50 Fun Facts About Famous Franks

Which star, born in Hoboken, New Jersey, won an Oscar for his role in From Here to Eternity?

Frank Sinatra won Best Supporting Actor after several years of critical and commercial decline. The award helped him regain his place as the top recording artist in the world.

Which inventor ran a Southern California ice rink before building the machine that resurfaces hockey rinks?

Frank Zamboni did not expect to build more than one, until figure skater Sonja Henie ordered two and the Chicago Blackhawks followed. Charles Schulz later drew the machine into Peanuts.

Which frozen treat did Frank Epperson patent after leaving a drink and its stirring stick on a porch overnight as a boy?

The Popsicle was first called the Epsicle, after its inventor. He was 11 when the drink froze to its stick on a cold night, and nearly 20 years passed before he patented the idea.

Which New York landmark, with galleries along a spiral ramp, occupied architect Frank Lloyd Wright from 1943 until 1959?

The Guggenheim Museum drew controversy for the unusual shape of its display spaces. It was Wright's last major work: he died in April 1959, six months before it opened.

Which puppeteer performed Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear before becoming the hands and voice of Yoda?

Frank Oz was born in Hereford, England, to parents who were both puppeteers. He later turned director, making Little Shop of Horrors and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

Which made-up December holiday does Frank Costanza celebrate with a bare aluminum pole on Seinfeld?

Festivus was a real family tradition first: the father of Seinfeld writer Dan O'Keefe invented it, though he marked it with a clock in a bag nailed to a wall, not a pole.

Frank Beard, long the only member without a beard, drummed for which Houston rock band?

ZZ Top kept the same three members for five decades, with Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill wearing their trademark 20-inch beards on either side of the drum kit.

Whose tales of posing as a Pan Am pilot and a doctor inspired the film Catch Me If You Can?

Frank Abagnale told the story in a 1980 autobiography, but a later investigation of public records concluded that most of his claimed criminal history was fabricated.

Frank's RedHot, a cayenne pepper sauce sold since 1920, is the classic base of the sauce for which bar snack?

Buffalo wings are tossed in a mix of the hot sauce, melted butter and vinegar. The dish is usually traced to the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York, where it is said to date from 1964.

Frank Underwood lies and murders his way from congressional whip to the presidency in which political drama?

House of Cards borrowed its schemer from a British novel and television series of the same name, in which the character is called Francis Urquhart.

Which musician led the Mothers of Invention and testified against the Parents Music Resource Center in the US Senate?

Frank Zappa took on a group co-founded by Tipper Gore at the 1985 hearing. He produced nearly all of the 60-plus albums he released, and named his four children Moon, Dweezil, Ahmet and Diva.

Which director, born in a village near Palermo, Sicily, made the Christmas classic It's a Wonderful Life?

Frank Capra saw the film perform poorly when it was first released in 1946, as his career declined after the war. In the 1930s he had won three Academy Awards for Best Director.

Which author wrote Dune, a desert-planet novel that was turned down by about twenty publishers?

Frank Herbert finally sold the book to Chilton, a company known mainly for its auto-repair manuals. It became one of the best-selling science fiction novels of all time.

Which footballer became Chelsea's all-time leading goalscorer with 211 goals despite playing in midfield?

Frank Lampard spent thirteen years at the London club. He had begun his career at West Ham United, where his father, also named Frank, played before him.

Who plays Frank Reynolds, legal father of Dennis and Dee, in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia?

Danny DeVito's character buys 51% of Paddy's Pub in season 2, then makes most of the business decisions at the bar and bankrolls the gang's schemes.

Which actor played the bumbling police lieutenant Frank Drebin in the Naked Gun films of the 1980s and 1990s?

Leslie Nielsen first played the detective on television, in a 1982 ABC comedy series called Police Squad, before the character moved to the cinema.

Which singer, once a ghostwriter and member of Odd Future, released the albums Channel Orange and Blonde?

Frank Ocean was born Christopher Breaux in Long Beach, California. Channel Orange, his debut studio album, won the Grammy for Best Urban Contemporary Album.

