President of the Dramatic Club at Cornell University, Franchot Tone gave up the family business for acting, making his Broadway debut in "The Age of Innocence".

Tone then went into movies for MGM, making his film debut in _The Wiser Sex (1932)_ . With his theatrical background, Tone became one of the most talented movie actors in Hollywood.


Ex-brother-in-law of Hal Le Sueur. He is responsible for the establishment of the Best Supporting Actor/Actress categories in the Academy Awards, owing to his supporting performance (and subsequent Best Actor nomination) in Mutiny on the Bounty (1935). He is related to Theobald Wolfe Tone, a famous Irish patriot. Is portrayed by Robert Hawkins in Will There Really Be a Morning? (1983) (TV). Franchot Tone was one of the original members of the Group Theater (1931-1940), the first acting company in America to bring Stanislavski's revolutionary acting techniques to America. He was also the first to leave the company for a Hollywood contract. A few years later another company member, Julie Garfinkle (John Garfield), followed Tone to Hollywood. Both movie stars considered their days at the Group the most satisfying years of their lives, and both continued to subsidize the theater's productions until the Group Theater's demise.