Jonathan Frakes

Jonathan Frakes
Frakes at the 2018 GalaxyCon Louisville
Born	Jonathan Scott Frakes (1952-08-19) August 19, 1952 (age 69) Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, director
Years active	1978–present
Spouse(s)	Genie Francis ​ (m. 1988)​
Children	2

Jonathan Scott Frakes (born August 19, 1952) is an American actor and director. He is best known for his portrayal of Commander William Riker in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and subsequent films and series. Frakes also hosted the anthology series Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction, and was the voice for David Xanatos in the Disney television series Gargoyles. In June 2011, he narrated the History Channel documentary, Lee and Grant.

Frakes directed while starring in Star Trek: First Contact as well as Star Trek: Insurrection. He has directed more than 70 television episodes, including episodes of several Star Trek television series and The Orville. He is the author of the novel The Abductors: Conspiracy.^[1]

Early life[]

Frakes was born in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, the son of Doris J. (née Yingling) and Dr. James R. Frakes. His father was a professor of English literature at Lehigh University from 1958 to 2001, where he was the Edmund W. Fairchild Professor in American Studies. He also was a critic for the New York Times Book Review and book editor until his death in 2002.^[2] Frakes had a younger brother, Daniel, who died in 1997 from pancreatic cancer.^[3]

Frakes grew up in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. A 1970 graduate of Bethlehem's Liberty High School, he ran track and played with the Liberty High School Grenadier Band.^[4] Frakes received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater Arts at Pennsylvania State University in 1974, where he was a member of the Thespians.

Career[]

Early work[]

For a time in the 1970s, Frakes worked for Marvel Comics, appearing at conventions in costume as Captain America.^[5] Frakes moved to New York City and became a member of the Impossible Ragtime Theater. In that company, Frakes did his first off-Broadway acting in Eugene O'Neill's The Hairy Ape directed by George Ferencz. His first Broadway appearance was in Shenandoah. At the same time, he landed a role in the NBC soap opera The Doctors.^[6] When his character was dismissed from the show, Frakes moved to Los Angeles and had guest spots in many of the top television series of the 1970s and 1980s, including The Waltons in an episode called "The Legacy"; Eight Is Enough; Hart to Hart; The Dukes of Hazzard; Matlock; Quincy, M.E. in "The Face of Fear"; and Hill Street Blues.

He played the part of Charles Lindbergh in a 1983 episode of Voyagers! titled "An Arrow Pointing East". In 1983, he had a role in the short-lived NBC prime time soap opera Bare Essence (which also starred his future wife Genie Francis), and a supporting role in the equally short-lived primetime soap Paper Dolls in 1984.^[6] He also had recurring roles in Falcon Crest^[6] and the miniseries North and South. Frakes appeared in the 1986 miniseries Dream West.

Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)[]

In 1987 Frakes was cast in the role of Commander William T. Riker on Star Trek: The Next Generation.^[7] He was one of only two actors to appear in every episode (the other being Patrick Stewart). While appearing on the show, he was allowed to sit in on casting sessions, concept meetings, production design, editing, and post-production, which gave him the preparation he needed to become a director.^[8] He directed 8 episodes of the show^[9] and a total of 21 episodes across the Star Trek franchise.^[10] After the TV series ended in 1994, he reprised his role in the Star Trek: The Next Generation movies, two of which (Star Trek: First Contact and Star Trek: Insurrection) he also directed.^[11]

As well as Star Trek: The Next Generation, Frakes has made appearances in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Picard, and Star Trek: Lower Decks, making him the only Star Trek regular to appear on six different Star Trek series. He has also directed episodes in five of the series (TNG, DS9, VOY, DIS, and PIC).^[10]

He is also one of six Star Trek actors (the other actors being Kate Mulgrew, Michael Dorn, George Takei, Avery Brooks and Majel Barrett) to lend their voices to the video game Star Trek: Captain's Chair, reprising his role as Riker when users visit the Enterprise-D bridge featured in the game.

After Star Trek[]

Frakes in 2005

Wanting to branch out from the Star Trek franchise, Frakes turned down the opportunity to direct Star Trek: Nemesis in favor of directing the family film Clockstoppers, which was another hit.^[8] However, his next film, Thunderbirds, was a box office bomb which he has said single-handedly almost destroyed what had been a successful directing career: "[My] name was taken off the lists ... I went from 60 to zero. It was a wake-up for me. I had been so positive, and so blessed, and so fortunate."^[8] It would be several years before Frakes was given another opportunity to direct for television, and Thunderbirds remains the last time he was placed at the helm of a theatrical release.

