John Franklin (born John Paul Salapatek; June 16, 1959) is an American actor, writer and former school teacher. He is best known for playing Isaac Chroner in ''

Children of the Corn "Children of the Corn" is a short story by Stephen King, first published in the March 1977 issue of ''Penthouse'', and later collected in King's 1978 collection '' Night Shift''. The story is about a couple who end up in an abandoned Nebraska t ...

'' (1984), and

Cousin Itt Cousin Itt is a fictional character in the ''Addams Family'' television and film series. He was developed specifically for the 1964 television series and is a regular supporting character in subsequent motion-picture, television and stage adaptat ...

in ''

The Addams Family ''The Addams Family'' is a fictional family created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. They originally appeared in a series of 150 unrelated single-panel cartoons, about half of which were originally published in ''The New Yorker'' over a ...

'' (1991).

Early life

He was born John Paul Salapatek in

Blue Island, Illinois Blue Island is a city in Cook County, Illinois, located approximately south of Chicago's Loop. Blue Island is adjacent to the city of Chicago and shares its northern boundary with that city's Morgan Park neighborhood. The population was 22,558 ...

, a southern suburb of Chicago, on June 16, 1959. As a child, Franklin had a

growth hormone deficiency Growth hormone deficiency (GHD), or human growth hormone deficiency, is a medical condition resulting from not enough growth hormone (GH). Generally the most noticeable symptom is that an individual attains a short height. Newborns may also presen ...

; as a result, his adult height is "barely 5 feet", or roughly 152 centimeters. In 1977, John graduated from Dwight D. Eisenhower High School. He graduated from the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

in 1983 with a BFA in theater and teaching.

Career

In 1983, John Franklin moved to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

to pursue a career in acting. He appeared in commercials before successfully auditioning for the role of Isaac in Stephen King's ''

''. After ''Children of the Corn'', Franklin went on to guest star in two episodes of the kids' variety show ''

Kids Incorporated ''Kids Incorporated'' (also known as ''Kids Inc.'') is an American children's television program that began production in the mid-1980s and continued airing well into the early 1990s. It was largely a youth-oriented program with musical performan ...

'', "The Leprechaun" and "Space Case." He appeared in many commercials before guest starring on ''

Highway to Heaven ''Highway to Heaven'' is an American fantasy Drama (film and television), drama television series that ran on NBC from September 19, 1984, to August 4, 1989. The series starred Michael Landon as Jonathan Smith, an angel sent to Earth in order t ...

'' as Arnie, a mentally handicapped teenage runaway. He also played "Walkabout-Chucky" during the 'Good Guy' doll commercial in the 1988 movie '' Child's Play''. In 1991, Franklin landed the role of

in ''

''; he reprised the role in 1993's ''

Addams Family Values ''Addams Family Values'' is a 1993 American supernatural black comedy film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and written by Paul Rudnick, based on the characters created by Charles Addams. It is the sequel to ''The Addams Family'' (1991). The film ...

''. Throughout the 1990s, Franklin appeared as a guest on several TV shows, including ''

Chicago Hope ''Chicago Hope'' is an American medical drama television series, created by David E. Kelley. It originally aired on CBS from September 18, 1994, to May 4, 2000. The series is set in a fictional private charitable hospital in Chicago, Illinois. ...

'' and '' Star Trek: Voyager''. He co-starred with

David Morse David Bowditch Morse (born October 11, 1953) is an American actor, singer, television director, and writer. He first came to national attention as Dr. Jack "Boomer" Morrison in the medical drama series ''St. Elsewhere'' (1982–88). His film ca ...

in the independent 1997 film ''George B.'' and with

Steve Guttenberg Steven Robert Guttenberg (born August 24, 1958) is an American actor, author, businessman, producer, and director. He is known for his lead roles in Hollywood films of the 1980s and 1990s, including '' Cocoon'', ''Police Academy'', ''Three Men a ...

in Disney’s TV movie '' Tower of Terror'' the same year. In 1999, Franklin reprised his debut role, Isaac, in '' Children of the Corn 666: Isaac's Return'', co-writing the script with his cousin Tim Sulka. In 2000, he landed a small role in ''

Python Python may refer to: Snakes * Pythonidae, a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia ** ''Python'' (genus), a genus of Pythonidae found in Africa and Asia * Python (mythology), a mythical serpent Computing * Python (pro ...

'' and co-starred as Morluv in ''

The Christmas Secret ''The Christmas Secret'' is a 2000 American made-for-television family fantasy-drama film starring Richard Thomas and Beau Bridges based on the speculative book ''Flight of the Reindeer'' written by Robert Sullivan. It premiered on CBS on Dece ...

''. Franklin formerly worked as an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

at Golden Valley High School in

Santa Clarita, California Santa Clarita (; Spanish for "Little St. Clare") is a city in northwestern Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. With a 2020 census population of 228,673, it is the third-largest city by population in Los Angeles County, the 17th ...

. He explained,

After the events of
9/11 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...
, I saw the shallowness of showbiz and felt a great desire to leave a greater legacy than just being Cousin Itt. Teaching seemed to be a perfect fit for my theatrical talents and to touch many lives."

At the end of the 2015–16 school year, Franklin announced to the students and staff of Golden Valley High School that he would be retiring from teaching to reprise his career as an actor and writer. He later was reported to be working on several projects, including a young adult novel.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Franklin, John 1959 births Living people Male actors from Chicago American male film actors American people of Polish descent American gay actors LGBT people from Illinois People from Blue Island, Illinois University of Illinois alumni Teachers of English Schoolteachers from California