Dennis Franz | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Franz in 2008 | |
| Born | Dennis Franz Schlachta (1944-10-28)October 28, 1944 (age 81) Maywood, Illinois, U.S. |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1978–2005 |
| Spouse | |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1968–1969 |
| Unit | 82nd Airborne Division 101st Airborne Division |
| Battles / wars | Vietnam War |
Dennis Franz Schlachta (/frɑːnz/; born October 28, 1944), known professionally asDennis Franz, is an American retired actor best known for his role asNYPD DetectiveAndy Sipowicz in theABC television seriesNYPD Blue (1993–2005), a role that earned him aGolden Globe Award, threeScreen Actors Guild Awards and fourPrimetime Emmy Awards. He also portrayed two different characters on the similarNBC seriesHill Street Blues (1983, 1985–1987) and its short-lived spinoff,Beverly Hills Buntz (1987–1988).
Franz was born October 28, 1944, inMaywood, Illinois, the son of German immigrants[1][2][3] Eleanor (née Mueller), a postal worker from anAshkenazi Jewish family, and Franz Ferdinand Schlachta, who was a baker and postal worker of German and Polish descent.[citation needed] He has two older sisters, Heidi Deigl (born 1935)[4] and Marlene Schraut (born 1937).[5]
Franz is a 1962 graduate ofProviso East High School in Maywood. During his high school years, he was active in baseball, football and swimming. He attendedWilbur Wright College andSouthern Illinois University Carbondale, graduating from the latter with abachelor's degree in speech and theater in 1968.[6]
After graduating from college, Franz was drafted into theU.S. Army. He served eleven months with the82nd Airborne Division and the101st Airborne Division in theVietnam War.[7]
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Franz began his acting career at Chicago'sOrganic Theater Company. Although he has in the past performed Shakespeare, his physical appearance led to his being typecast early in his career as a cop. (By Franz's own count, the character of Andy Sipowicz was his 28th role as a police officer.) He also guest starred in shows such asThe A-Team andHunter. Other major roles were on the television seriesHill Street Blues in which he played two characters over the run of the show. Franz first played the role of the corrupt Detective Sal Benedetto in the 1982–1983 season. Benedetto eventually commits suicide when a large-scale scam he was running fails. Franz returned to the series in 1985 as main character Lt. Norman Buntz, remaining until the show's end in 1987. He also starred in the short-livedBeverly Hills Buntz as the same character.
During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Franz worked regularly with directorsBrian De Palma andRobert Altman. He appeared in three of Altman's films from this period, and five of De Palma's. In addition, he appeared as airport police captain Carmine Lorenzo in the 1990 filmDie Hard 2. His final film role to date was as Nathaniel Messinger in the 1998 filmCity of Angels.
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Franz went on to win fourEmmy Awards for his portrayal ofAndy Sipowicz onNYPD Blue from 1993 to 2005. The character of Sipowicz was ranked No. 23 onBravo's 100 Greatest TV Characters list. In 1994, while still on NYPD Blue, Franz made a cameo voice appearance as himself inThe Simpsons episode "Homer Badman", in whichHomer is accused of sexually harassing a babysitter and the case becomestabloid fodder, generating an exploitative television movie,Homer S.: Portrait of an Ass-Grabber, in which Franz portrays Homer. Franz also voiced Captain Klegghorn, the commanding officer and head of theAnaheim Police Department on the Disney cartoonMighty Ducks: The Animated Series, which ran from September 1996 to January 1997.
In 2000, Franz starred as Earl, an abusive husband, in theDixie Chicks' music video "Goodbye Earl". The next year he competed on the May 11 celebrity edition of the hit television game showWho Wants to Be a Millionaire, winning $250,000 for his charity, the National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance. As a commercial spokesman forNextel in the early 2000s, Franz appeared as a caricature of himself in commercials, "refusing" to do the commercials, saying they were not something he did.
After the end of the show in 2005, Franz retired from acting to focus on his private life. He has told theNew York Post that he would be interested in returning to acting if given the right opportunity.[8] He and his wife spend their summers in their lake home in Northern Idaho. He spoke of wartime experiences and postwar trauma of veterans at aMemorial Day concert in 2012 (speaking in the first person, although it was not his own story).[9] He and his formerNYPD Blue co-star,Jimmy Smits, made a surprise appearance at the2016 Primetime Emmy Awards, presenting the award forOutstanding Drama Series toGame of Thrones.
