Frank Langella was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, to Angelina and Frank A. Langella, a business executive. He is of Italian descent. A stage and screen actor of extreme versatility, Frank Langella won acclaim on the New York stage in "Seascape" and followed it up with the title role in the 'Edward Gorey' . He also appeared in several productions for the New York Shakespeare festival.
Lived with actress/comedian Whoopi Goldberg (separated in March 2001).
Won an Obie Award for Best Performance in "The Old Glory" in 1965.
Won a supporting Tony Award for best featured actor in a Broadway play, in "Seascape" in 1975.
Won both Tony and Drama Desk Awards for best featured actor in a Broadway play, in "Fortunes Fool" in 2002.
He was the last actor cast for the science fiction fantasy film Masters of the Universe .
Has twice won Broadways Tony Award: as Best Supporting or Featured Actor , in 1975 for Edward Albee s "Seascape", and as Best Actor (Featured Role - Play), in 2002 for "Fortunes Fool". He was also nominated for the Tony two other times as Best Actor (Play): in 1978 for "Dracula", a role he recreated with a different script in the film Dracula , and in 2004 for "Match".
Along with Christopher Lee and Richard Roxburgh , he is one of the few actors to play both Dracula and Sherlock Holmes.
Italian-American.
Received his Bachelors degree in Drama from Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York.
Won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play for "Frost/Nixon" in 2007.
Attended and graduated from Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey.
He asked to be uncredited for his role as Minister Jaro Essa in "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" {The Homecoming (#2.1)} , "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" {The Circle (#2.2)} and "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" {The Siege (#2.3)} , since he was doing the series for his children Frank III and Sarah (both of whom were devoted Star Trek fans), not for exposure or money.
Is a Brother of Alpha Chi Rho fraternity and belonged to the Phi Epsilon chapter at Syracuse University.
He and Anthony Hopkins both received Oscar nominations for portraying Richard Nixon : Hopkins for Nixon and Langella for Frost/Nixon . Although they were born in different years, Hopkins is only one day older than Langella as the former was born on December 31, 1937 while the latter was born on January 1, 1938.
Langellas "date" for the 2009 Academy Awards was his daughter Sarah.
Considers Masters of the Universe one of his favorite movies. He accepted the role of "Skeletor" as a gift to his children - particularly his son, Frank A. Langella III - who were avid fans of the He-Man franchise. Despite an uncomfortable costume and make-up which left him barely recognizable, Langella found said character great fun to play.
Has nystagmus, a condition which causes a persons eyes to move involuntarily.
He has two roles in common with Lane Smith : (1) Smith played US President Richard Nixon in The Final Days while Langella played him in Frost/Nixon and Smith played Perry White in "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman" while Langella played him in Superman Returns .
He has two roles in common with Christopher Lee , Richard Roxburgh and Anthony D.P. Mann : (1) Lee played Count Dracula in ten films from Dracula to Dracula pre et fils , Langella played him in Dracula , Roxburgh played him in Van Helsing and Mann played him in Canucula! (Dracula in Canada) and Terror of Dracula and Lee played Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock Holmes und das Halsband des Todes , Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady and Sherlock Holmes: Incident at Victoria Falls , Langella played him in "Standing Room Only" {Sherlock Holmes} , Roxburgh played him in The Hound of the Baskervilles and Mann played him in Sherlock Holmes and the Shadow Watchers .
He has two roles in common with Anthony Hopkins , who is only one day his senior: (1) Langella played Don Diego de la Vega / Zorro in The Mark of Zorro while Hopkins played him in The Mask of Zorro and Hopkins played U.S. President Richard Nixon in Nixon while Langella played him in Frost/Nixon . Both actors also appeared in adaptations of Bram Stoker s 1897 novel "Dracula": Langella played the title character in Dracula while Hopkins played his arch-enemy Professor Abraham Van Helsing in Dracula .
He has two roles in common with Duncan Regehr : (1) Langella played Don Diego de la Vega / Zorro in The Mark of Zorro while Regehr played him in "Zorro" and Langella played Count Dracula in Dracula while Regehr played him in The Monster Squad . Both actors also played Bajoran politicians in "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" .
He has appeared with Sigourney Weaver in three films: 1492: Conquest of Paradise , Dave and The Tale of Despereaux .
He did not wear fangs when playing the title character in Dracula . The same was true of Bela Lugosi in Dracula .
He was awarded the 1993 Drama Logue Award for Outstanding Performance for "Scenes from an Execution," at the Mark Taper Forum Theatre in Los Angeles, California.
Is lefthanded.
Intelligence is enormously sexy.
Each of us needs something - food, liquor, pot, whatever - to help us survive. Dracula needs blood.
I grew up in a household where everybody lived at the top of his lungs. .
