.[4] He has two older sisters, Heidi (born 1935) and Marlene (born 1938).

Franz is a 1962 graduate of Proviso East High School in Maywood. During his high school years, he was active in baseball, football and swimming. He attended Wilbur Wright College and Southern Illinois University Carbondale, graduating from the latter with a bachelor's degree in speech and theater in 1968.[5]

After graduating from college, Franz was drafted into the United States Army. He served eleven months with the 82nd Airborne Division and the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam.[6]

Career[]

Franz began his acting career at Chicago's Organic Theater Company. Although he has in the past performed Shakespeare, his appearance led to his being typecast early in his career as a cop. (By Franz's own count, the character of Andy Sipowicz was his 28th role as a police officer). He also guest starred in shows such as The A-Team. Other major roles were on the television series Hill Street Blues in which he played two characters over the run of the show. Franz first played the role of Detective Sal Benedetto, a corrupt cop in the 1983 season, who later kills himself. Due to his popularity with fans, he returned in 1985 as Lt. Norm Buntz, remaining until the show's end in 1987. He also starred in the short-lived Beverly Hills Buntz as the same character.

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Franz worked regularly with directors Brian De Palma and Robert Altman. He appeared in three of Altman's films from this period, and five of De Palma's, most prominently as a low-budget movie director in Body Double (1984).

Franz went on to win four Emmy Awards for his portrayal of Andy Sipowicz on NYPD Blue. The character of Sipowicz was ranked #23 on Bravo's 100 Greatest TV Characters list. In 1996, while still on NYPD Blue, Franz appeared in the Disney cartoon Mighty Ducks: The Animated Series in which he provided the voice of Captain Klegghorn, the commanding officer and head of the Anaheim Police Department. The series ran from September 1996 to January 1997.

In 1994, Franz made a cameo appearance as himself in The Simpsons episode "Homer Badman", in which Homer is accused of sexually harassing a babysitter and the case becomes tabloid fodder, generating an exploitative television movie, Homer S.: Portrait of an Ass-Grabber, in which Franz portrays Homer.

Franz at a rehearsal for the 1994 Emmy Awards

On May 11, 2001, Franz was a contestant on a celebrity edition of the hit television game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, winning $250,000 for his charity.

Franz also was a commercial spokesman for Nextel in the early 2000s. The concept was that Franz "refused" to do the commercials, saying they were not something he did.

He starred as Earl, the abusive husband, in the Dixie Chicks' music video "Goodbye Earl", as airport police captain Carmine Lorenzo in the 1990 film Die Hard 2 and as Nathaniel Messinger in the 1998 film City of Angels. It was his final film role to date.

Post-NYPD Blue[]

After the end of the show in 2005, Franz retired from acting to focus on his private life. He has told the New York Post he would be interested in returning to acting if given the right opportunity.[7] He and his wife spend their summers in their lake home in northern Idaho. In 2012, he spoke of wartime experiences and post-war trauma of veterans at a Memorial Day Concert. (He spoke in the first person but it was not his own story.)[8] He and his former NYPD Blue co-star Jimmy Smits made a surprise appearance at the 2016 Primetime Emmy Awards, presenting the award for Outstanding Drama Series to Game of Thrones.

Personal life[]

In 1995, Franz married Joanie Zeck, whom he met in 1982. He is the stepfather of Zeck's two daughters from a previous marriage.[9]

Filmography[]

Film[]

Year Title Role Notes
1965 Mickey One Minor Role in Dressing Room Uncredited
1978 Remember My Name Franks
1978 The Fury Bob Eggleston
1978 Towing Bar Patron Uncredited
1978 A Wedding Koons
1978 Stony Island Jerry Domino
1979 A Perfect Couple Costa
1980 Dressed to Kill Detective Marino
1980 Popeye Spike
1981 Blow Out Manny Karp
1983 Psycho II Warren Toomey
1983 Scarface Immigration Officer Voice, uncredited
1984 Body Double Rubin
1985 Runaway Train Cop Uncredited
1986 A Fine Mess Phil
1989 The Package Lt. Milan Delich
1990 Die Hard 2 Captain Carmine Lorenzo
1991 The Sid Story Sid Video short
1992 The Player Himself
1996 American Buffalo Don Dubrow
1997 Mighty Ducks the Movie: The First Face-Off Captain Klegghorn Voice
1998 City of Angels Nathaniel Messinger

