Frank Jenks

Frank Jenks

actor, soundtrack

Frank Jenks was born on Nov 04, 1902 in USA. Frank Jenks's big-screen debut came with Hello, Everybody! directed by William A. Seiter in 1933, strarring Orchestra Leader (uncredited). Frank Jenks is known for Friendly Persuasion directed by William Wyler, Gary Cooper stars as Jess Birdwell and Dorothy McGuire as Eliza Birdwell. The upcoming new movie Frank Jenks plays is Rock-a-Bye Baby which will be released on Jul 23, 1958.

Wavy-haired American character actor and musician Frank Jenks was the son of advertising man Frank Jenks and pianist Lillian Sadler. After his family settled in Los Angeles, he attended the University of Southern California. He learned to play trumpet, trombone and clarinet, but eventually dropped out of college and embarked on leading a band on the West Coast vaudeville circuit. He then took the next step and became a song-and-dance man. From being a hoofer, he made his way to the legitimate stage and from there to movies, at first playing orchestra leaders. While this required little acting ability, he soon came into his own as a comic actor, his cinematic stock-in-trade being fast talking reporters (his caustic delivery was used to best effect in La dame du vendredi (1940)), droll Runyonesque henchmen, cabbies, grifters, cops, bartenders and drunks. His improvisational acumen in adding his own routines to varied comedy scripts led to his receiving Hollywood's sobriquet as "off-the-cuff Jenks".Amid numerous supporting parts, often for Universal's B-team, Jenks finagled the odd star billing, notably in a series of forgotten potboilers made by Poverty Row outfit PRC during the 1940s. From the early 1950s, he was a regular guest performer on television, appearing in just about anything, from Superman (1952) to Perry Mason (1957).

  • Birthday

    Nov 04, 1902
  • Place of Birth

    Des Moines, Iowa, USA

Known For

Movies & TV Shows

All
Movies
TV Shows