
Acting
Frank Faylen
Born — Died
1905-12-08 — 1985-08-02
Place of birth
Saint Louis, Missouri, USA
Known for
Acting
Credits
76 titles
Frank Faylen (born Francis Charles Ruf) was an American stage, screen, and television actor. He is best remembered for his movie performances as the cynical male nurse in The Lost Weekend (1945) and Ernie the taxi driver in It's a Wonderful Life (1946), as well as for his portrayal of long-suffering grocer Herbert T. Gillis on the 1950s television sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.
Known for
7.0The Maverick boys - Bret, Bart, Beau and Brent - are a clan of well-dressed dandies, gamblers who'd much rather make their money playing cards than messing up their fine clothing with actual work. Sly and clever, none of the Mavericks are much for acts of derring do, but they can be courageous when the situation calls for it. Most often, however, they live by their wits and considerable charm.
Maverick
1957
7.5Los Angeles County medical examiner Quincy routinely engages in police investigations.
Quincy, M.E.
1976
5.9The Bradley family are proud owners of the Shady Rest Hotel. Kate and her three young daughters do the job of running the hotel.
Petticoat Junction
1963
6.9Jed Clampett's swamp is loaded with oil. When a wildcatter discovers the huge pool, Jed sells his land to the O.K. Oil Company and at the urging of cousin Pearl, moves his family to a 35-room mansion in Beverly Hills, California.
The Beverly Hillbillies
1962
6.2Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre, sometimes simply called Zane Grey Theatre, is an American Western anthology series which ran on CBS from 1956 to 1961.
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956
7.1Wanted: Dead or Alive is an American Western television series starring Steve McQueen as the bounty hunter Josh Randall. It aired on CBS for three seasons from 1958–61. The black-and-white program was a spin-off of a March 1958 episode of Trackdown, a 1957–59 western series starring Robert Culp. Both series were produced by Four Star Television in association with CBS Television. The series launched McQueen into becoming the first television star to cross over into comparable status on the big screen.
Wanted: Dead or Alive
1958
Film credits
1960s · 3 titles
7.1The life of famed 1930s comedienne Fanny Brice, from her early days in the Jewish slums of New York, to the height of her career with the Ziegfeld Follies, as well as her marriage to the rakish gambler Nick Arnstein.
Funny Girl
1968
6.5After striking gold in Alaska, the romantic George sends his womanizing partner Sam to bring his fiancée up from Seattle. When Sam finds that she has already married, he returns instead with Angel, a dancer originally from France.
North to Alaska
1960
7.0A college professor gets into trouble when he tries to prove any animal can be domesticated, including an African lion.
Fluffy
1965
1950s · 13 titles
7.0Lawman Wyatt Earp and outlaw Doc Holliday form an unlikely alliance which culminates in their participation in the legendary Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
1957
6.5In 1865, a troop of Confederate soldiers led by Major Matt Stewart attack the wagon of gold escorted by Union cavalry and the soldiers are killed. The only wounded survivor tells that the war ended one month ago, and the group decides to take the gold and meet their liaison that knew that the war ended but did not inform the troop. The harsh Rolph Bainter kills the greedy man and the soldiers flee in his wagon driven by Major Stewart. When they meet a posse chasing them, Stewart gives wrong information to misguide the group; however, they have an accident with the wagon and lose the horses. They decide to stop a stagecoach and force the driver to transport them, but the posse returns and they are trapped in the station with the passenger. They realize that the men are not deputies and have no intention to bring them to justice but take the stolen gold.
Hangman's Knot
1952
5.3The story of USS 'Belinda', a U.S. naval ship, and its crew during the battle of the Pacific 1943-1945, as it prepares for action and landing troops on enemy beachheads.
Away All Boats
1956
5.9A mysterious stranger crosses paths with an outlaw bank robber and a greedy rancher.
The Nevadan
1950
7.3A young man, morally destroyed by his parents not loving him and by the fear of being not capable to make his girlfriend happy, rises on the ledge of a building with the intention of committing suicide. A policeman makes every effort to argue him out of it.
Fourteen Hours
1951
6.7Eddie Miller struggles with his hatred of women, he's especially bothered by seeing women with their lovers. He starts a killing spree as a sniper by shooting women from far distances. In an attempt to get caught, he writes an anonymous letter to the police begging them to stop him.
