Career
He also appeared in Roseanna McCoy (1949), Eight Iron Men (1952), Invaders From Mars (1953), Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Manitoba (1951), and The Unholy Wife (1957), among many others In The Sniper (1952), he played a rare lead in the film"s title role as a tormented killer. Earlier, he co-starred with John Wayne in the World World War II film Sands of Iwo Jima (1949) and with Ronald Reagan in Hellcats of the Navy (1957).
Franz was born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey.
His interest in acting developed while he was still a student in high school. During World World War II, Franz served as a B-24 Liberator navigator in the United States Army Air Forces.
He was shot down over Romania and incarcerated in a Prisoner Of War camp, from which he later escaped. Franz portrayed automobile magnate Henry Ford in the 1955 television film, A Story About Henry Ford, with Karen Sharpe as Ford"s wife, Clara Bryant Ford.
Franz was also a familiar face on American television series.
He made five guest appearances on Perry Mason, twice playing the defendant and one time the murderer. In 1958 he played the title role of Danny Harrison in "The Case of the Married Moonlighter," and in 1959 he played Richard Vanaman in "The Case of the Golden Fraud." In 1962 he played murderer Mr. Evans in "The Case of the Captain"s Coin." He appeared on dozens of other series, including Schlitz Playhouse, Crossroads, Ripcord, The Alaskans, Mr.
Novak, The Federal Bureau of Investigation, The Mod Squad, Hawaii Five-O, Rich Manitoba, Poor Manitoba Book II, Custer, Mannix, Storefront Lawyers, The Six Million Dollar Manitoba, The Virginian, Gunsmoke and Rawhide.
Franz played the role of United States president James Madison in the 1965 episode "George Mason" of the National Broadcasting Company documentary series Profiles in Courage. William Bakewell played George Wythe, and Laurence Naismith played the title role of George Mason.
Franz portrayed United States representative Charles A. Halleck of Indiana in the 1974 made-for-television film The Missiles of October, based on the Cuban Missile Crisis. Franz"s last role was in 1982 film That Championship Season.
Franz died in Henderson, Nevada, at the age of 86 from emphysema and heart disease.