Television[]

Year Title Role Notes
1979 Bleacher Bums Zig Television movie
1980 Chicago Story Officer Joe Gilland Television movie
1982 Chicago Story Officer Joe Gilland 13 episodes
1983 Hill Street Blues Det. Sal Benedetto 5 episodes
1983 Bay City Blues Angelo Carbone 8 episodes
1984 Hardcastle and McCormick Tony Boutros Episode: "Did You See the One That Got Away?"
1984 The A-Team Sam Friendly Episode: "Chopping Spree"
1984 Riptide Earl Bertrane Episode: "Double Your Pleasure"
1984 E/R The Boyfriend Episode: "The Sister"
1984 T. J. Hooker Andros Margolis Episode: "Hardcore Connection"
1985–1987 Hill Street Blues Lt. Norman Buntz 44 episodes
1985 Simon & Simon Frank Mahoney Episode: "Almost Foolproof"
1985 The A-Team Brooks Episode: "Beverly Hills Assault"
1985 Hardcastle and McCormick Joe Hayes Episode: "There Goes the Neighborhood"
1985 MacGruder and Loud Roche Episode: "On the Wire"
1985 Hunter Sgt. Jackie Molinas 2 episodes
1985 Street Hawk Inspector Frank Menlo Episode: "Female of the Species"
1985 Scene of the Crime Pat Grandy Episode: "A Vote for Murder"
1985 Deadly Messages Detective Max Lucas Television movie
1987 Tales from the Hollywood Hills Louie Television movie
1987–1988 Beverly Hills Buntz Norman Buntz 13 episodes
1989 Kiss Shot Max Fleischer Television movie
1989 Matlock Jack Brennert 2 episodes
1989 Christine Cromwell Detective Grainger Episode: "Easy Come, Easy Go"
1990 Nasty Boys Lt. Stan Krieger 12 episodes
1990 Nasty Boys, Part 2: Lone Justice Lt. Stan Krieger Television movie
1991 NYPD Mounted Tony Spampatta Unsold TV pilot
1991 Civil Wars Murray Seidelman Episode: "Pilot"
1992 In the Line of Duty: Siege at Marion Bob Bryant Television movie
1993–2005 NYPD Blue Detective/Sergeant Andy Sipowicz 261 episodes
1994 The Simpsons Himself playing Homer Simpson Voice, Episode: "Homer Badman"
1994 Moment of Truth: Caught in the Crossfire Gus Payne Television movie
1995 Texas Justice Richard Haynes Television movie
1996 Healing the Hate Host Television movie
1996–1997 Mighty Ducks Captain Klegghorn Voice, 17 episodes
1998 Sesame Street Himself Episode: "Monster Day"

Awards and nominations[]

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Dennis Franz

In literature[]

There is a reference to Franz in the 2005 novel Shalimar the Clown by Salman Rushdie.

References[]

  1. ^ Malone, Michael (March 1998). "Dennis Franz: True Blue". Smoke. Archived from the original on March 30, 2009.
  2. ^ Gilbert, Gerard (July 8, 2002). "TV Heroes: #6: Dennis Franz". The Independent.
  3. ^ Pressley, Leigh (June 4, 1994). "Good Cop/Bad Cop". Greensboro News & Record. p. D1.
  4. ^ Dennis Franz Biography (1944-) Film Reference
  5. ^ Utterback, Wayne (April 19, 2007). "Emprace the 'Dark': Author, SIUC alumnus reprints book about Strip". Daily Egyptian. p. 7.
  6. ^ Hal Erickson (2015). "Dennis Franz". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Baseline & All Movie Guide. Archived from the original on May 5, 2015. Retrieved September 25, 2014.
  7. ^ Starr, Michael (September 18, 2015). "'NYPD Blue' legend Dennis Franz loves life off the Hollywood grid". New York Post. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  8. ^ National Memorial Day Concert 2012 PBS.
  9. ^ "Dennis Franz and Joanie Zeck" People, February 13, 1995

External links[]

Retrieved from ""