Frank Marion Thomas Jr. (April 9, 1921 – May 11, 2006), was an American actor, author and
bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
-strategy expert who played both lead and supporting roles on Broadway, in films, in post-
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
radio
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...
, and in early television. He was best known for his starring role in ''
Tom Corbett, Space Cadet
Tom Corbett is the main character in a series of ''Tom Corbett—Space Cadet'' stories that were depicted in television, radio, books, comic books, comic strips, and other media in the 1950s.
The stories followed the adventures of Corbett, Astro ...
''.
Early years
Thomas was born in New York City to actors
Frank M. Thomas
Frank Marion Thomas (July 13, 1889 – November 25, 1989) was an American character actor of stage, screen and television. He and his wife, actress Mona Bruns, both lived to 100 years old. He died the day before her 90th birthday; she died 11 y ...
and
Mona Bruns (both of whom lived to 100 years of age). His uncle,
Calvin Thomas, was also an actor.
Thomas portrayed a Kiowan youth in the Broadway play ''
Carry Nation'' (1932). He appeared in six other Broadway plays between 1932 and 1936, including ''Little Ol' Boy'', ''Thunder on the Left'', ''Wednesday's Child'', ''The First Legion'', ''Remember the Day'', and ''Seen But Not Heard''.
In ''Wednesday's Child'' he played the role of Bobby Phillips, the longest stage part ever written for a child performer. Thomas also developed a lifelong fascination with the character of
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...
during this period, when he saw
William Gillette
William Hooker Gillette (July 24, 1853 – April 29, 1937) was an American actor-manager, playwright, and stage-manager in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is best remembered for portraying Sherlock Holmes on stage and in a 1916 ...
perform the part during his farewell tour.
When ''
Wednesday's Child'' was filmed in 1934, Thomas and his family traveled to
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
. His parents found character parts in films, while Thomas played the role of Bobby Phillips for the cameras. The following year he played Nello Daas in the film adaptation of the novel, ''
A Dog of Flanders'', by
Ouida
Ouida (; 1 January 1839 – 25 January 1908) was the pseudonym of the English novelist Maria Louise Ramé (although she preferred to be known as Marie Louise de la Ramée). During her career, Ouida wrote more than 40 novels, as well as sh ...
.
In 1937 he appeared in the serial ''
Tim Tyler's Luck
''Tim Tyler's Luck'' is an adventure comic strip created by Lyman Young, elder brother of '' Blondie'' creator Chic Young. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, the strip ran from August 13, 1928, until August 24, 1996.
Characters and story
...
'', based on the comic strip by
Lyman Young
Lyman W. Young (October 20, 1893 – February 12, 1984) was an American cartoonist who created the strip ''Tim Tyler's Luck''. His younger brother, Chic Young, was the creator of '' Blondie''.
Like his brother, Lyman Young was encouraged to do ar ...
. Thomas often said that the serial was his equivalent of attending college, since he met so many notable silent-film stars who were in the cast. When not busy in Hollywood, Thomas would return to Broadway; however, after the serial, he was not seen on Broadway for nearly five years, and that brief return to the stage was his swan song there.
Thomas's last "A" film was ''
Boys' Town'' (1938) with
Spencer Tracy
Spencer Bonaventure Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an American actor. He was known for his natural performing style and versatility. One of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, Tracy was the first actor to win two cons ...
and
Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney (born Joseph Yule Jr.; other pseudonym Mickey Maguire; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014) was an American actor. In a career spanning nine decades, he appeared in more than 300 films and was among the last surviving stars of the ...
. Thomas was Freddy Fuller, Boys' Town's mayor, and was not asked to appear in the sequel, ''Men of Boys' Town'' (1941). He then appeared in a string of "B" films such as ''
Little Tough Guys in Society
''Little Tough Guys in Society'' is a 1938 Universal Studios film that starred several of the ''Dead End Kids''. It was the second film that Universal made in their series and the first of three that they made without any of the original ''Dead E ...
'' and ''
Nancy Drew... Detective'' (both 1938), ''
Nancy Drew... Reporter'', ''
Code of the Streets
''Code of the Streets'' is a 1939 Universal Studios film starring '' The Little Tough Guys''.
