Carl Franklin

Those who watched far too much bad TV in the 1970s and 80s may remember Carl Franklin as a rugged African-American character player. Those who value thoughtful and solidly crafted genre films may give more weight to his second career as a filmmaker in the 1990s. Franklin first acted as student at UC-Berkely and honed his skills off-Broadway at the Public Theater before becoming a familiar face on TV. He made one film appearance in the family comedy "Five on the Black Hand Side" (1973) before landing steady work on the small screen with numerous guest shots, roles in TV movies, miniseries and busted pilots and stints as a regular on several unsuccessful series including the cop shows "Caribe" (ABC, 1975), co-starring Stacy Keach and "McClain's Law" (NBC, 1981-82), with James Arness as well as the sci-fi adventure "The Fantastic Journey" (NBC, 1977).