Don Harvey Francks (February 28, 1932 – April 3, 2016), also known by his stage name Iron Buffalo, was a Canadian actor, musician and singer.
Early life Don Harvey Francks was born on February 28, 1932, and was adopted shortly after his birth. His mother worked at a music store and his father was an electrician. As a child, he performed on Vancouver radio doing imitations of singers. After dropping out of high school at age 15, he worked in several jobs.
Career Acting Francks's acting career began with CBC Television as a regular on Burns Chuckwagon from the Stampede Corral (1955–55) and Riding High (1955),"Les Wiseman - TV Topics - Bluesman's cartoon goes to series" by Liz Pogue, Times Colonist (6 Oct, 1996) Retrieved from then in the drama The Fast Ones (1959). In 1957 he had a part in the US series The Adventures of Tugboat Annie (actually filmed in Toronto, Ontario), then back to Canada in 1958 for Cannonball and Long Shot (1959). In 1959–60 he starred in the CBC-TV series R.C.M.P., playing Constable Bill Mitchell.
During the 1960s, Francks had roles on several US television shows including Mission: Impossible, Jericho, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Wild Wild West, and Mannix.
On February 16, 1965, he appeared on Broadway in the title role of the musical Kelly, as a daredevil planning to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge. The show was the first on Broadway in a generation to close on opening night after trying out in Philadelphia and Boston and playing five previews in New York. In addition to Kelly, Francks appeared in a 1965 Off-Broadway production, Leonard Bernstein's Theatre Songs."Don Francks", The Canadian Encyclopedia, English edition (2019) Retrieved from "Leonard Bernstein's Theatre Songs: Original Off-Broadway Production (1965)" at ovrtur.com
In 1968, he co-starred with Fred Astaire and Petula Clark in the film version of Finian's Rainbow as Woody, his best-known movie role.
Francks narrated This Land (1970–86), a CBC-TV documentary series on Canadian nature, wildlife, natural resources, and life in remote communities."For Don Francks, humanity comes first" by Jim Bearden, The Globe and Mail (2 July, 1980) Retrieved from He portrayed writer Grey Owl, returning a half-century after his death to be disturbed by ecological deterioration (Episode "Land of Shadows", first aired 2 August 1983).
From 1997 to 2001, he played "Walter" in the TV series La Femme Nikita."It's a guilty pleasure!; Pouting blond bombshell Nikita gets a new life over at ONtv" by Bonnie Malleck, The Record (20 Jan, 2000) [Final Edition] Retrieved from In the 2015 six-part series Gangland Undercover on the History Channel,"History Canada sets launch date for Gangland Undercover" by Etan Vlessing at playbackonline.ca he played "Lizard". His film work includes The Big Town, My Bloody Valentine and Johnny Mnemonic.
Music Francks composed songs and played trombone, drums, and flute. He performed in jazz clubs such as George's Spaghetti House in Toronto and the Village Vanguard in New York City, where he recorded a solo album titled Jackie Gleason Says No One in This World Is Like Don Francks (Kapp, 1963). The title echoed a remark made by Gleason"'No one in this world is like Don Francks': Popular performer was at home in Hollywood, on Broadway, in Toronto jazz clubs and on a native reserve in Saskatchewan" by Susan Ferrier MacKay, The Globe and Mail (15 April, 2016) Retrieved from when the trio performed "Bye Bye Blackbird" on the April 23, 1963 The Jackie Gleason Show. Two years later, Francks recorded his second album, Lost... and Alone, with orchestral arrangements by Patrick Williams (Kapp, 1965).
In August 1962, Francks's avant-garde jazz group Three debuted unrehearsed at Toronto's Purple Onion coffeehouse. Francks, Lenny Breau on guitar, and Eon Henstridge on double bass were joined on stage by tap dancer Joey Hollingsworth. The evening was recorded live by Breau's manager, George B. Sukornyk, but wasn't released until 2004 under the name At the Purple Onion (Art of Life, 2004). The band performed regularly in Toronto and New York City and appeared in the National Film Board documentary Toronto Jazz, which included rehearsals and performances by Three and two other groups.
Francks and Breau briefly reprised Three in early 1968 in Toronto with bassist Dave Young in place of Henstridge, who had died the year before. In 1999, Francks appeared in the documentary The Genius of Lenny Breau. He recorded his final album, 21st Century Francks, in 2002 (released in 2014) at the Top o' the Senator in Toronto.
Voice actor Francks played Archie Goodwin with Mavor Moore as Nero Wolfe for a 1982 series on Canadian radio. He provided the voice of "Skunk" in Gene Simmons's animated television show, My Dad the Rock Star.
According to differing sources, either Francks or Gabriel Dell was the uncredited actor providing the voice of Boba Fett, a Mandalorian bounty hunter, in the Star Wars Holiday Special. Francks, credited, voiced Boba Fett in an episode of Star Wars: Droids.
He voiced several characters in Inspector Gadget along with his daughter Cree Summer, who voiced Penny during the show's first season.