In 1995, Franz married Joanie Zeck; they met in 1982. He is the stepfather of Zeck's two daughters from her previous marriage.[10]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | Mickey One | Minor Role in Dressing Room | Uncredited |
| 1978 | Remember My Name | Franks | |
| 1978 | The Fury | Bob Eggleston | |
| 1978 | Towing | Bar Patron | Uncredited |
| 1978 | A Wedding | Koons | |
| 1978 | Stony Island | Jerry Domino | |
| 1979 | A Perfect Couple | Costa | |
| 1980 | Dressed to Kill | Detective Marino | |
| 1980 | Popeye | Spike | |
| 1981 | Blow Out | Manny Karp | |
| 1983 | Psycho II | Warren Toomey | |
| 1983 | Scarface | Immigration Officer | Voice, uncredited |
| 1984 | Body Double | Rubin | |
| 1985 | Runaway Train | Cop | Uncredited |
| 1986 | A Fine Mess | Phil | |
| 1989 | The Package | Lt. Milan Delich | |
| 1990 | Die Hard 2 | Captain Carmine Lorenzo | |
| 1991 | The Sid Story | Sid | Video short |
| 1992 | The Player | Himself | |
| 1996 | American Buffalo | Don Dubrow | |
| 1997 | Mighty Ducks the Movie: The First Face-Off | Captain Klegghorn | Voice |
| 1998 | City of Angels | Nathaniel Messinger |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Bleacher Bums | Zig | Television movie |
| 1980 | Chicago Story | Officer Joe Gilland | Television movie |
| 1982 | Chicago Story | Officer Joe Gilland | 13 episodes |
| 1983 | Hill Street Blues | Det. Sal Benedetto | 5 episodes |
| 1983 | Bay City Blues | Angelo Carbone | 8 episodes |
| 1984 | Hardcastle and McCormick | Tony Boutros | Episode: "Did You See the One That Got Away?" |
| 1984 | The A-Team | Sam Friendly | Episode: "Chopping Spree" |
| 1984 | Riptide | Earl Bertrane | Episode: "Double Your Pleasure" |
| 1984 | E/R | The Boyfriend | Episode: "The Sister" |
| 1984 | T. J. Hooker | Andros Margolis | Episode: "Hardcore Connection" |
| 1985–1987 | Hill Street Blues | Lt. Norman Buntz | 44 episodes |
| 1985 | Simon & Simon | Frank Mahoney | Episode: "Almost Foolproof" |
| 1985 | The A-Team | Brooks | Episode: "Beverly Hills Assault" |
| 1985 | Hardcastle and McCormick | Joe Hayes | Episode: "There Goes the Neighborhood" |
| 1985 | MacGruder and Loud | Roche | Episode: "On the Wire" |
| 1985 | Hunter | Sgt. Jackie Molinas | 2 episodes |
| 1985 | Street Hawk | Inspector Frank Menlo | Episode: "Female of the Species" |
| 1985 | Scene of the Crime | Pat Grandy | Episode: "A Vote for Murder" |
| 1985 | Deadly Messages | Detective Max Lucas | Television movie |
| 1987 | Tales from the Hollywood Hills | Louie | Television movie |
| 1987–1988 | Beverly Hills Buntz | Norman Buntz | 13 episodes |
| 1989 | Kiss Shot | Max Fleischer | Television movie |
| 1989 | Matlock | Jack Brennert | 2 episodes |
| 1989 | Christine Cromwell | Detective Grainger | Episode: "Easy Come, Easy Go" |
| 1989 | Nasty Boys | Lt. Stan Krieger | 12 episodes |
| 1989 | Nasty Boys, Part 2: Lone Justice | Lt. Stan Krieger | Television movie |
| 1991 | NYPD Mounted | Tony Spampatta | Unsold TV pilot |
| 1991 | Civil Wars | Murray Seidelman | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 1992 | In the Line of Duty: Siege at Marion | Bob Bryant | Television movie |
| 1993–2005 | NYPD Blue | Detective/SergeantAndy Sipowicz | 261 episodes |
| 1994 | The Simpsons | Himself playingHomer Simpson | Voice, Episode: "Homer Badman" |
| 1994 | Moment of Truth: Caught in the Crossfire | Gus Payne | Television movie |
| 1995 | Texas Justice | Richard Haynes | Television movie |
| 1996 | Healing the Hate | Host | Television movie |
| 1996–1997 | Mighty Ducks | Captain Klegghorn | Voice, 17 episodes |
| 1998 | Sesame Street | Himself | Episode: "Monster Day" |
