PAST BEST ACTOR-NOMINEE FRANCHOT TONE’S  100TH BIRTHDAY COINCIDES WITH 2005 ACADEMY AWARDS

ACTOR’S 1935 NOMINATION PLAYED ROLE IN CHANGING OSCAR® HISTORY

Burbank, CA (February 7, 2005) – The 2005 Academy Awards will be held on February 27, which also happens to be the 100th birthday of the late Franchot Tone who was the last supporting player ever to be nominated as Best Actor in Oscar® history, notes Tone biographer Lisa Burks.

Tone earned his nomination in 1935 on the strength of his portrayal of Midshipman Roger Byam in MGM’s epic adventure “Mutiny on the Bounty.”  Lead actors Clark Gable and Charles Laughton were also nominated for the same film, which won Best Picture, but all three lost out to Victor McLaglen (“The Informer.”)  Due in part to Tone’s performance, the Academy recognized the need to honor featured players in their own right and the following year created the Best Supporting Actor and Actress categories that are still awarded today.

 


Franchot Tone and Clark Gable in scene from "Mutiny on the Bounty"


“Franchot Tone’s centennial coinciding with the Academy Awards provides a wonderful opportunity to remind people of his contributions to the film industry” says Burks, author of “Urbane Rebel: The Franchot Tone Story” which she plans to publish in 2006.


Burks’ interest in Tone was sparked in 1997 when she was struck by his charismatic screen presence in the 1933 MGM film “The Girl From Missouri” co-starring Jean Harlow. She learned, among other things, that he was the first original member of Broadway’s revolutionary Group Theatre to be offered a studio contract, which in turn made him the first Method actor to appear in Hollywood films. Off-screen he was an influential vice-president of the Screen Actors Guild during its early years and was instrumental in negotiating the union into a more powerful position within the studio system.

“Reading through his clipping file at the Academy’s library I was immediately drawn to his intelligence and humanity, his willingness to take career risks and his overall urbanely rebellious approach to life,” says Burks who has approval from Tone’s family to write the biography.


The Los Angeles-based writer theorizes that Tone is little remembered today because he was not a self-promoter and remained under the radar when it came to some of his more maverick creative and business instincts.  “His ill-fated marriages to four actresses including Joan Crawford and Barbara Payton often got more press than his work and I think that’s a shame because he was so much more than a Hollywood Ex-Husband,” says Burks.  “It’s taken years of digging but fortunately many of his career-related documents and personal papers still exist and I’ve also been able to interview dozens of people who knew and worked with him so his story has not been completely lost,” she adds.


Burks believes that while a small number of classic film icons continue to be immortalized in multiple biographies, lesser-known actors are overlooked for economic reasons. “Big names sell themselves but I’m convinced that Franchot’s previously unexamined yet compelling life is equally marketable and deserving of publication,” says Burks.  “I’ve spent thousands of my own dollars on research so I’m not in it for a quick buck. I’m writing about Franchot Tone because his is an important story thread in the fabric of Hollywood history that should not be forgotten.”


Original Material © 2005 Lisa Burks | All Rights Reserved

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