Jonathan Frakes is an American television film actor, director, and producer. One of his most prominent works is his portrayal of the character – William T. Riker in the science fiction series Star Trek: The Next Generation. Frakes was involved alongside whom he co-starred with in the blockbuster sci-fi movie. He has gone on to achieve a highly successful career. We take a look at the highlights of his career over the years including some aspects of his personal life.
Jonathan Frakes Bio (Age)
Jonathan Scott Frakes was born on the 19th of August in 1952, in a small town called Bellefonte in Central Pennsylvania in the USA. He was born to parents Dorris J. Frakes Nee Yingling – his mother and Dr. James R. Frakes, his father, who was also a professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania.
His family had to move out to the eastern part of Pennsylvania alongside his younger brother. The move was to enable his father to take a job at Lehigh University as well as remain close to his family. His father became folklore at the University, holding the prestigious Fairchild chair in American Literature until his demise in 2002. Jonathan Frakes comes from a blend of German and some English ancestry.
As a little boy, Frakes was somewhat pushed to Jazz as his father was a huge fan. He immediately took a liking towards the trombone and could play the instrument quite well when he was only in the fourth grade. While growing up, Frakes came across to everyone as friendly and very funny. During his High school days at Liberty High in Bethlehem, Frakes ran field and track and graduated from High school in 1970.
Immediately after his graduation, Frakes enrolled as a Psychology major at his father’s previous University at Pennsylvania State. Although his first choice was to major in psychology, he had a change of mind over the summer as a result of working as an usher at a local theatre. That brief stint working at the theatre provided enough motivation for him to switch major to Theatre Arts, he graduated 4 years later with a Bachelor’s degree in 1974.
Jonathan Frakes decided on furthering his education and did so by moving to Boston to attain a Master’s degree from Harvard University in 1976. After the attainment of his master’s degree, Jonathan then decided to become an actor and moved to New York in a bid to achieve his dream.
Although his dream was not immediately fulfilled as roles were hard to come by and as a result decided to take on side menial jobs like furniture moving and a stint as Captain America for Marvel Comics. His roles in New York restricted him to Broadway musicals which was not what he desired but at the admonition of his agent, he moved to Los Angeles in 1978.
He guest starred on several big prime-time shows which include Charlie’s Angels in 1976 and the Dukes of Hazard in 1979 just to name a few. He landed his first major role in the mid-’80s, a starring role in the prime-time series called Bare Essence in 1983, the show did not they impress the audience as anticipated for a continuation and was canceled soon after.
After the untimely end to the show, Jonathan’s career went from strength to strength, appearing in top movies, his best still being Star Trek: The Next Generation. He was also chosen to host the television series Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction, he also in June of 2011, narrated the History Channel documentary Lee and Grant. Frakes also starred on the Disney Channel television series Gargoyles as the voice of David Xanatos.
Net Worth
Jonathan Frakes has an estimated net worth of around $16 million which he amassed from working as an actor, director, and author. With that figure, the actor is surely living a luxe life with a couple of houses spread across the country.
Wife and Children
Jonathan Frakes first met actress Genie Francis on the set of his first major role in television, the soap opera called the Bare Essence in 1983. As though it was fated, the pair met again whilst filming the mini-series North and South. The couple officially began dating in 1985 and got engaged a year later in 1986. They tied the knot on the 28th of May in 1988.
The couple has two kids together, their first child and daughter Elizabeth Francis Frakes and their second child and first son Jameson Ivor Frakes – who was named after his two grandfathers, the late James Frakes and the late actor Ivor Francis, Gene’s father.
Height and Body Measurements
Jonathan Frakes has a height of about 193 cm which is around 1.93m and weighs 87 kg. Details of his other body stats are unavailable.
