Wendell James Franklin (1916 – July 22, 1994) was an American film executive, who was the first Black member of the

Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Directors Guild in 1936, the group merge ...

starting in 1960. He held several job roles in his career including film and television series director, assistant director, producer, and as a stage manager for live television series.

Career

In his early career Franklin was the parking lot attendant for a film studio, followed by work as a

stage manager Stage management is a broad field that is generally defined as the practice of organization and coordination of an event or theatrical production. Stage management may encompass a variety of activities including the overseeing of the rehearsal p ...

for television series such as '' The Jerry Lewis Show'', ''

The Nat King Cole Show Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. Cole's music career began after he dropped out of school at the age of 15, and continued f ...

'', ''

This is Your Life This Is Your Life may refer to: Television * ''This Is Your Life'' (American franchise), an American radio and television documentary biography series hosted by Ralph Edwards * ''This Is Your Life'' (Australian TV series), the Australian versio ...

'', and '' Queen for a Day''. He served as an

assistant director The role of an assistant director on a film includes tracking daily progress against the filming production schedule, arranging logistics, preparing daily call sheets, checking cast and crew, and maintaining order on the set. They also have to tak ...

to over forty three Hollywood films and television series, including '' Funny Girl'' (1968), '' The Greatest Story Ever Told'' (1965), and '' The Bill Cosby Show'' (from 1969 to 1971). In 1971, Franklin directed the

Blaxploitation Blaxploitation is an ethnic subgenre of the exploitation film that emerged in the United States during the early 1970s. The term, a portmanteau of the words "black" and "exploitation", was coined in August 1972 by Junius Griffin, the president o ...

genre film, '' Ghetto Revenge'' (1971).

Filmography

* ''Ghetto Revenge'' (1971), also known as '' The Bus Is Coming'', as film director

References

External links

* 1916 births 1994 deaths Film people from Los Angeles African-American film directors Blaxploitation film directors {{US-film-director-1910s-stub

Career

Filmography

See also

References

External links