This page is dedicated to my fellow
appreciators of the brilliant light that was Mark Frankel.
In Loving Memory
Mark Frankel 13th of June 1962-24th of September 1996.
Eternal Peace!
"The saddest thing about his tragic death is that we are all
deprived of memories to come. I already miss his future and his part in mine",
Gary Sinyor (friend and director).
If you have
anything that I can add to the list of Mark's acting career, please let me know.
If you have any personal memories of Mark Frankel please send them toThe Mark Frankel Fanclub
Mark graduated in drama at the Webber Douglas Academy. He went on to star as
the leading role in several British stage productions, such as "Days of Cavafy".
It was here that he came to the attention of director Gary Sinyor, who needed a
male lead for his movie "Leon, the
Pig Farmer". The two were to become very close friends. The success of this
movie gained Mark roles in other major productions such as the part of
Michelangelo in "A Season of
Giants", which also featured F. Murray Abraham & Ian Holm as well as the part of
Count Grigorij Orlov in the BBC production "Young Catherine" with Julia Ormond, Vanessa Redgrave and Christopher Plummer.
Mark then decided to go to Hollywood,where he was given the recurring role of
billionaire recluse Simon Bolt in the top rated US show "Sisters" starring opposite Sela Ward. It was through the
filming of "Sisters" that he was invited to take up the role as all-action hero
Carlton Dial in "Fortune Hunter",
a tongue-in-cheek television series inspired by the Bond-movies. Returning to
England he once again joined forces with friend Gary Sinyor to make the romantic
comedy "Solitaire For 2",which
also starred Amanda Pays
& Maryam d'Abo. "It was typical of him (and natural for him) to put faith in a low
budget feature being made by a friend. Every time a film school student offered
him a short film, you could sense his American agent sweating..." says
Sinyor. In this second venture with Sinyor Mark starred as a
body-language expert named Daniel, who in his spare time romances women and
pretends to conduct orchestras. "That part was easy",
Frankel said. "My grandfather was a conductor for the Royal Philharmonic
Orchestra and my grandmother was a pianist." Amanda Pays is the
love-interest with am ability to read people's minds."It's
really fun," Mark said. "It's not anything heavy, just a good time." Then
in 1996 came the all too short tv-series that made him immortal: Aaron
Spelling's "Kindred: The
Embraced", which was based on the RPG "Vampire: The Masquerade" created by
Mark Rein-Hagen, who also co-produced. In "Kindred,the Embraced" Mark played
Julian Luna, the vampire prince of San Francisco. In the role of the elegant,
peace-loving Ventrue prince Mark was at his most appealing as the viewers watced
him battle for justice and his own humanity. His shocking death came when his
Harley Davidson collided with a lorry in London's West End. Though Mark was
taken to hospital he died there some hours later. His last movie "For Roseanna" aka "Roseanna's
Grave" in which he starred with Jean Reno and Mercedes Ruehl was released
after his death. Mark had a very strong presence that he lent to all his
characters making each of them memorable whether it was comedy, action, fantasy
or historical drama. He was the kind of person you wanted to reach out and touch
on the screen to be near him in some way.
Mark leaves behind fans all over the world. May his spirit live in us
forever!
"I feel that life's there to be lived because I know how
short it can be."-Mark Frankel
Quotations are from an interview with Mark and a comment by Sinyor
following Mark's death.
To buy pictures and movies with Mark Frankel try the Mark Frankel Merchandise
link.
The Mark Frankel Webring Homepage can be found here
If you have
anything that I can add to the list of Mark's acting career, please let me know.
If you have any personal memories of Mark Frankel please send them toThe Mark Frankel Fanclub
