Anthony Franciosa Biography

Fast Facts

• An avid civil rights activist, he would later befriend Jesse Jackson after meeting at numerous desegregation events
• Adopted his mother's maiden name as his stage name, as he never had a relationship with his father
• Died at age 77 following complications from a stroke only five days after ex-wife, Shelley Winters
• After realizing his interest in acting at an early age, he would go on to join the Cherry Lane Theatre in 1948 before studying at the Actors Studio two years later
• Quote: "I went out to Hollywood in the mid-'50s, and I would say I went out there a little too early․ It was an incredible amount of attention, and I wasn't quite mature psychologically and emotionally for [it]․"
• Caught the eye of Hollywood executives who were planning to produce a treatment of the Broadway production of "A Hatful of Rain", for which he had already garnered a Tony nomination before being cast in the film version
• Well-known throughout Hollywood for being difficult to work with on set, a problem that would continue to plague his career once he established himself as an actor
• Met future wife Shelley Winters after earning a scholarship to attend Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio where Winters was already a student