The Sniper
1952
7.0Tells the story of one day in the lives of the various people who populate a police detective squad. An embittered cop, Det. Jim McLeod, leads a precinct of characters in their grim daily battle with the city's lowlife. The characters who pass through the precinct over the course of the day include a young petty embezzler, a pair of burglars, and a naive shoplifter.
Detective Story
1951
5.6Cruze arrives in town and when he stands up to the three Moran brothers, he gets appointed Marshal. First the brothers kill a rancher while framing another man. But when the jailer is murdered, Cruze gets evidence the Morans did it. He tries to raise a posse to chase them down but the townsmen refuse to go. So he rides off by himself to face the three of them.
The Lone Gun
1954
6.1An officer accused of cowardice volunteers to bring back General Custers's body after Little Big Horn.
7th Cavalry
1956
5.8During World War II, a junior American Army officer, Lt. Peter Stirling, gets sent to the psychiatric ward whenever he insists that an Army mule named Francis speaks to him.
Francis
1950
6.0A burlesque comic doubles for a spy in Tangier and meets the spy's girlfriend, who is also a spy.
My Favorite Spy
1951
7.1A prisoner leads his counterparts in a protest for better living conditions which turns violent and ugly.
Riot in Cell Block 11
1954
5.7A group of copper miners, Southern veterans, are terrorized by local rebel-haters, led by deputy Lane Travis. The miners ask stage sharpshooter Johnny Carter to help them, under the impression that he is the legendary Colonel Desmond. It seems they're wrong; but Johnny's show comes to Coppertown and Johnny romances lovely gambler Lisa Roselle, whom the miners believe is at the center of their troubles.
Copper Canyon
1950
1940s · 35 titles
8.3George Bailey has spent his entire life giving to the people of Bedford Falls. All that prevents rich skinflint Mr. Potter from taking over the entire town is George's modest building and loan company. But on Christmas Eve the business's $8,000 is lost and George's troubles begin.
It's a Wonderful Life
1946
6.6Humorist Robert Benchley attempts to find Walt Disney to ask him to adapt a short story about a gentle dragon who would rather recite poetry than be ferocious. Along the way, he is given a tour of Walt Disney Studios, and learns about the animation process.
The Reluctant Dragon
1941
7.8Tom Joad returns to his home after a jail sentence to find his family kicked out of their farm due to foreclosure. He catches up with them on his Uncle’s farm, and joins them the next day as they head for California and a new life... Hopefully.
The Grapes of Wrath
1940
6.2Down-and-out cowhand Jim Garry is asked by his old friend Tate Riling to help mediate a cattle dispute. When Garry arrives, however, it soon becomes clear that Riling has not been entirely forthright. Garry uncovers Riling's plot to dupe local rancher John Lufton out of a fortune. When Lufton's firecracker of a daughter, Amy, gets involved, Garry must choose between his old loyalties and what he knows to be right.
Blood on the Moon
1948
6.9The heartbreaking but hopeful tale of Danny Kenny and Peggy Nash, two sweethearts who meet and struggle through their impoverished lives in New York City. When Peggy, hoping for something better in life for both of them, breaks off her engagement to Danny, he sets out to be a championship boxer, while she becomes a dancer paired with a sleazy partner. Will tragedy reunite the former lovers?
City for Conquest
1940
7.6Longtime alcoholic Don Birnam has been sober for ten days and appears to be over the worst... but his craving has just become more insidious. Evading a country weekend planned by his brother and girlfriend, he begins a four-day bender that just might be his last – one way or another.
The Lost Weekend
1945
7.2Alvin York a hillbilly sharpshooter transforms himself from ruffian to religious pacifist. He is then called to serve his country and despite deep religious and moral objections to fighting becomes one of the most celebrated American heroes of WWI.
Sergeant York
1941
6.7Soon after a veteran returns from war, his cheating wife is found dead. He evades police in an attempt to find the real murderer.
The Blue Dahlia
1946
7.0A New York inventor, Tom Jeffers, needs cash to develop his big idea, so his adoring wife, Gerry, decides to raise it by divorcing him and marrying an eccentric Florida millionaire, J. D. Hackensacker III.
The Palm Beach Story
1942
6.9Joe and Paul Fabrini are Wildcat, or independent, truck drivers who have their own small one-truck business. The Fabrini boys constantly battle distributors, rivals and loan collectors, while trying to make a success of their transport company.
They Drive by Night
1940
6.6Rick Leland makes no secret of the fact that he has no loyalty to his home country after he is court-martialed out of the army and boards a Japanese ship for the Orient in late 1941. But has Leland really been booted out, or is there some other motive for his getting close to fellow passenger Doctor Lorenz?
