Nickname:	John Frankenheimer / Alan Smithee /
Known for:	Ronin, The Manchurian Candidate, Reindeer Games
Birth name:	John Michael Frankenheimer
Birthday:	19 February 1930, New York, New York, USA
Height:	6' 3" (1.91 m)

When Senator Robert Kennedy was shot at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles on June 5, 1968, it was his good friend John Frankenheimer who had personally driven him there that day. Children: daughters Elise and Kristi. Kristi is a Location Manager of 20+ years and worked with her father on several projects including his last "Path To War" for HBO Was fluent in French. Served in the U. S. Air Force. Was approached by Albert R. Broccoli to screen test for the role of James Bond in Dr. No (Frankenheimer began his career as an actor). Rumored to be the biological father of Michael Bay, who was born in 1965 although DNA testing proved otherwise. Inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 2002. Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume Two, 1945- 1985". Pages 365-372. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1988. As a director on the "You Are There" TV series, he was supervised by fellow director Sydney Lumet. Directed the television debuts of Sir John Gielgud and Ingrid Bergman in "The Browning Version" and "The Turn of the Screw," respectively. Directed 140 live television dramas for Studio One, Playhouse 90, The DuPont Show of the Month and other showcase anthologies. Famous for his use of innovative camera angles, Frankenheimer was acclaimed for a shot in The Manchurian Candidate (1962) that is slightly out of focus. Frankenheimer said that the shot was an accident. When Burt Lancaster walked onto the set the first day of shooting of "The Young Savages" (1961), he was startled and dismayed to see the camera on the floor, aiming upward. Lancaster had never before worked with a director who used such innovative camera angles. He grew to trust Frankenhiemer, and they made four more films together. The camera-work of most directors in "The Golden Age" of TV drama was static, reflecting most TV directors' backgrounds in the theater, who typically used blocking more appropriate for a stage production. Frankenhiemer was one of the first TV directors to use multiple camera angles, a moving camera, quick editing, and close-ups. Directed "For Whom The Bell Tolls" for Playhouse 90, one of the first showcase dramas to be presented in two parts and on tape. The production, which cost $400,000, was the most expensive TV show at that time (1959). One of his biggest dreams when he started directing was to work with a concert orchestra. He eventually did it twice, in Prophecy and The Holcroft Covenant. Is portrayed by Don Galloway in Rock Hudson Had been working on directing "Exorcist: The Beginning" at the time of his death. Grandson Dylan.

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