Donald Harvey Francks (February 28, 1932- April 3, 2016) also known by his stage name of Iron Buffalo, was a Canadian actor, musician, and singer. Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, he is considered one of the greats of the Canadian entertainment industry, having around 200 acting credits to his name and a wide variety of talents and accomplishments, including drummer, poet, motorcyclist, author, peace activist, vocalist and jazz musician.
While he had performed in vaudeville and radio as a teenager, Don Francks began his TV career in the 1950s with a recurring role in the 1955 CBC series Burns Chuckwagon from the Stampede Corral, but earned his first lead gig in 1959 with another CBC program called R.C.M.P., where he played Constable Bill Mitchell. he would continue to appear on both American and Canadian television throughout the 1960s in both major and minor roles, including appearances in such classic shows as Jericho (1966) (in which he was one of the three leads), Mission: Impossible, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Wild Wild West, and Mannix. He also starred in the 1968 Hollywood adaptation of the play Finian's Rainbow by Francis Ford Coppola. He would continue to act for the next few decades, including as the narrator of the CBC's 1970 documentary series This Land (where he also portrayed the famous writer and conservationist Archibald "Grey Owl" Belaney), Walter on La Femme Nikita, appearances on movies like I'm Not There, My Bloody Valentine, and Johnny Mnemonic, and quite a few voiceover roles in animated works like X-Men: The Animated Series and Rock and Rule. He was even the first person to portray Star Wars's famous bounty hunter Boba Fett, providing the voice of the character in his debut in the animated segment of The Star Wars Holiday Specialnote .
Outside of film and television, Don Francks enjoyed an extensive career in music. Able to play trombone, drums, and flute, he frequently performed in Jazz nightclubs across Canada and the United States and led his own avant-garde Jazz band called Three, which he established in 1962. His band was even featured in a documentary by the National Film Board of Canada called Toronto Jazz! Don Francks has also released several albums, with his 1965 album Lost... and Alone becoming the #4 bestseller in Canada in 1965.
Don Francks was originally married in 1962 to Nancy Sue Johnson and had two children with her, but they divorced in 1967. He then married the Cree/Afro-Canadian dancer and actress Lili "Red Eagle" Clark in 1968. He had three children with Lili, who are the prominent voice actress Cree Summer, actor/songwriter Rainbow Sun Francks, and the late Bentley Francks-Slaughter (who died in 2008 in a house fire). Due to his marriage, Don Francks was considered an honorary member of the Red Pheasant Cree Nation, and he got his nickname of "Iron Buffalo" while living on a reserve with Lili during the late 60s and early 70s. As a result, he became an avid champion for First Nations peoples across Canada, and was also known for his advocacy of legalizing marijuana and protecting the environment.
Don Francks died in 2016 in Toronto from cancer at age 84, bring his mighty 60+ year career to an end. His final role of significance was Lizard in The History Channel's factual-based drama series Gangland Undercover. He is succeeded by his wife and children, who are all still active and working in film, television, and music.
