Clinton E. Frank (September 13, 1915 – July 7, 1992) was an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

player and advertising executive. He played as a halfback for the Yale Bulldogs, where he won both the

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy ( ; also known simply as the Heisman) is awarded annually since 1935 to the top player in college football. It is considered the most prestigious award in the sport and is presented by the Heisman Trophy Trust followin ...

and the Maxwell Award in 1937. In 1954, he founded the Clinton E. Frank, Inc. advertising agency.

Early life and football career

Frank attended Evanston Township High School in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. A suburb of Chicago, Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skok ...

, where he became known as a superb football player. He then attended Lawrenceville School as a post-graduate student. Frank attended

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

, where he was a member of Skull and Bones, and graduated with a degree in economics in 1938. Playing for the Yale Bulldogs football team, he was a first-team selection to the All-America Teams of

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

and 1937, the latter being a unanimous selection. As a senior, he was captain of the 1937 Bulldogs, and scored three touchdowns in Yale's 19–0 victory over Brown. Frank won both the

and Maxwell Award for the 1937 season. He beat out Byron "Whizzer" White for the Heisman Trophy; White later became a justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Frank was selected in the 12th round of the 1938 NFL draft by the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

, but he did not sign and never played professional football. Frank was married to Margaret Rathje Frank, with whom he had three sons and six daughters.

Military service

Clint Frank attained the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Army Air Corps, serving as an aide to General Jimmy Doolittle during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Following the war he resumed his career in advertising.

Advertising career

Frank joined the Chicago advertising firm of Blackett-Sample-Hummert Inc., where he was employed for ten years before being promoted to advertising manager of E.J. Brach and Sons, the famed candy producer. Frank became a full partner in the advertising agency of Price, Robinson and Frank. He was able to transition this agency into his own with him as owner and president. In 1954 Frank established Clinton E. Frank Inc., a

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

based advertising agency which was sold to Campbell-Ewald Co. of

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

in 1976.

Braniff Airways account

One of Clinton E. Frank Agency's most memorable clients was the flashy

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

-based Braniff International Airways. Frank obtained the account in 1969 from famed advertising executive George Lois. The Frank Agency created the "El Clan, Braniff" advertising scheme for Braniff's growing South American Route System. They also created the highly unique Braniff "You'll Like Flying Braniff Style" Campaign. Both campaigns came complete with musical jingles which were debuted in 1971.

Memberships

* Baxter Travenol Laboratories, Inc., Board Member * Passavant Memorial Hospital, Director * Northwestern University Hospital, Director *

Chicago Symphony Orchestra The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891, the ensemble has been based in the Symphony Center since 1904 and plays a summer season at the Ravinia F ...

, Governing Member * Yale Club of Chicago, Member * American Association of Advertising, President * Chicago Advertising Club, President * Illinois Racing Board, Board Member

Honors

* Heisman Trophy, 1937 * Maxwell Award, 1937 * All American Quarterback and captain, two time recipient, 1937 * Good Shepherd Award from Lambs Farm

Retirement and death

Frank founded the Brain Research Foundation at the University of Chicago and the Eye Research Institute in Boston. While in retirement, he founded the American Academy of Arts. Frank died at Evanston Hospital in

after a brief illness at the age of 76.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Frank, Clint 1915 births 1992 deaths American advertising executives American football halfbacks Yale Bulldogs football players All-American college football players College Football Hall of Fame inductees Heisman Trophy winners Maxwell Award winners United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II United States Army Air Forces officers Braniff Evanston Township High School alumni Lawrenceville School alumni Players of American football from Evanston, Illinois 20th-century American businesspeople Yale College alumni United States Army colonels Military personnel from Illinois Members of Skull and Bones