Which Toronto-born architect designed the curvaceous Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles?

Frank Gehry was born Ephraim Owen Goldberg. His taste for chain-link fencing, corrugated steel and unpainted plywood was partly inspired by Saturday mornings at his grandfather's hardware store.

Which actor's breakthrough role was Dr. Frank-N-Furter, the mad scientist of The Rocky Horror Picture Show?

Tim Curry's character is an alien as well as a scientist. The name is a pun on both Victor Frankenstein and the frankfurter sausage.

Frank Castle, a Marine veteran whose family is murdered by gangsters, becomes which Marvel vigilante?

The Punisher first appeared in 1974 as an adversary of Spider-Man. Writer Gerry Conway drew on The Executioner, a book series about a Vietnam veteran at war with the Mafia.

Which writer and artist made the Batman story The Dark Knight Returns and created the comics Sin City and 300?

Frank Miller made his name on Marvel's Daredevil, joining as its artist in 1979 and taking over the writing in 1981. His comic art is noted for combining film noir and manga influences.

Which engineer, a Royal Air Force officer from Coventry, patented his design for the turbojet engine in 1930?

Frank Whittle held the earlier patent, yet a German rival flew first: Hans von Ohain's engine powered the first flyable jet aircraft in 1939, two years before a British jet took off.

Which astronaut commanded Apollo 8, the first mission to fly around the Moon, with crewmates Jim Lovell and Bill Anders?

Frank Borman had already set a fourteen-day spaceflight endurance record as commander of Gemini 7. His lunar crew read from Genesis on a broadcast from orbit on Christmas Eve.

Which boxer became WBC heavyweight champion in 1995 by outpointing Oliver McCall over twelve rounds?

Frank Bruno had a brief reign: the contract he signed to get the fight obliged him to face Mike Tyson in his first defence, and he was stopped in round three.

Which baseball star was the first player named MVP of both the National League and the American League?

Frank Robinson won with the Cincinnati Reds in 1961 and the Baltimore Orioles in 1966. In 1975 he became the first African American manager in big-league history, with the Cleveland Indians.

Which whistleblower exposed widespread corruption in the New York police and was played by Al Pacino in a 1973 film?

Frank Serpico first reported the evidence in 1967, to no effect. Four years later he was shot in the face during an arrest attempt in Brooklyn, and survived.

Which filmmaker directed The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile, both adapted from Stephen King stories?

Frank Darabont was born in a refugee camp in France to Hungarian parents who had fled the 1956 revolution. He later developed The Walking Dead for television.

Which actor played Frank Gallagher, father of Fiona, Lip and Ian, in the American version of Shameless?

William H. Macy led the ensemble cast of the series, which was adapted from Paul Abbott's long-running British comedy drama of the same name.

Frank the Pug, a smart-talking alien informant who looks like a small dog, helps Agents K and J in which film?

Men in Black sends its two agents to the pug to learn that an alien prince posing as a jeweler had been protecting a miniature galaxy. Tim Blaney played the part.

Which construction toy did Liverpool clerk Frank Hornby invent in 1901 under the name Mechanics Made Easy?

Meccano came from a man with no formal engineering training. He went on to produce two more of the century's most popular toy lines, Hornby model railways and Dinky Toys.

Which Harlem drug lord of the 1970s was played by Denzel Washington in the film American Gangster?

Frank Lucas boasted that he smuggled heroin in the coffin pallets of dead American servicemen. A judge called the film one percent reality and ninety-nine percent Hollywood.

Frank Langella earned an Oscar nomination for playing which US president in a film about a television interview?

Richard Nixon was a part he had already won a Tony Award for on stage, in Peter Morgan's play Frost/Nixon. He calls Skeletor in Masters of the Universe one of his favorite roles.

Which runner won the 1972 Olympic marathon in Munich, the city where he had been born?

Frank Shorter's win is credited with igniting the running boom in the United States during the 1970s. He added a silver medal in the same event four years later.

Which footballer won Euro 1988 with the Netherlands and later coached Barcelona to the 2006 Champions League title?