Across the Pacific
1942
6.2Jed Potter looks back on a love triangle conducted over the course of years and between musical numbers. Dancer Jed loves showgirl Mary, who loves compulsive nightclub-opener Johnny, who can't stay committed to anything in life for very long.
Blue Skies
1946
7.3The story of the life and career of the baseball hall of famer, Lou Gehrig.
The Pride of the Yankees
1942
5.9A soldier falls for a chorus girl and then experiences trouble when he is posted to the Pacific.
The Gang's All Here
1943
5.9Although loudmouthed braggart Jerry Plunkett alienates his comrades and officers, Father Duffy, the regimental chaplain, has faith that he'll prove himself in the end.
The Fighting 69th
1940
6.8Seeking US citizenship, a Viennese refugee arranges a marriage of convenience with a struggling writer.
Come Live with Me
1941
6.8In flashback, fifty years after inventing the light bulb, an 82-year-old Edison tells his story starting at age twenty-two with his arrival in New York. He's on his way with the invention of an early form of the stock market ticker.
Edison, the Man
1940
7.0A film of the life of the renowned musical composer, playwright, actor, dancer and singer George M. Cohan.
Yankee Doodle Dandy
1942
5.7Journalist brothers feud over a woman they both fall for while covering World War II in the far east.
Somewhere I'll Find You
1942
6.7A cocky U.S. Army Air Force pilot stationed in England during World War II falls for a daring female flier. After he's killed on a mission, he's sent back to Earth by a heavenly General with a new assignment.
A Guy Named Joe
1944
6.2The story of a Canadian WWII naval vessel, with a dramatic subplot concerning her first captain.
Corvette K-225
1943
6.4Alice wins a free trip to Hollywood and dreams about her arrival.
Alice in Movieland
1940
6.5Dozens of star and character-actor cameos and a message about the Variety Club (a show-business charity) are woven into a framework about two hopeful young ladies who come to Hollywood, exchange identities, and cause comic confusion (with slapstick interludes) throughout the Paramount studio.
Variety Girl
1947
7.0A hardened crook behind bars comes up against a reform-minded warden.
Castle on the Hudson
1940
6.7Smith is an iron-willed railroad detective. When his friend Murray is fired from the railroad and begins helping Rebstock wreck trains, Smith must go after him. He also seems to have an interest in Murray's wife (and vice versa).
Whispering Smith
1948
9.0The 'Dead End Kids & Little Tough Guys' are working as collectors for a finance company, when they discover the company's illegal activities and try to stop them.
Tough as They Come
1942
6.2Stan and Ollie get involved with con men, crooks, a genial magician, and two interchangeable coffins with disastrous but funny results.
A-Haunting We Will Go
1942
6.2Stan and Ollie get involved with con men, crooks, a genial magician, and two interchangeable coffins with disastrous but funny results.
A-Haunting We Will Go
1942
6.6When retired racket boss John Sarto tries to reclaim his place and former friends try to kill him, he finds solace in a monastery and reinvents himself as a pious monk.
Brother Orchid
1940
7.1A middle-aged businessman who has lived a conservative life according to the routine conventions of society, still remembers the beautiful young woman who once brought him out of his shell.
H.M. Pulham, Esq.
1941
6.8Scat Sweeney and Hot Lips Barton, two out of work musicians, stow away onboard a ship bound for Rio, after accidentally setting fire to the big top of a circus. They then get mixed up with a potential suicide Lucia, who first thanks them, then unexpectedly turns them over to the ship's captain. When they find out that she has been hypnotized, to go through a marriage of convenience, when the ship reaches Rio, the boys turn up at the ceremony, in order to stop the wedding, and to help catch the crooks.
Road to Rio
1947
6.4When a German art dealer living in the US returns to his native country he finds himself attracted to Nazi propaganda.
Address Unknown
1944
6.6Two Army sergeants disrupt a bar, a party and an Army-Navy dance.
About Face
1942
6.2Pop, a security guard at Paramount has told his son that he's the head of the studio. When his son arrives in Hollywood on shore leave with his buddies, Pop enlists the aid of the studio's dizzy switchboard operator in pulling off the charade. Things get more complicated when Pop agrees to put together a show for the Navy starring Paramount's top contract players.
Star Spangled Rhythm
1942
5.7The Falcon is framed for the murder of a banker and the theft of war bonds. He makes his escape into the mountains where he hides out in a rustic lodge. From here he uncovers a phony war bond operation.
