Richard Edward Frank (January 4, 1953 – August 27, 1995) was an American actor. He was perhaps best known as Father Vogler in the 1984 movie ''

Amadeus Amadeus may refer to: People and fictional characters * Amadeus (name) Amadeus is a theophoric name, theophoric given name derived from the Latin words ' – the Imperative mood, imperative of the word ' ("to love") – and ' ("god"). As a Compou ...

''. Frank had numerous guest appearances in television shows, with a regular role in the sitcom '' Anything but Love''.

Biography

Born in Boston, Frank was a graduate of

Juilliard The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became the Juilliard School, named aft ...

's acting school. In addition, Frank appeared in numerous theater productions, including ''Hang on to Me'' at the

Guthrie Theater The Guthrie Theater, founded in 1963, is a center for theater performance, production, education, and professional training in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The concept of the theater was born in 1959 in a series of discussions among Sir Tyrone Gut ...

, directed by

Peter Sellars Peter Sellars (born September 27, 1957) is an American theatre director, noted for his unique stagings of classical and contemporary operas and plays. Sellars is a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he teaches ...

, as well as many productions in Los Angeles, mostly at the Taper. He created the Struggling Actor's Coloring Book and dozens of paintings, which are now in private collections. He was noted by colleagues for his intelligence and endless wit. Frank played infamous lawyer and informal powerbroker

Roy Cohn Roy Marcus Cohn ( ; February 20, 1927 – August 2, 1986) was an American lawyer and prosecutor. He first gained fame as a prosecutor of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in their trials (1952–53) and as Senator Joseph McCarthy's chief counsel duri ...

in the first performance of

Tony Kushner Anthony Robert Kushner (born July 16, 1956) is an American author, playwright, and screenwriter. Among his stage work, he is most known for ''Angels in America'', which earned a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award, as well as its subsequent acclaime ...

's play ''

Angels in America ''Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes'' is a 1991 American two-part Play (theatre), play by American playwright Tony Kushner. The two parts of the play, ''Millennium Approaches'' and ''Perestroika'', may be presented separate ...

''. Cohn also died from AIDS-related complications. By 1993, Frank had already gone public with his affliction with AIDS. In the wake of his public disclosure, Frank was asked to guest-star in the fourth season ''Life Goes On (TV series), Life Goes On'' episode "Bedfellows". Frank played Chester, the hospital roommate of Jesse McKenna (Chad Lowe), while both were admitted for illnesses related to their AIDS statuses. Chester has a more advanced stage of AIDS, and is not expected to live much longer; Jesse has to convince Chester at one point not to take his life by jumping off the hospital roof. Chester does lose his battle with AIDS before the episode's end, but not before passing on wisdom to Jesse for his own dealings with his illness. Following his landmark appearance on ''Life Goes On'', Frank's health began a gradual decline, but throughout 1994, he kept up his steady guest turns on series ranging from ''The Larry Sanders Show'' to ''Matlock (1986 TV series), Matlock''. His final role was playing a director in a 1995 episode of ''Mad About You''.

Death

On August 27, 1995, Frank died in Los Angeles of complications from AIDS.

Filmography

References

External links

* 1953 births 1995 deaths AIDS-related deaths in California 20th-century American male actors Male actors from Boston Juilliard School alumni American male film actors American male television actors American male stage actors American television directors 20th-century American singers Burials at Sharon Memorial Park, Massachusetts {{US-screen-actor-1950s-stub