Biography
Frank Langella's status as one of the most highly regarded actors of the American stage was well-deserved, as his grand presence earned two Tony Awards by the time he was 30 years old. During his career of 75-plus stage plays and three dozen films, Langella, with his penchant for bold, romantic leads and chilly villains, was entrusted with such classic characters as Count Dracula, Sherlock Holmes and Cyrano de Bergerac. He favored period …
Frank Langella SlideShow
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Career Milestones
1959 | Toured Europe with folk-singing group |
1963 | New York stage debut, "The Immoralist" |
1967 | Acted in the innaugural performance of "The Devils" at Los Angeles' Mark Taper Forum |
1967 | First appeared onstage in the play "Dracula" |
1968 | Portrayed a young Will Shakespeare in the stage drama "A Cry of Players" |
1969 | Stage directing debut with "John and Abigail" |
1970 | Film debut, "Diary of a Mad Housewife"; also acted that year in Mel Brooks' "The Twelve Chairs" |
1971 | Cast in the title role of "Cyrano de Bergerac" at the Williamstown Theater Festival |
1973 | Made TV debut on an episode of the short-lived romantic anthology series "Love Story" (NBC) |
1974 | First TV-movie, "The Mark of Zorro" (ABC), playing the title role |
1975 | Appeared in the Williamstown staging of "The Seagull"; filmed for public television's "Theater in America" |
1975 | Broadway debut as a lizard in Edward Albee's "Seascape"; earned a Best Supporting Actor Tony |
1976 | Starred with Blythe Danner in Tennessee Williams' "Eccentricities of a Nightingale" at the Williamstown Theater Festival |
1977 | Scored Broadway triumph in the title role of "Dracula"; earned a Best Actor Tony nomination |
1979 | Reprised "Dracula" for the screen |
1980 | Directed playwright Albert Innaurato's "Passione" on Broadway |
1980 | Undertook role of "Cyrano de Bergerac" for a second time at the Williamstown Theater Festival |
1982 | Played Salieri on Broadway in "Amadeus" |
1984 | Co-starred with Jill Clayburgh in Noel Coward's "Design for Living" |
1984 | Produced and starred as Quentin in off-Broadway revival of Arthur Miller's "After the Fall" |
1985 | Returned to Broadway as Eddie in David Rabe's acclaimed "Hurlyburly" |
1987 | Produced and starred on Broadway as Sherlock Holmes in "Sherlock's Last Case" |
1987 | Went unrecognizable as the villain Skeletor in "Masters of the Universe" |
1991 | Made musical comedy stage debut as Henry Higgins in the Houston Grand Opera staging of "My Fair Lady" |
1993 | Portrayed evil White House chief of staff in "Dave" |
1993 | Starred opposite Madonna (as her ex-lover) in the uneven thriller "Body of Evidence" |
1994 | Appeared as family patriarch Junius Brutus Booth in New York stage production of Austin Pendleton's "Booth" |
1996 | Co-starred with Whoopi Goldberg in the film comedy "Eddie" |
1996 | Earned acclaim for his Broadway turn as hammy actor Garry Essedine in a revival of Noel Coward's "Present Laughter" |
1996 | Earned positive reviews playing the title role in the revival of August Strindberg's searing play "The Father" |
1996 | Played the Pharaoh to Ben Kingsley's "Moses" (TNT) |
1997 | Directed, starred in the title role, and adapted Edmund Rostand's "Cyrano de Bergerac" in an intimate off-Broadway setting |
1997 | Played Claire Quilty in Adrian Lyne's version of "Lolita" (banned from feature release in the U.S.; aired on Showtime in August 1998) |
1998 | Provided the voice of Archer for Joe Dante's "Toy Soldiers" |
1999 | Played a seemingly fit TV producer who discovers that he stands a good chance of dying within the year of inoperable cancer in "I'm Losing You" |
2000 | Appeared in NBC miniseries "Jason and the Argonauts" |
2001 | Co-starred with Joan Collins in the London stage production of "Moon Over Buffalo" (retitled as "Over the Moon); withdrew from production shortly after the opening |
2001 | Portrayed a shark-like executive in a memorable cameo in the remake of "Sweet November" |
2002 | Appeared opposite Alan Bates in "Fortune's Fool" on Broadway |
2003 | Played Tobi Powell, an aging choreographer and dance teacher in the play "Match"; received a Tony nomination |
2005 | Co-starred in David Duchovny's directorial debut "House of D" |
2005 | Starred in the George Clooney-directed "Goodnight, and Good Luck" |
2006 | Cast as Clark Kent's boss Perry White in Bryan Singer's "Superman Returns" |
2007 | Played an aging writer in "Starting Out in the Evening"; earned an Independent Spirit Award Nomination for Best Actor |
2007 | Won a Tony award playing Richard Nixon in Peter Morgan's acclaimed Broadway drama "Frost/Nixon" |
2008 | Reprised role of Richard Nixon for the film adaption of "Frost/Nixon"; directed by Ron Howard; earned Golden Globe, SAG and Academy Award nominations for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role |
2009 | Cast in Richard Kelly's horror film "The Box" |
2010 | Co-starred in Oliver Stone's "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps," the sequel to his 1987 Academy Award-winning film |
2010 | Played Ryan Gosling's controlling father in "All Good Things" |
2011 | Co-starred with Susan Sarandon in the HBO drama "The Miraculous Year" |
2011 | Starred in the Roundabout Theatre Company production "Man and Boy" |
Awards
1970 | Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actor |
1970 | National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor in Diary of a Mad Housewife |
1970 | National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor in The Twelve Chairs |
1975 | Tony Award for Actor, Supporting or Featured (Dramatic) |
1983 | Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming in I, Leonardo: A Journey of the Mind |
2002 | Tony Award for Actor (Featured Role--Play) |
2005 | Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor in Good Night, And Good Luck |
2006 | Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture in Good Night, And Good Luck |
2007 | Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor in Starting Out in the Evening |
2007 | Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor in Starting Out in the Evening |
2007 | Tony Award for Actor (Play) |
2008 | Academy Award for Actor In a Leading Role in Frost/Nixon |
2008 | BAFTA Award for Leading Actor in Frost/Nixon |
2008 | Critics' Choice Award for Best Actor in Frost/Nixon |
2008 | Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama in Frost/Nixon |
2008 | Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead in Starting Out in the Evening |
2009 | Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture in Frost/Nixon |
2009 | Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role in Frost/Nixon |
2012 | Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play |