"I just feel that no matter what comes in a career - and mine has been all over the map - you must stay at the table, pick up the cards you're dealt and play them."
Frank A. Langella Jr. (born January 1, 1938) is a prolific American stage and film actor of Italian descent born in Bayonne, New Jersey.
He has won four Tony Awards, two for Best Leading Actor in a Play for his performance as Richard Nixon in the play Frost/Nixon and for his role as André in The Father, and two for Best Featured Actor in a Play for the role of Leslie in Edward Albee's Seascape and for his role as Flegont Alexandrovitch Tropatchov in Ivan Turgenev's Fortunes Fool.
Additionally, Langella has won two Obie Awards and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in the film production of Frost/Nixon.
He Appeared in:
Film:
- The Wrath of God (1972)
- The Mark of Zorro (1974)
- Dracula (1979)
- Masters of the Universe (1987)
- And God Created Woman (1988)
- 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992)
- Body of Evidence (1993)
- Dave (1993)
- Brainscan (1994)
- Junior (1994)
- Bad Company (1995)
- Cutthroat Island (1995)
- Lolita (1997)
- Small Soldiers (1998 ; voice only)
- The Ninth Gate (1999)
- Good Night, and Good Luck.(2005)
- Superman Returns (2006)
- Frost/Nixon (2008)
- The Tale of Despereaux (2008 ; voice only)
- The Box (2009)
- Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010)
- All Good Things (2010)
- Unknown (2011)
- Robot and Frank (2012)
- Muppets Most Wanted (2014)
- Noah (2014 ; voice only)
- Draft Day (2014)
- Captain Fantastic (2016)
- The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)
Television
- Marcus Welby, M.D. (1973)
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993)
- Jason and the Argonauts (2000, television miniseries)
- CryBaby Lane (2000, television film)
- Kitchen Confidential (2005-2006)
- Law & Order: SVU (2006)
- 10.5: Apocalypse (2006, television miniseries)
- The Americans (2013)
- All the Way (2016, television film)
Theater
- AlegrÃa
- A Midsummer Night's Dream
- Amadeus
- The Tempest
- Sherlock Holmes
- Dracula
- Passion
- After The Fall
- Cyrano de Bergerac
- A Christmas Carol
- King Lear
- Seascape
Video Game
- Destiny 2 (2017)
Tropes
- Awesome, Dear Boy:
- The reason why he participated in Masters of the Universe, with a dash of So My Kids Can Watch. Despite the movie's general dodginess, he's generally considered as the very best part of it. He himself considers Skeletor as one of his most favorite characters to play because not only are his sons fans of the franchise, but he was also finally able to go all out on a role.
- He only took the part on Cutthroat Island because he loved to play a pirate at the time. And even though the film became a Box Office Bomb, he never considered it as an Old Shame.
- Celebrity Resemblance: To Warren Harding
- Chewing the Scenery: If he wants to, he can be very theatrical with his characters. Case in point
. - Cool Old Guy: In quite a few of his later roles.
- Doing It for the Art: He went uncredited for his appearance on Deep Space Nine, as he refused to make it look like he was doing it for the money or exposure.
- Evil Sounds Deep: Can rival fellow Dracula Christopher Lee, who played his father in the 1995 film Moses, for this trope.
- Large Ham: When the role calls for it, he can gleefully ham it up with the best of them as his roles as Skeletor and Dog show. He considers the two among his favorite roles for this very reason, indicating that he loves going over the top.
- The Rival: Mainly for playing the same roles.
- He and Anthony Hopkins both received Oscar nominations for portraying Richard Nixon: Langella for Frost/Nixon in 2008, and Hopkins for Nixon in 1995. Both have also played the titular Zorro: Langella on The Mark of Zorro in 1974, and Hopkins on The Mask of Zorro in 1998.
- He is one of the few actors to play both Dracula and Sherlock Holmes along with Christopher Lee and Richard Roxburgh.
- He has two roles in common with Duncan Regehr: Both have also played the titular Zorro: Langella on The Mark of Zorro in 1974, while Regehr played him in the 1990s TV series. He and Langella also played Count Dracula: Langella in Dracula (1979), and Regehr in The Monster Squad. Both actors also played Bajoran politicians in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
- Role Reprise:
- After playing Dracula in a stage play, Laurence Olivier convinced him to play the character again in Dracula (1979).
- He did this for the film adaptation of Frost/Nixon in 2008 after playing the former half of the eponymous characters in a play a year before.
- Shakespearean Actors: A multi-time Tony winner, he has appeared in A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tempest, and King Lear. He also played William Shakespeare himself in A Cry Of Players.
- So My Kids Can Watch: He appeared in both Masters of the Universe and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine because his children were fans of those works.
- Tall, Dark, and Handsome: Most definitely in his 70's heyday. Standing 6'3" does help quite a bit.
- Those Two Actors: He has appeared with Sigourney Weaver in three films: 1492: Conquest of Paradise, Dave and The Tale of Despereaux.
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Took the Bad Film Seriously: Langella is famous for enjoying work on films almost designed to fail spectacularly. His turns as Skeletor on Masters of the Universe and Douglas Brown in Cutthroat Island were his favorite roles.