The Falcon Strikes Back
1943
1930s · 9 titles
7.9The spoiled daughter of a Georgia plantation owner conducts a tumultuous romance with a cynical profiteer during the American Civil War and Reconstruction Era.
Gone with the Wind
1939
6.6In the underworld of Manhattan, a woman dares to stand up to one of the city's most powerful gangsters.
Marked Woman
1937
6.2A gangster is unable to go straight after returning home from prison.
Invisible Stripes
1939
7.1Fight promoter Nick Donati grooms a bellhop as a future champ, but has second thoughts when the 'kid' falls for his sister.
Kid Galahad
1937
6.1While in Shanghai reporting on the Sino-Japanese war, Chris Hunter, a shrewd news reporter, meets pilot Alma Harding. She does not trust him, but he manages to hire her as his assistant. During an adventurous expedition through the jungles of South America, her opinion of him begins to change.
Too Hot to Handle
1938
7.0In 1911, minor stage comic, Vernon Castle meets the stage-struck Irene Foote. A few misadventures later, they marry and then abandon comedy to attempt a dancing career together. While they're performing in Paris, an agent sees them rehearse and starts them on their brilliant career as the world's foremost ballroom dancers. However, at the height of their fame, World War I begins.
The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle
1939
5.9A southern town is rocked by scandal when teenager Mary Clay is murdered on Confederate Decoration Day. Andrew Griffin, a small-time lawyer with political ambitions, sees the crime as his ticket to the Senate if he can find the right victim to finger for the crime. He sets out to convict Robert Hale, a transplanted northerner who was Mary's teacher at the business school where she was killed. Despite the fact that all the evidence against Hale is circumstantial, Griffin works with a ruthless reporter to create a media frenzy of prejudice and hate against the teacher.
They Won't Forget
1937
6.5Detective Guy Johnson's client, Willie Heywood, is framed for murder. While Guy hides him so he can catch the real killer, both of them are nabbed by the police, tried, convicted and sentenced to jail: Guy for a year with Willie to be executed. On the way to jail, Guy comes across a clue and escapes from the police.
It's a Wonderful World
1939
6.7Ex-Army officer Jameson takes a job a prison guard at San Quentin. Joe, the brother of his new girlfriend May, is sentenced to the prison for robbery. When Jameson tries to separate lawbreakers from hardened criminals, badguy Hansen tries to stir up trouble by telling Joe about Jameson's interest in his sister.
San Quentin
1937
Series credits
7.0The Maverick boys - Bret, Bart, Beau and Brent - are a clan of well-dressed dandies, gamblers who'd much rather make their money playing cards than messing up their fine clothing with actual work. Sly and clever, none of the Mavericks are much for acts of derring do, but they can be courageous when the situation calls for it. Most often, however, they live by their wits and considerable charm.
Maverick
1957
7.5Los Angeles County medical examiner Quincy routinely engages in police investigations.
Quincy, M.E.
1976
5.9The Bradley family are proud owners of the Shady Rest Hotel. Kate and her three young daughters do the job of running the hotel.
Petticoat Junction
1963
6.9Jed Clampett's swamp is loaded with oil. When a wildcatter discovers the huge pool, Jed sells his land to the O.K. Oil Company and at the urging of cousin Pearl, moves his family to a 35-room mansion in Beverly Hills, California.
The Beverly Hillbillies
1962
6.2Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre, sometimes simply called Zane Grey Theatre, is an American Western anthology series which ran on CBS from 1956 to 1961.
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956
7.1Wanted: Dead or Alive is an American Western television series starring Steve McQueen as the bounty hunter Josh Randall. It aired on CBS for three seasons from 1958–61. The black-and-white program was a spin-off of a March 1958 episode of Trackdown, a 1957–59 western series starring Robert Culp. Both series were produced by Four Star Television in association with CBS Television. The series launched McQueen into becoming the first television star to cross over into comparable status on the big screen.
Wanted: Dead or Alive
1958
7.0The Bob Hope Show hosted by Bob Hope, debuted on April 9, 1950. During the 1952-1953 season, NBC rotated with other variety shows in a Sunday night block known as "The Colgate Comedy Hour" (Sept. 1950 to Dec. 1955). Also known as, "The Chevy Show with Bob Hope." When the first special debuted in October of 1950 it was the most expensive television program made up to that point - costing an astronomical $1,500 a minute to produce. Bob Hope had his own television show and radio show at the same time. For the next three seasons, The Bob Hope Show was broadcast once a month on Tuesday nights, giving Milton Berle a week off. Bob ended his radio show in April, 1956. Bob Hope also had another show by a similar name, "The Bob Hope Show (All Star Revue)". In addition, he performed in "Specials" for many years. It is the longest running variety program in television's history with a record of 45 years of televised entertainment.