Filmography
Film
- Ivy League Killers as Andy
- Drylanders as Russel
- Finian's Rainbow as Woody Mahoney
- McCabe & Mrs. Miller as Buffalo
- Drying Up The Streets as Pete Brennan
- The Star Wars Holiday Special as Boba Fett (Uncredited Role)
- Fast Company as Elder
- Summers Children as Albert
- Fish Hawk as Deut Boggs
- My Bloody Valentine as Chief Newby
- Terminal Choice as Chauncy Rand
- The Big Town as Carl Hooker
- Oklahoma Smugglers as George Taip
- Married To It as Sol Chamberlain
- Paint Cans as Maitland Burns
- Johnny Mnemonic as Hooky
- The Conspiracy Of Fear as Norman
- Harriet the Spy as Harrison Withers
- Bogus as Dr. Surprise
- Dinner At Freds as Gus
- The Minion as Chief Michael Bear
- Summer Of The Monkeys as Bayliss Hatcher
- My Name Is Tanino as Chinawaksy
- Lie With Me as Joshua
- I'm Not There as Hobo Joe
- He Never Died as Goatee Man
- Second Time Around as Murray
Live-Action TV
- Pacific 13 as Harlequin
- The Adventures Of Tugboat Annie as Jim
- Folio as Hastings and Alexey Beliayev
- On Camera as Bernie
- Cannonball as Hitchhiker
- The Unforeseen as Joe
- RCMP as Constable Bill Mitchell
- Encounter as Tom Price and Jeff Rollins
- The Forest Rangers as Sanders
- Playdate as Jack Smurch, Alfie, and Creed
- For The People 1965 as Jerry Larkin
- Ben Casey as Alan Ames
- The Wild Wild West as T. Wiggett Jones
- The Man from U.N.C.L.E. as Artie King
- Jericho (1966) as Franklin Sheppard
- The Virginian as Caleb and Jack Welles
- Mission: Impossible as Major Alex Denesch and Nicholas Groat
- Mannix as Greg Martel
- Lancer as Noah Fletcher
- Mister Rogers' Neighborhood as Mr. Anybody
- The Littlest Hobo as Reverend Dobson
- Seeing Things as Guy and Sunshine
- Hangin In as Morris, Sky, and Martin Coleman
- Danger Bay as Commentator
- Alfred Hitchcock Presents as Sgt. Jim Willis
- Night Heat as Albert
- Street Legal as Mel
- Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future as Lacchi
- Top Cops as Dakota
- ENG as Pointer
- The Hidden Room as Dick
- Catwalk as Charlie
- Kung Fu: The Legend Continues as Stranger
- Side Effects as Mr. Harrison
- Road to Avonlea as Abe Pike
- The Great Defender as Dr. Gorfleisch
- Goosebumps (1995) as Swamp Hermit
- Eerie, Indiana as Sandman
- Little Men as Levi Cole
- Relic Hunter as Jake Whitney
- Seasons Of Love as Reverend Doctor Garshwin
- PSI Factor as Samuel Thompson
- The Famous Jett Jackson as Phil Phelps
- Earth: Final Conflict as Kyle Madrid
- La Femme Nikita as Walter
- Screech Owls as Mr. Fontaine
- The Zack Files as Raoul
- Tracker (2001) as Wahota Keene
- Street Time as Don Goldstein
- The Last Chapter II The War Continues as President Stanz
- Zixx as Mr. Bigalky
- This is Wonderland as Stan Puck
- Puppets Who Kill as Blind Willy and The Evil Head
- The Listener as Wally
- Hemlock Grove as Nicolae
- Gangland Undercover as Lizard
Video Games
- X-Men vs. Street Fighter as Sabretooth
- Marvel vs. Capcom 2 as Sabretooth
- X-Men: Mutant Academy as Sabretooth
- X Men Mutant Academy 2 as Sabretooth
Western Animation
- Rock and Rule as Mok
- Heavy Metal as Grimaldi, Co-Pilot, and Barbarian
- Droids as Jann Tosh, Kybo Ren, and Boba Fett
- Ewoks as Umwak and Dulok Shaman
- Inspector Gadget as Dr. Claw (only in certain episodes)
- Care Bears Nutcracker Suite as the Vizier
- Madballs as Wolf Breath
- StarCom: The U.S. Space Force as Adm. Franklin Brinkley
- Police Academy: The Animated Series as Sgt. Carl Proctor and Thomas "House" Conklin
- Swamp Thing as Dr. Anton Arcane
- Tales from the Cryptkeeper as The Hunter, The Exterminator, and Red Beard
- X-Men: The Animated Series as Sabretooth, Puck, and Shaman
- Blazing Dragons as The Black Knight
- Freaky Stories as a Narrator ("Invisible Shirley", "The Mortician's Daughter")
- Silver Surfer: The Animated Series as Kalek
- Beetlejuice as Count Mein and Mr. Big
- Cadillacs and Dinosaurs as Girth and Hobbs
- The Neverending Story: The Animated Adventures of Bastian Balthazar Bux as Gmork
- Nilus The Sandman as The Boogie Man
- The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police as Santa Claus
- Eckhart as Boss Mouse
- My Dad the Rock Star as Nigel "Skunk" Fanshawe
- Atomic Betty as Maximus Sr.
- Sons of Butcher as Barney G.
- Yam Roll as Futukayoi
- The Adventures of Chuck & Friends as Deep