Much of Frakes' acting work after Star Trek has been animation voice acting, most notably voicing the recurring role of David Xanatos in the animated series Gargoyles, and he provided the voice of his own head in a jar in the Futurama episode "Where No Fan Has Gone Before". He had a small, uncredited role in the 1994 movie Camp Nowhere. Frakes was also the voice of Finn the Human's adult version in the episodes "Puhoy" and "Dungeon Train" on Adventure Time.

Frakes was an executive producer for the WB series Roswell, directed several episodes, and guest-starred in three episodes. His relationship with Star Trek is made light of in the season 3 episode "Secrets and Lies", in which the alien character Max auditions for a guest role as an alien for Star Trek: Enterprise.

Frakes appeared on the 1994 Phish album Hoist, playing trombone on the track titled "Riker's Mailbox". Frakes would occasionally perform on the trombone during his tenure as Commander Riker, drawing on his college marching band experience. He was also a member of "The Sunspots", a vocal backup group of Star Trek cast members that appeared on Brent Spiner's 1991 album Ol' Yellow Eyes Is Back.

Frakes hosted The Paranormal Borderline, a television series on UPN, which dealt with the paranormal and mysterious happenings and creatures.^[12] In one episode, Frakes presented an interview of reporter Yolanda Gaskins with veteran astronaut Gordon Cooper, where they discussed the possibility of aliens having visited Earth in the past.^[13][14] He hosted Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction, which also dealt with the paranormal world.

Frakes and Francis appeared together in Lois & Clark in the episode "Don't Tug on Superman's Cape" as a creepily too-good-to-be-true couple. He narrated the History Channel's That's Impossible.

In addition to Roswell, Frakes has directed episodes of Leverage,^[15] Castle, NCIS: Los Angeles, Burn Notice, Falling Skies and most recently Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Switched at Birth, Hit the Floor, The Librarians, and The Orville.

Frakes works with the Workshops, the Waterfall Arts Center, and the Saltwater Film Society, all located in Maine, where he teaches classes on film direction. He has also previously taught directing and filmmaking courses as Rockport College, now called Maine Media College.^{[16][17][18][19]} He and his wife owned a home furnishings store in Belfast, Maine, called The Cherished Home, which closed in August 2012 due to his wife being too busy with her acting to spend adequate time at the store.^[20]

Personal life[]

Frakes first met actress Genie Francis on the set of the television soap opera Bare Essence, and again while filming the mini-series North and South. They began dating in 1985, became engaged in 1986, and married on May 28, 1988. The couple have two children, Jameson Ivor Frakes, born in 1994, and Elizabeth Frances Frakes, born in 1997. They moved from Belfast, Maine, to Beverly Hills, California, in 2008 and later moved to Calabasas, California.^[21]

Filmography[]

Directing filmography[]

Feature films[]

• Star Trek: Klingon (1996) – interactive movie
• Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
• Star Trek: Insurrection (1998)
• Clockstoppers (2002)
• Thunderbirds (2004)
• The Librarian: Return to King Solomon's Mines (2006)
• The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice (2008)

Television[]