Plot
Convicted on circumstantial evidence, Tommy Shay, a young product of the Front Street slums, is sentenced to die for the murder of police lieutenan ...
'', ''
Nancy Drew… Trouble Shooter
''Nancy Drew... Trouble Shooter'' is a 1939 American comedy film directed by William Clemens and written by Kenneth Gamet. The film stars Bonita Granville, Frankie Thomas, John Litel, Aldrich Bowker, Charlotte Wynters and Edgar Edwards. The fi ...
'', ''
The Angels Wash Their Faces
''The Angels Wash Their Faces'' is a 1939 Warner Bros. film directed by Ray Enright and starring Ann Sheridan, Ronald Reagan and the Dead End Kids.
Plot
Gabe Ryan is released from reform school and is taken to a new house by his sister Joy to s ...
'',
''
Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase'', ''
On Dress Parade
''The 'Dead End' Kids "On Dress Parade"'' is a 1939 Warner Bros. film that marked the first time The Dead End Kids headlined a film without any other well-known actors.
Plot
A hero of World War I, Colonel William Duncan, is on his deathbed. He s ...
'' and ''
Invisible Stripes
''Invisible Stripes'' is a 1939 Warner Bros. crime film starring George Raft as a gangster unable to go straight after returning home from prison. The movie was directed by Lloyd Bacon and also features William Holden, Jane Bryan and Humphrey ...
'' (all 1939).
In the summer of 1940, Thomas acted with the Guy Palmerton Players.
In 1941 he had small parts in ''Flying Cadets'' and ''
One Foot in Heaven
''One Foot in Heaven'' is a 1941 American biographical film starring Fredric March, Martha Scott, Beulah Bondi, Gene Lockhart and Elisabeth Fraser. The film was adapted by Casey Robinson from the autobiography by Hartzell Spence. It was directed ...
''. His last film roles were small roles in ''
Always in My Heart'' and ''
The Major and the Minor
''The Major and the Minor'' is a 1942 American comedy film starring Ginger Rogers and Ray Milland. It was the first American film directed by Billy Wilder. The screenplay credited to Wilder and Charles Brackett is "suggested by" the 1923 play '' ...
'' (1942), where he played a military school cadet who flirted with
Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starri ...
' character. His last appearance on Broadway was in ''Your Loving Son'', which closed after just two performances in April 1941.
Later years
With the entry of the United States into
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Thomas joined the
US Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...
in 1942. He was commissioned and assigned to the
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...
. He served as third officer on patrols in the Atlantic, and was discharged in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
in 1944.
Following the war, Thomas and his parents lived in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
and worked in the daily and weekly radio series originating in the studios of the four major networks. By 1948 all three Thomases had moved into television. In 1949 Frankie Thomas was a regular on two pioneering TV
soap operas
A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
, ''
A Woman to Remember'' and ''
One Man's Family
''One Man's Family'' is an American radio soap opera, heard for almost three decades, from 1932 to 1959. Created by Carlton E. Morse, it was the longest-running uninterrupted dramatic serial in the history of American radio. Television versions ...
''.
In the fall of 1950 he became the idol of millions of children when he played the starring role in ''
Tom Corbett, Space Cadet
Tom Corbett is the main character in a series of ''Tom Corbett—Space Cadet'' stories that were depicted in television, radio, books, comic books, comic strips, and other media in the 1950s.
The stories followed the adventures of Corbett, Astro ...
'', beginning on
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
and transferring to
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
in January 1951. Thomas had beaten out
Jack Lemmon
John Uhler Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 – June 27, 2001) was an American actor. Considered equally proficient in both dramatic and comic roles, Lemmon was known for his anxious, middle-class everyman screen persona in dramedy pictures, leadin ...
for the part. The series continued its three-a-week 15-minute broadcasts until the spring of 1952.
Kinescope
Kinescope , shortened to kine , also known as telerecording in Britain, is a recording of a television program on motion picture film, directly through a lens focused on the screen of a video monitor. The process was pioneered during the 1940 ...
s were rebroadcast on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
in the summer of 1951, with live introductions by Thomas as Tom Corbett. During the spring of 1952, the TV cast of ''Tom Corbett'' also performed a twice-a-week 30-minute broadcast on ABC radio.
