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There's something
about the color blue that seems to connect with
Dennis Franz [pronounced "Fronze," as in
"Bronze"] as far as television is concerned. He
has starred on "Hill Street Blues," "Bay City
Blues," and the ground-breaking series, "NYPD
Blue."
For the 1994-95
television season, Franz was nominated for both an
Emmy Award as Lead Actor in a Drama Series and a
SAG Award for Best Actor in a Drama.
For the 1993-94
season, Dennis was named Best Actor by Viewers for
Quality Television, was honored with an Emmy for
Lead Actor in a Drama Series, received a Golden
Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a
Television Series, and won the very first SAG award
for Best Actor in a Drama and Best Ensemble Acting
in a Drama.
Dennis received
critical acclaim for his guest-starring roles on
ABC's "Civil Wars" and the television movie, "In
the Line of Duty: Stand-Off at Marion." He starred
in the television movie, "Moment of Truth: Caught
in the Crossfire," and the ABC miniseries, "Texas
Justice." During the 1989- 90 television season, he
starred as Lt. Stan Krieger on the series, "Nasty
Boys."
Franz was born in
Maywood, Illinois. He was active in high-school
baseball, football and swimming. During his junior
year, he tried out for a part in a school
production of "The Crucible" because his girlfriend
was auditioning. He got his part, she didn't get
hers, and so a promising romance was
lost.
Dennis attended
Wright Junior College in Chicago and then Southern
Illinois University, majoring in speech and
theater. Following graduation, he enlisted in the
military and did an 11-month tour of duty in
Vietnam. Returning home, he got together with some
college buddies and organized several theater
companies in the Chicago area, including The
Organic Theater Company.
Dennis has
appeared in such feature films as "Dressed to
Kill," "Popeye," "Blow Out," "Remember My Name,"
"Perfect Couple," "Body Double," "Psycho II," "A
Fine Mess," and "The Package," the latter a 1989
release with Gene Hackman. He teamed up with Bruce
Willis in the 1990 summer hit, "Die Hard 2, Die
Harder," and starred opposite Dustin Hoffman in the
theatrical release, "American Buffalo," written by
David Mamet.
In 1983, Franz
began his association with Steven Bochco. "It was
very exciting to be asked to play a role on
television's most critically acclaimed show, Hill
Street Blues," Dennis said. "I was Sal Benedetto, a
notorious, selfish, evil man. I did two episodes
and the character was so popular I did another
three."
Then Bochco asked
Franz to play a starring role in "Bay City
Blues," a series about minor-league baseball
players. After four episodes, "Bay City
Blues" ended, but that marked the beginning of
Norman Buntz. The producers of "Hill Street
Blues" created the role of Lt. Norman Buntz for
Dennis so that he could return to "The
Hill." Buntz became very popular and Franz was with
the series for its last two seasons, 1985-86 and
1986-87.
In his spare
time, Dennis snow-skis and plays golf and tennis.
He likes team sports such as baseball and football,
as both spectator and participant. An avid Chicago
Cubs fan, he sat in for announcer Harry Carey at a
Cubs-Giants game, "one of the most
terrifying and difficult things I've ever done." As
Dennis' dog, Bigelow, and two birds, Mario and
Maria, could attest if they could speak, Franz is
an animal lover. He also enjoys listening to music,
especially Ô50s rock and
country-western.
On April 1, 1995,
exactly 13 years to the day they first met, Dennis
and his longtime love, Joanie, were
married.
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