• Star Trek: The Next Generation
  • 3.16 - The Offspring (1990)
  • 4.07 - Reunion (1990)
  • 4.21 - The Drumhead (1991)
  • 5.18 - Cause and Effect (1992)
  • 6.09 - The Quality of Life (1992)
  • 6.20 - The Chase (1993)
  • 7.08 - Attached (1993)
  • 7.14 - Sub Rosa (1994)
• Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
  • 3.02 - The Search, Part II (1994)
  • 3.08 - Meridian (1994)
  • 3.13 - Past Tense, Part II (1995)
• Star Trek: Voyager
  • 2.03 - Projections (1995)
  • 2.07 - Parturition (1995)
  • 2.13 - Prototype (1996)
• Diagnosis Murder
  • 3.18 - Left-Handed Murder (1996)
• Roswell
  • 1.07 - River Dog (1999)
  • 1.19 - Four Square (2000)
  • 1.21 - The White Room (2000)
  • 3.04 - Secrets and Lies (2001)
  • 3.08 - Behind the Music (2001)
• The Twilight Zone
  • The Lineman (2002)
• Masters of Science Fiction
  • The Discarded (2007)
• Leverage
  • 1.07 - The Wedding Job (2009)
  • 1.11 - The Juror #6 Job (2009)
  • 2.04 - The Fairy Godparents Job (2009)
  • 2.11 - The Bottle Job (2010)
  • 3.02 - The Reunion Job (2010)
  • 3.06 - The Studio Job (2010)
  • 3.13 - The Morning After Job (2010)
  • 4.09 - The Queen's Gambit Job (2011)
  • 4.12 - The Office Job (2011)
  • 4.15 - The Lonely Hearts Job (2011)
  • 5.03 - The First Contact Job (2012)
  • 5.05 - The Gimme a K Street Job (2012)
  • 5.14 - The Toy Job (2012)
• Dollhouse
  • 2.04 - Belonging (2009)
• Castle
  • 2.08 - Kill the Messenger (2009)
  • 5.06 - The Final Frontier (2012)
  • 5.20 - The Fast and the Furriest (2013)
• NCIS: Los Angeles
  • 1.14 - LD50 (2010)
  • 2.11 - Disorder (2010)
  • 3.16 - Blye, K. (2012)
  • 4.10 - Free Ride (2012)
  • 5.02 - Impact (2013)
  • 8.10 - Sirens (2016)
• V
  • 1.07 - John May (2010)
• Persons Unknown
  • 1.05 - Incoming (2010)
  • 1.10 - Seven Sacrifices (2010)
  • 1.11 - And Then There Was One (2010)
• The Good Guys
  • 1.09 - Don't Taze Me, Bro (2010)
  • 1.16 - Silence of the Dan (2010)
• The Glades
  • 1.08 - Marriage Is Murder (2010)
  • 2.04 - Moonlighting (2011)
  • 4.02 - Shot Girls (2013)
• Burn Notice
  • 4.14 - Hot Property (2010)
  • 5.06 - Enemy Of My Enemy (2011)
  • 5.17 - Acceptable Loss (2011)
  • 6.09 - Official Business (2012)
  • 7.06 - All or Nothing (2013)
• Bar Karma
  • 1.09 - Three Times a Lady (2011)
• Falling Skies
  • 3.09 - Journey to Xilbalba (2013)
  • 4.06 - Door Number Three (2014)
  • 5.06 - Respite (2015)
• King & Maxwell
  • 1.08 - Job Security (2013)
• Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
  • 1.08 - The Well (2013)
• Switched at Birth
  • 3.06 - The Scream (2014)
  • 4.08 - Art Like Love is Dedication (2015)
• Hit the Floor
  • 2.03 - Behind the Back (2014)
  • 2.04 - Full-Court Press (2014)
• The Librarians
  • 1.04 - And Santa's Midnight Run (2014)
  • 1.06 - And the Fables of Doom (2015)
  • 1.10 - And the Loom of Fate (2015)
  • 2.06 - And the Infernal Contract (2015)
  • 2.08 - And the Point of Salvation (2015)
  • 3.05 - And the Tears of a Clown (2016)
  • 3.06 - And the Trial of the Triangle (2016)
  • 3.09 - And the Fatal Separation (2017)
  • 4.04 - And the Silver Screen (2017)
  • 4.06 - And the Graves of Time (2017)
• The Orville
  • 1.05 - Pria (2017)
  • 2.12 - Sanctuary (2019)
• Star Trek: Discovery^[24]
  • 1.10 - Despite Yourself (2018)
  • 2.2 - New Eden (2019)
  • 2.9 - Project Daedalus (2019)
  • 3.3 - People of Earth (2020)
  • 3.8 - The Sanctuary (2020)
  • 3.12 - The Good of the People (2020)
• The Arrangement
  • 2.9 - Truth (2018)
• The Gifted
  • 2.13 teMpted (2019)
• Star Trek: Picard
  • 1.04 Absolute Candor (2020)
  • 1.05 Stardust City Rag (2020)
• The Astronauts
  • 1.03 Day 3 (2020)
  • 1.04 Day 21 (2020)
• Leverage: Redemption
  • 1.07 The Double-Edged Sword Job (2021)

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jonathan Frakes.

• Jonathan Frakes at IMDb
• Jonathan Frakes at the TCM Movie Database
• Jonathan Frakes at AllMovie
• Jonathan Frakes on Twitter
• Jonathan Frakes in-depth interview at The SCI FI Channel Australia Blog