Frank Rijkaard also won two European Cups as a player with AC Milan. At the 1990 World Cup he caused an infamous incident by spitting in the hair of West Germany's Rudi Völler.

Which comedian co-wrote and sang the England football anthem Three Lions with David Baddiel for Euro 1996?

Frank Skinner is a stage name: he was born Chris Collins, and took the new name from a member of his late father's dominoes team.

Which union official claimed to have killed Jimmy Hoffa and is played by Robert De Niro in The Irishman?

Frank Sheeran's alleged confession appeared in I Heard You Paint Houses, a 2004 book by Charles Brandt. Journalists, former mobsters and FBI agents have disputed its truthfulness.

Which outlaw robbed banks and trains with his younger brother Jesse and outlived him by more than thirty years?

Frank James surrendered in person to the governor of Missouri six months after his brother was killed in 1882. He later worked as a shoe salesman and a burlesque theater ticket taker.

Which retailer built a chain of five-and-dime stores and paid cash for the world's tallest building in 1913?

Frank Woolworth spent $13.5 million on the New York skyscraper that carries his name. It rose 792 feet above the street.

Which writer won a Pulitzer Prize for Angela's Ashes, a memoir of his poor childhood in Limerick?

Frank McCourt was born in Brooklyn before his family returned to Ireland and sank deeper into poverty. He taught at six New York schools before the memoir made his name.

Which actor first voiced Fred Jones in Scooby-Doo in 1969 and later became the voice of Megatron and Garfield?

Frank Welker auditioned to play the dog himself but was cast as Fred instead. He finally took over the title role as well in 2002.

Which soldier enlisted at 16, drove ambulances in Europe and became the last surviving American veteran of World War I?

Frank Buckles died in February 2011, weeks after his 110th birthday, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Which gangster, nicknamed The Enforcer, succeeded Al Capone as acting boss of the Chicago Outfit?

Frank Nitti was in charge of all the money flowing through the operation. Despite the nickname, he left the violence to others rather than do it himself.

Which Texas Ranger led the 1934 posse that tracked down and killed Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow?

Frank Hamer had retired in 1932 after almost 27 years with the Rangers, saying he quit when Texas elected a woman governor. Kevin Costner played him in The Highwaymen.

Which security guard found tape on a door lock in 1972 and set off the Watergate scandal?

Frank Wills was 24 when he called the police about the tampered locks. He played himself in the film All the President's Men, but spent much of his life jobless and in poverty.

Which US Secretary of State of the 1920s won the Nobel Peace Prize for co-authoring a pact renouncing war?

Frank Kellogg shares the name of the 1928 treaty with the man who proposed it, French foreign minister Aristide Briand. His 1929 prize was held over for a year, so he received it in 1930.

Which astronomer devised a 1961 equation estimating how many alien civilizations might be detectable in the Milky Way?

Frank Drake had begun the search for extraterrestrial radio signals a year earlier with Project Ozma. In 1974 he designed the Arecibo message, a broadcast describing Earth.

Al Pacino won the Best Actor Oscar as blind retired army officer Frank Slade in which film?

Scent of a Woman brought him the award after four earlier Best Actor nominations had come to nothing. The story was adapted from an Italian novel by Giovanni Arpino.

Which English singer released a 2003 debut album called Frank that was shortlisted for the Mercury Music Prize?

Amy Winehouse earned an Ivor Novello Award for the record. Its title points to the nature and tone of her lyrics, as well as to one of her early musical influences.

In 2001: A Space Odyssey, which computer attacks astronaut Frank Poole while he is outside replacing an antenna unit?

HAL 9000 takes control of an EVA pod to do it, then refuses to let Dave Bowman back into the ship, saying that a plan to deactivate him jeopardises the mission.

In the novel Emma, which orphan and gifted pianist turns out to be secretly engaged to Frank Churchill?

Jane Fairfax keeps the engagement hidden because he fears his aunt will forbid the match, as she is not wealthy. A piano sent to her anonymously fuels the village's suspicions.