David Frankham

English-born David Frankham forged a respectable career as an expatriate in Hollywood. He had served with the British Army in India and Malaya during the Second World War. Following his demobilization, he returned to Britain. In 1948, he began working for the BBC as an announcer, news reader, and, subsequently, writer and producer. A one-time guest on his radio program, the famed vocalist Rosemary Clooney, encouraged him to pursue acting as a profession. Given that he had always admired Golden Age stars like Gary Cooper and Laird Cregar, Frankham eagerly took this advice and relocated to Los Angeles in 1955. Chance encounters with supportive movie icons like Elizabeth Taylor and Alec Guinness played an important role in kick-starting his career. It enabled Frankham to quickly establish himself as a character actor in episodic television, often typecast as British officers. He made several appearances in different roles in Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955), Thriller (1960), The Outer Limits (1963), Gomer Pyle: USMC (1964) and The F.B.I. (1965). Star Trek (1966) fans might remember him as Dr. Laurence Marvick, one of the original designers of the Enterprise, in the episode "Is There No Truth In Beauty". In his autobiography, Frankham said "I was a jobbing actor for more than thirty years and never really stopped working." On the big screen, he was featured on three occasions opposite Vincent Price: third-billed, as the villainous Ronald Holmes in Return of the Fly (1959), one of the captives in Master of the World (1961) and as the helpless physician to Ernest Valdemar in chapter three of Tales of Terror (1962). He was also occasionally utilised (often without credit) as a voice actor. Frankham did, however, receive credit for providing the voice for the tabby cat Sergeant Tibbs in Disney's One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961). Frankham eventually moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico. In 2012, he published his autobiography, 'Which One was David?'. He retired from acting six years later.