Frank Buxton (February 13, 1930 - January 2, 2018) was an actor, writer and director who worked on Mork & Mindy in S4 coming in to direct 4 episodes in a row.
Biography[]
Born Frank W. Buxton Jr. on February 13, 1930 in Wellesley, Massachusetts, USA. Buxton grew up in Larchmont, NY, USA, graduated from Northwestern University (BS) and Syracuse University (MS). As a young actor, in 1949, he shared a stage with the legendary Buster Keaton at the Berkshire Playhouse, Summerstock as a bartender in a play called "Three Men on a Horse". After service in the U.S. Army in the Korean War, he worked in local television as a producer-director in Buffalo, N.Y. and Chicago, IL and then began his performing career as a stand-up comedian, which led to his career in front of and behind the camera.
He was one of the founders of Sons of the Desert, the international Laurel and Hardy organization. He had a lifelong interest in old-time radio, which led him and his Discovery colleague Bill Owen to write two books, Radio’s Golden Age and The Big Broadcast. He appeared on The Tonight Show and staged a re-creation of the Superman radio program (featuring its original leading man, Bud Collyer) with the enthusiastic participation of Johnny Carson, who also grew up on radio. [1]
At 51 and entrenched or so his friends thought in the bachelor lifestyle, he met and married Cynthia Lovelace in 1982. And even after Frank and Cynthia left L.A. to live on Bainbridge Island near Seattle, he kept working. Even retired he was never idle performing with The Edge, a Seattle improv comedy troupe. He also programmed film series at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art.[1]
Frank Buxton died January 2, 2018 in Bainbridge Island, Washington, USA Buxton died after battling health issues (heart problems) for two years. [2]
Career[]
He went on to enjoy a formidable career in show business on both sides of the camera. He got his first onscreen acting credit for Armstrong Circle Theatre (1959) From November 1962 to 1969, Frank Buxton and actress/singer Virginia Gibson (one of the brides in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers) hosted the children's TV news magazine and travelogue, Discovery (1962), introducing young viewers to the wonders of science, travel, and the world at large. which was seen weekday afternoons and Sunday mornings on the ABC-TV network. Mr. Buxton served as the director during the show's last season, while the show's announcer, Bill Owen, served as the program's last co-host. He also hosted Get the Message (1964) a panel game show during this period. The show received numerous Emmy nominations winning in 1964.
He also helped to create with Hal Seeger, (and was the voice of) animated hero Batfink (1966) the Batman/Green Hornet parody that ran for over a 100 episodes and was a cult hit, and worked with Woody Allen as a straight-man interviewer in his memorable trailer for Bananas, then as a writer and voice artist on What's Up, Tiger Lily (1966) [3]
Appearing in numerous TV shorts, in 1970 He then created Hot Dog, a memorable weekend TV show that illustrated how everyday objects were made. Drawing on his work as a stand-up comic and TV, he fostered good relationships with other comedic talents and put them on camera to riff about the subjects at hand: Woody Allen, Jonathan Winters, and Joanne Worley. The show earning a prestigious Peabody Award.
In 1972 he was hired by Garry Marshall as a staff writer on Love, American Style, writing and directing for both it and moving on to write and his other shows Happy Days, The Odd Couple, instituting the tradition of screening vintage comedy films for his writing team. Marshall was loyal to friends and colleagues and, when Frank and his wife left L.A. to live on Bainbridge Island near Seattle, he hired Frank to fill small roles in his films Overboard, Frankie and Johnny, and Beaches. Frank never lost the acting bug and appeared in other film and television projects, including commercials, in later years.
Mork & Mindy[]
In 1981, after Bob Claver had helmed the first four transformative episodes of Season 4, Marshall called on Frank Buxton to direct the next four, in part because of his prior relationship with the newly arrived Jonathan Winters, helming:
Buxton took particular pleasure in directing his old friend Jonathan Winters alongside the dazzling young Robin Williams.[1]
References[]
External Links[]
- Frank Buxton article at Wikipedia
Frank Buxton at the internet Movie Database (IMDb)