The Bob Hope Show
1950
6.9The Colgate Comedy Hour is an American comedy-musical variety series that aired live on the NBC network from 1950 to 1955. The show starred many notable comedians and entertainers of the era, including Eddie Cantor, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Fred Allen, Donald O'Connor, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, Bob Hope, Jimmy Durante, Ray Bolger, Gordon MacRae, Ben Blue, Robert Paige, Tony Curtis, Burt Lancaster, Broadway dancer Wayne Lamb and Spike Jones and His City Slickers.
The Colgate Comedy Hour
1950
6.3The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from 1959 to 1963. The series and several episode scripts were adapted from a 1951 collection of short stories of the same name, written by Max Shulman, who had also written a feature film adaptation of his short stories for MGM in 1953, The Affairs of Dobie Gillis. The series revolved around the life of teenager/young adult Dobie Gillis, who, along with his best friend, beatnik Maynard G. Krebs, struggles against the forces of his life - high school, the military, college, and his parents - as he aspires to attain both wealth and dates with girls. The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis was produced by Martin Manulis Productions in association with 20th Century Fox Television. Creator Shulman also wrote the theme song in collaboration with Lionel Newman.
The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis
1959
6.2That Girl is an American sitcom that ran on ABC from 1966 to 1971. It stars Marlo Thomas as the title character Ann Marie, an aspiring actress, who moves from her hometown of Brewster, New York to try to make it big in New York City. Ann has to take a number of offbeat "temp" jobs to support herself in between her various auditions and bit parts. Ted Bessell played her boyfriend Donald Hollinger, a writer for Newsview Magazine; Lew Parker and Rosemary DeCamp played Lew Marie and Helen Marie, her concerned parents. Bernie Kopell, Ruth Buzzi and Reva Rose played Ann and Donald's friends. That Girl was developed by writers Bill Persky and Sam Denoff, who had served as head writers on The Dick Van Dyke Show earlier in the 1960s.
That Girl
1966
6.5Telephone Time is an American anthology drama series that aired on CBS in 1956, and on ABC from 1957 to 1958. The series features plays by John Nesbitt who hosted the first season. Frank C. Baxter hosted the 1957 and 1958 seasons. The program was directed by Arthur Hiller.
Telephone Time
1956
6.5Racket Squad is an American TV crime drama series starring Reed Hadley as Captain John Braddock, a fictional detective working for the San Francisco, California Police Department. The show aired in syndication for a season before being picked up by CBS for three seasons. The series was filmed at Hal Roach Studios in Culver City, California, and was sponsored by cigarette manufacturer Philip Morris, hence there was a pack of the sponsor's brand on Braddock's desk at the beginning and end of the episode, as well as occasional scenes of him or other characters "lighting up".
Racket Squad
1951
10.0The Great Adventure is a historical anthology series that appeared on CBS for the 1963-1964 television season. The series, narrated each week by Van Heflin, and featuring theme music by Richard Rodgers, presented a weekly one-hour dramatization of the lives of famous Americans and important historical events in American History.
The Great Adventure
1963
4.8The story of the relationship between a man and his mother, the latter having been reincarnated as a 1928 Porter automobile.
My Mother the Car
1965
5.5Man with a Camera is an American 1950s television crime drama starring Charles Bronson. Former combat cameraman Mike Kovac (Bronson) is now a freelance photographer in New York City, specializing in difficult and dangerous assignments where he can get the kinds of pictures that other photographers can't, or won't take. He sometimes gets help, often reluctantly, from his contact in the police department, Lt. Donovan, and advice from his immigrant father Anton. Throughout the 1950s, Bronson spent most of his early acting career performing in TV shows as well as small parts in films, until he landed the lead in this ABC series. This is the only series in which he played the lead role. He would go on to have supporting roles either as a guest star or a recurring character in dozens of TV shows after this series was cancelled.
Man with a Camera
1958
6.8General Electric Theater is an American anthology series hosted by Ronald Reagan that was broadcast on CBS radio and television. The series was sponsored by General Electric's Department of Public Relations.
General Electric Theater
1953
