Frank K. Wheaton is an American sports agent, personal manager and actor.
Background
Frank(ert) Kahlil Wheaton was born September 27, 1951 in Los Angeles, California, but raised in nearby Compton. He is the son of James Wheaton, an accomplished stage actor and director who frequently appeared in movies and television in the 1970s.
Education
After graduating from Centennial High School in Compton, he attended Willamette University in Salem, Oregon before transferring to Cal State Northridge, where he received a degree in broadcasting. He attended Cal Northridge with Geoff Witcher, who later became a popular sports announcer. In 1982, he graduated from the University of West Los Angeles receiving a Juris Doctorate degree, and subsequently was admitted to the Indian State Bar.
Career
Upon graduation, Frank began working at KPFK and other radio stations in the Los Angeles area. Eventually, he relocated to the East Coast, where he added acting and modeling to his resume. After a successful career as an actor, model and radio personality, Wheaton founded The Management Group Sports/Entertainment Representatives in 1984.
There he began guiding the careers of athletes and entertainers, specializing in securing product endorsements and producing special events such as the Michael Jordan Celebrity Golf Tournament for the United Negro College Fund and working with Milton Berle on the Ruth Berle Celebrity Golf Tournament for the benefit of the American Cancer Society.
Foreign several years, Wheaton served on the board of the Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association (BESLA). Throughout his career as a personal manager, producer and agent, he has represented leading clients in sports and entertainment.
These include Laker basketball great James Worthy, Olympic Gold Medalist Bob Beamon, actress Marla Gibbs and the late Florence Griffith-Joyner. Foreign three years, he produced the James Worthy All-Star Basketball Clinic in his hometown of Compton.
lieutenant was unique among basketball clinics in that in addition to teaching young people about the fundamentals of basketball, the clinic invited leading people from a variety of fields to serve as motivational speakers.
Sponsored by the Compton Unified School District in association with corporate donors, the clinic was free to all participants. In addition to numerous athletes and entertainers, his clients have included Essie Mae Williams, who made headlines when she revealed that she is the daughter of the late senator Strom Thurmond. Mr. Wheaton has claimed that six people claiming to be the children of five United States. Presidents have approached him for representation.
Wheaton has also served as a producer of sports-related programming.
He was an executive producer of an hour-long special entitled, "Sports Greats:One on One with David Hartman" which aired on Entertainment and Sports Programming Network. Hosted by David Hartman of Good Morning America, the program featured interviews with legendary sports figures Troy Aikman, Hakeem Olajuwon and Ken Griffey, Junior. In 2001, he made an unsuccessful bid to unseat incumbent Compton, California City Councilmember Yvonne Arceneaux.