M. J. Frankovich

Mitchell John "M. J." Frankovich (September 29, 1909 – January 1, 1992), best known as Mike Frankovich, was an American football player turned film actor and producer. Frankovich was the adopted son of actor Joe E. Brown and his wife, Kathryn.[2][3]

M. J. Frankovich
Frankovich with Betty Ford at the Bistro Restaurant, Beverly Hills, CA in 1976
Born	Mitchell John Frankovich (1909-09-29)September 29, 1909 Bisbee, Arizona, U.S.
Died	January 1, 1992(1992-01-01) (aged 82) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)[1]
Nationality	American
Other names	Mike Frankovich
Alma mater	UCLA
Occupation	Film actor/producer
Spouse(s)	Binnie Barnes (1940-1992; his death; 3 adopted children) Georgiana (or Georgianna) Feagans (1938-19??)

Personal life

Frankovich attended Belmont High School in Downtown Los Angeles. He played football for UCLA and was inducted into UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame in 1986. He served as president of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission and helped to bring the Los Angeles Raiders football team and 1984 Summer Olympics to Los Angeles.

Family

A devout Catholic, Frankovich married his first wife, Georgiana (or Georgianna) Feagans, on January 15, 1938. No details are available regarding that marriage or how or when it ended.[4]

He married actress Binnie Barnes in 1940. They remained married until his death on New Year's Day, 1992.

Producer

Among his more than 30 productions of film and for television were: Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969), Cactus Flower (1969), There's a Girl in My Soup (1970), Butterflies Are Free (1972), The 42nd Annual Academy Awards (1970), and John Wayne's last film, The Shootist (1976).[5]

Select Filmography

• Jesse James Rides Again (1947)
• The Black Widow (1947) (serial)
• G-Men Never Forget (1948) (serial)
• Dangers of the Canadian Mounted (1948) (serial)
• Fugitive Lady (1950)
• Decameron Nights (1953)
• Malaga (1954)
• Footsteps in the Fog (1955)
• Joe MacBeth (1955)
• Spin a Dark Web (1956) aka Soho Incident
• The War Lover (1962)
• Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969)
• Marooned (1969)
• Cactus Flower (1969)
• The Looking Glass War (1970)
• The 42nd Annual Academy Awards (1970) (TV special)
• There's a Girl in My Soup (1970)
• Doctors' Wives (1971)
• The Love Machine (1971)
• $ (1971)
• Stand Up and Be Counted (1972)
• Butterflies Are Free (1972)
• 40 Carats (1973)
• Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1973) (TV series)
• Report to the Commissioner (1975)
• From Noon Till Three (1976)
• State Fair (1976)
• The Shootist (1976)
• Ziegfield: The Man and His Women (1978)
• All Star Party for Lucille Ball (1984)
• All-Star Party for Clint Eastwood (1986) (TV Special)

References

1. Mike Frankovich at Find a Grave
2. "Life, Times, Family". Orson Pratt Brown. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
3. "Joe E. Brown profile". Cemeteryguide.com. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
4. "Full text of 'The Film Daily (Jan-Mar 1938)'". Archive.org. Retrieved December 12, 2016.
5. M. J. Frankovich on IMDb

External links

• M. J. Frankovich at the TCM Movie Database