Francks provided voices for Mok Swagger in the 1983 Canadian animated film Rock and Rule and Sabretooth on X-Men. He also voiced Thomas "House" Conklin and Sergeant Carl Proctor in the 1988 Police Academy animated series.
Personal life Francks married twice and had several children, including Cree Summer and Rainbow Sun Francks.
An avid motorcycle rider, Don Francks also had a collection of twelve antique cars, mostly Model-T Ford racing cars dated 1912 to 1927."Actor or grease monkey? Don Francks loves both His collection of Model T runabouts spans 14 years" by Peter Bailey, Toronto Star (15 March, 1997) [Final Edition] Retrieved from
He supported Greenpeace and the Tibetan independence movement.
After quitting alcohol at age 21, Francks smoked marijuana, performing a song called "Smoking Reefers."
As a spokesman for Other Voices (Canadian TV series) in the mid-1960s, he investigated a boy's murder at Red Pheasant Cree Nation in Saskatchewan.
Death Francks died of lung cancer in Toronto on April 3, 2016.
Selected filmography Film Year Title RoleNotes 1968 Finian's Rainbow Woody Mahoney 1981 Heavy Metal Grimaldi / Co-Pilot / Barbarian (voice)Segments: "Grimaldi", "B-17", "Taarna" 1981 My Bloody Valentine Chief Jake Newby 1983 Rock & Rule Mok (voice) 1987 The Big Town Carl Hooker 1994 Paint Cans Maitland Burns 1995 Johnny Mnemonic "Hooky" 1996 Bogus Dr. Surprise 2005 Lie with Me Joshua "Stone finds beauty on Lie with Me" by Marise Strauss at playbackonline.ca 2007 I'm Not There Hobo Joe 2015 He Never Died The Man With The Goatee One of his final roles, portraying Death himself 2016 The Second Time Around Murray Posthumous"Deals: CBC Radio-Canada, First Run Features, Cineflix Rights, JG Brothers" by Lauren Malyk at playbackonline.ca
Television Year Title RoleNotes 1959-1960 R.C.M.P. Constable Bill Mitchell recurring role 1966-1967 Jericho Captain Franklin Shepphard recurring role 1968 Mission Impossible Nicholas Groat Episode: “A Game of Chess” 1968-1970 Mister Rogers' Neighborhood Mr. Anybody recurring role 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special Boba Fett (voice) Television film Uncredited 1983 Inspector Gadget Big M.A.D Agent / M.A.D Agent / Dr. Claw (voice) 5 episodes 1985 Star Wars: Droids Jann Tosh / Kybo Ren / Boba Fett (voice) 13 episodes 1985-1986 Star Wars: Ewoks Umwak / Dulok Shaman (voice) 1988-1989 Police Academy Proctor / Thomas "House" Conklin (voice) 64 episodes 1991 Swamp Thing Anton Arcane (voice) 5 episodes 1991-1995 Road to Avonlea Abe Pike 4 episodes 1992-1996 X-Men Sabretooth / Graydon Creed Sr. / Puck / Shaman / Phalanx (voice) 17 episodes 1996 Goosebumps Swamp Hermit Episode: "The Werewolf of Fever Swamp" Parts 1 & 2 1997-2001 La Femme Nikita Walter 96 episodes 1997 The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police Santa Claus (voice) Episode: "Christmas Bloody Christmas" 1998 Donkey Kong Country (voice) 1998 Silver Surfer Kalok (voice) Episode: "The Origin of the Silver Surfer: Part 1" 2002 Tracker Wahota Keene Episode: "Native Son" 2006 Puppets Who Kill Willy "Blind Willy" Episode: “Bill and the Berkowitzs” 2006 Sons of Butcher Bonny G (voice) Episode: “Firin’ The Band” 2010-2011 The Adventures of Chuck and Friends Deep (voice) 2 episodes
Videogames Year Title RoleNotes 1996 X-Men vs. Street Fighter Sabretooth 2000 Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes Uncredited X-Men: Mutant Academy 2001 X-Men: Mutant Academy 2
Awards ACTRA Award for Best Dramatic Performance, Drying Up the Streets and The Phoenix Team, 1980 and 1981
Discography Year Title Catalogue Notes1963Jackie Gleason says... "No one in this world is like Don Francks"Kapp1965Lost... and AloneKapp reached #4 in Canada.1988Mesa: The Four DirectionsBooks for Ears1991Bob's Favorite Street Songs ("Put Down the Duckie" only)A&M1999Jazzsongunissued2000The Insanity of One ManBooks for Ears2004At the Purple OnionArt of Life201421st Century FrancksIron Buffalo Productions
Bibliography Heyn, Christopher. "A Conversation with Don Francks". Inside Section One: Creating and Producing TV's La Femme Nikita. Introduction by Peta Wilson. Los Angeles: Persistence of Vision Press, 2006. p. 100–105; .
References
External links
Official website archived Filmography Entry at thecanadianencyclopedia.ca