Frank Silvera

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Frank Silvera (July 24, 1914 – June 11, 1970) was an American actor and theatrical director. Silvera was born in Kingston, Jamaica the son of a mixed race Jamaican mother, Gertrude Bell and Spanish Jewish father, Alfred Silvera. His family emigrated to the United States when he was six-years old, settling in Boston. Silvera became interested in acting and began performing in amateur theatrical groups and at church. He graduated from English High School of Boston and then studied at Boston University, followed by the Northeastern Law School. Silvera left Northeastern Law School in 1934, when he was cast in Paul Green's production of Roll Sweet Chariot. He next joined the New England Repertory Theatre where he appeared in productions of MacBeth, Othello and The Emperor Jones. He also worked at Federal Theatre and with the New Hampshire Repertory Theatre. In 1940, Silvera made his Broadway debut in a small role in Big White Fog. His career was interrupted in 1942, when he enlisted in the United States Navy during World War II. He was assigned to Camp Robert Smalls, where he and Owen Dodson were in charge of entertainment. Silvera directed and acted in radio programs and appeared in USO shows. Honorably discharged at the war's end in 1945, he joined the cast of Anna Lucasta and became a member of the Actors Studio. In 1952, Silvera made his film debut in the western, The Cimarron Kid. Because of his strongly Latin appearance, he was cast in a variety of ethnic roles in films and television. He was cast as General Huerta in Viva Zapata! which starred Marlon Brando. Silvera also portrayed the role in the stage production, which opened at the Regent Theatre in New York City on February 28, 1952. He appeared in two films directed by Stanley Kubrick, Fear and Desire (1953) and Killer's Kiss (1955). Silvera made guest appearances in numerous television series, mainly dramas and westerns, including Studio One in Hollywood, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Bat Masterson, Thriller, Riverboat, The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters, The Untouchables, and Bonanza. In 1962 he portrayed Dr. Koslenko in The Twilight Zone episode "Person or Persons Unknown", opposite Richard Long. That year, he also played Minarii, a Polynesian man in the 1962 film Mutiny on the Bounty, again starring Marlon Brando. In 1963, Silvera was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for playing Monsieur Duval in The Lady of the Camellias. In 1964, Silvera and Vantile Whitfield founded the Theatre of Being, a Los Angeles-based theatre dedicated to providing black actors with non-stereotypical roles. One of their first projects was producing The Amen Corner by African-American writer James Baldwin. Silvera and Whitfield financed the play themselves and with donations from friends. It opened on March 4, 1964 and would gross $200,000 within the year, moving to Broadway in April 1965. Beah Richards won critical acclaim for her performance as the lead. Silvera was killed on June 11, 1970, after accidentally electrocuting himself while repairing a garbage disposal unit in his kitchen sink. Description above from the Wikipedia article Frank Silvera, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known For: Acting

Born: Kingston, British West Indies [now Kingston, Jamaica], 1914-07-24

Died: 1970-06-11

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1950	A Visit to Picasso	Commentator	63
2	1952	The Cimarron Kid	Stacey Marshall	61
3	1952	Viva Zapata!	Huerta	69
4	1952	The Fighter	Paulino	43
5	1952	The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima	Council Administrator Arturo dos Santos	57
6	1953	Fear and Desire	Mac	54
7	1954	The Lonely Night	The Narrator	0
8	1955	Death Tide	Eric	60
9	1955	Killer's Kiss	Vincent Rapallo	63
10	1956	Crowded Paradise	Papa Diaz	0
11	1959	Crime and Punishment USA	Lt. Porter	52
12	1960	Heller in Pink Tights	Santis	57
13	1960	The Mountain Road	Colonel Kwan	64
14	1960	Key Witness	Det. Rafael Torno	69
15	1962	Mutiny on the Bounty	Minarii	70
16	1963	Toys in the Attic	Henry Simpson	62
17	1965	The Greatest Story Ever Told	Caspar	64
18	1966	The Appaloosa	Ramos	62
19	1967	Hombre	Mexican Bandit	71
20	1967	The St. Valentine's Day Massacre	Nick Sorello	63
21	1968	The Young Loner	Carlos	0
22	1968	The Stalking Moon	Major	59
23	1968	Uptight	Kyle	65
24	1969	Che!	Goatherd	50
25	1969	Guns of the Magnificent Seven	Lobero	53
26	1971	The Boy from Dead Man's Bayou	Uncle Maxim	0
27	1971	Valdez Is Coming	Diego	63
28	1976	Perilous Voyage	Gen. Salazar	0
29	2004	Beah: A Black Woman Speaks	Self (voice)	0

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1948	Studio One	Miguel Ramando	50
2	1955	Gunsmoke	John Drago	66
3	1955	Alfred Hitchcock Presents	Mr. Roderiguez	77
4	1956	Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre	Ysidro	55
5	1957	Perry Mason	Jonathan Hyett	77
6	1957	Decoy	Andrew Garcia	62
7	1958	Wanted: Dead or Alive	Sheriff Will Eckert	69
8	1958	The Further Adventures of Ellery Queen	Sol	0
9	1958	Bat Masterson	Grasia	61
10	1959	Rawhide	Pajarito	72
11	1959	Bonanza	Mateo Ybarra	75
12	1959	Riverboat	Colonel Ashley	62
13	1959	The Twilight Zone	Dr. Koslenko	84
14	1959	Johnny Ringo	Bevinetto	57
15	1959	The Rebel	Cota	51
16	1960	Thriller	Cesare Romano aka Charlie Roman	64
17	1961	The Defenders	Ballin	62
18	1961	The New Breed	John Hernandez	70
19	1962	The Beachcomber	Juan Dominguez	0
20	1962	The Beachcomber	Anton Varda	0
21	1962	The Alfred Hitchcock Hour	Alejandro	78
22	1963	Mr. Novak	Andy Towner	65
23	1963	The Great Adventure	Gambi	0
24	1963	The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters	Speaks to the Wind	53
25	1963	Kraft Suspense Theatre	Sgt. Terrell	53
26	1963	Kraft Suspense Theatre	Captain Santos	53
27	1964	Daniel Boone	Marcel Bouvier	69
28	1964	Profiles in Courage	Lemus	50
29	1965	Run for Your Life	Esteban	72
30	1965	I Spy	Munoz	63
31	1965	The Wild Wild West	El Sordo	75
32	1966	The Rat Patrol	Arab Leader	72
33	1967	The High Chaparral	Don Sebastian Montoya	65
34	1968	Hawaii Five-O	Frank Kuakua	71
35	1969	Marcus Welby, M.D.	Nick Eugenides	65

Frank Silvera

Film

Television