Francis Michael Chernesky (5 May 1955 – 30 March 2016), known professionally as Frankie Michaels, was an American actor and singer. In 1966, he won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for playing young

Patrick Dennis Edward Everett Tanner III (18 May 1921 – 6 November 1976), known by the pseudonym Patrick Dennis, was an American author. His novel '' Auntie Mame: An irreverent escapade'' (1955) was one of the bestselling American books of the 20 ...

in the original production of ''

Mame MAME (formerly an acronym of Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) is a free and open-source emulator designed to recreate the hardware of arcade game systems in software on modern personal computers and other platforms. Its intention is to preserve ...

''. At the age of 10, Michaels was the youngest

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual c ...

winner ever.

Stage career

Michaels holds the record for being the youngest person to win a

-- in 1966 for Actor, Supporting or Featured (Musical) -- at age ten for his performance as young

in the

Broadway musical Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...

'' in 1966. His other stage credits include ''A for Adult'' and ''Happily Ever After,'' both

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer th ...

TV career

Michaels appeared in the TV series ''

As the World Turns ''As the World Turns'' (often abbreviated as ''ATWT'') is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS for 54 years from April 2, 1956, to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created ''As the World Turns'' as a sister show to her other s ...

'' from 1964–66, ''

Our Private World Our or OUR may refer to: * The possessive form of " we" * Our (river), in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany * Our, Belgium, a village in Belgium * Our, Jura, a commune in France * Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), a government utility regulato ...

'' in 1965, and '' The Joey Bishop Show'' in 1967. While performing in ''Mame'' he made guest appearances on ''

The Mike Douglas Show ''The Mike Douglas Show'' was an American daytime television talk show that was hosted by Mike Douglas. It began as a local program in Cleveland before being carried on other stations owned by Westinghouse Broadcasting. The show went into natio ...

'' and ''

The Merv Griffin Show ''The Merv Griffin Show'' is an American television talk show starring Merv Griffin. The series ran from October 1, 1962 to March 29, 1963 on NBC, May 10, 1965 to July 4, 1969 in first-run syndication, from August 18, 1969 to February 11, 1972 ...

'' in 1966.

Singing career

In 1965, at age 10, Michaels recorded Gladys Shelley's theme song for the Little Miss America pageant at

Palisades Amusement Park Palisades Amusement Park was a 38-acre amusement park located in Bergen County, New Jersey, across the Hudson River from New York City. It was located atop the New Jersey Palisades lying partly in Cliffside Park and partly in Fort Lee. The pa ...

, for Spiral Records. In 2010, he sang "

My Best Girl ''My Best Girl'' is a 1927 American silent romantic comedy film directed by Sam Taylor starring Mary Pickford and Charles "Buddy" Rogers that was produced by Pickford. The film is notable for co-starring Rogers, who would be Pickford's futu ...

," which he had sung in ''Mame,'' during a tribute to

Angela Lansbury Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury (October 16, 1925 – October 11, 2022) was an Irish-British and American film, stage, and television actress. Her career spanned eight decades, much of it in the United States, and her work received a great deal ...

at the 2010 Drama League Gala at the

Pierre Hotel The Pierre is a luxury hotel located at 2 East 61st Street, at the intersection of that street with Fifth Avenue, in Manhattan, New York City, facing Central Park. Designed by Schultze & Weaver, the hotel opened in 1930 with 100+ employees, ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. As of 2013, Michaels worked for United Radio Service in

East Syracuse, New York East Syracuse is an incorporated village and a suburb of the City of Syracuse in eastern Onondaga County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the village had a population of 3,084. It is located immediately east of Syracuse, ...

, and sang in a lounge at the

Turning Stone Resort & Casino Turning Stone Resort Casino is a Native American resort casino owned and operated by the Oneida Indian Nation of New York (OIN) in Verona, New York. The facility opened on July 20, 1993, and offers golf amenities (on- and off-site golf course ...

Verona, New York Verona (called ''Te-o-na-ta-le'', "''pine forest''" by the Haudenosaunee) is a town in southwestern Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 6,293 at the 2010 census. The town was named after Verona, Italy. Verona is located ...

, on Friday evenings.

References

External links

* * 1955 births 2016 deaths Musicians from Bridgeport, Connecticut American male child actors American male musical theatre actors Tony Award winners Male actors from Bridgeport, Connecticut {{theat-bio-stub