The TV series reappeared on
DuMont, alternating Saturdays with ''Secret Files of
Captain Video
''Captain Video and His Video Rangers'' is an American science fiction television series that aired on the DuMont Television Network and was the first series of its genre on American television.
The series aired between June 27, 1949, and Apri ...
'' for 30 minutes, before going off the air in May 1954. Thomas became a regular on the soap opera ''First Love'', but in December 1954, ''Tom Corbett'' began on NBC, running until June 1955. By this time Tom Corbett's rivals
Captain Video
''Captain Video and His Video Rangers'' is an American science fiction television series that aired on the DuMont Television Network and was the first series of its genre on American television.
The series aired between June 27, 1949, and Apri ...
and Commander Buzz Corry of ''
Space Patrol'' had been off the air for several months. None of the science fiction series was ever revived, though there was talk of doing so in 1957, in the aftermath of
Sputnik
Sputnik 1 (; see § Etymology) was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 as part of the Soviet space program. It sent a radio signal back to Earth for t ...
.
![Tom Corbett and Doctor Dale 1951](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Tom_Corbett_and_Doctor_Dale_1951.jpg)
''Tom Corbett'' had the distinction of appearing on all four Golden-Age TV networks, and during the summer of 1951 appeared on two different networks simultaneously. Like most child stars, Thomas never made the transition to adult roles. Despite the fact that he was 34 years old at the end, his Tom Corbett character was supposedly a teenager attending Space Academy to become an officer of the Solar Guard.
In 1956, Thomas and his now-retired parents returned to California, where he appeared in a few radio series such as ''Suspense'' and wrote soap-opera scripts. He turned his hobby of
bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
into a career, becoming the editor of several bridge-related periodicals and president of the American Bridge Teachers' Association. He wrote several books on bridge. Thomas traveled the country to compete in bridge tournaments and to instruct in the game's strategies.
In 1957, Thomas was once again connected with Nancy Drew when he starred as Carson Drew in a pilot for
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
. He co-starred with
Roberta Shore
Roberta Jymme Schourop (born April 7, 1943, Monterey Park, California), better known as Roberta Shore, is a retired American actress and performer. She is notable for her roles in the original '' Shaggy Dog'' film and as Betsy Garth on the Wester ...
and
Tim Considine
Timothy Daniel Considine (December 31, 1940 – March 3, 2022) was an American actor, writer, photographer, and automotive historian. He was best known for his acting roles in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Early life
Considine was born in Lo ...
. The series was to be based on the 1930s films he starred in as Ted. In the late 1970s he began writing and publishing novels and short-story collections featuring consulting detective
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...
. During the last decade of his life Thomas appeared as a celebrity guest at conventions on old-time radio, the Golden Age of Hollywood, and the Golden Age of Television. He often appeared wearing his original Tom Corbett uniform, which he still fit into.
Death
Frankie Thomas died in 2006 at age 85 at a
Sherman Oaks
Sherman Oaks is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California located in the San Fernando Valley, founded in 1927. The neighborhood includes a portion of the Santa Monica Mountains, which gives Sherman Oaks a lower population density than ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, hospital of respiratory failure, following a stroke. At his request, he was buried in his Space Cadet uniform. He rests beside his parents at
Forest Lawn Cemetery in the Hollywood Hills. His wife, Virginia, had preceded him in death in 1997.
Partial filmography
Film
Bibliography
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References
*
*
* Holmstrom, John (1996). ''The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995''. Norwich: Michael Russell, p. 103-104.
* Willson, Dixie (1935). ''Little Hollywood Stars''. Akron, OH, e New York: Saalfield Pub. Co.
External links
Frankie Thomas interview*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Frankie
1921 births
2006 deaths
20th-century American novelists
21st-century American novelists
American male child actors
American mystery writers
American male novelists
Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills)
20th-century American male writers
21st-century American male writers
American male stage actors
20th-century American male actors
Film serial actors
United States Coast Guard personnel of World War II
United States Coast Guard officers
Deaths from respiratory failure