Film and television actor Arthur Franz, 86, died Saturday, June 18, at St. John's Hospital in Oxnard, Calif., of heart failure and emphysema. Until recently, Franz had been living in New Zealand.
The New Jersey-born actor appeared in a number of feature films from the late 1940s to the late 1950s, usually playing amiable supporting characters. Among his best-received films are two 1952 productions directed by Edward Dmytryk: the war drama Eight Iron Men and the psychological thriller The Sniper, in which Franz has the less-than-amiable title role.
Among his other films of the 1950s are Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951), Flight to Mars (1951), The Member of the Wedding (1952), Invaders from Mars (1953), The Caine Mutiny (also directed by Dmytryk, 1954), and The Devil's Hairpin (1957).
From the mid-1950s on, Franz turned mostly to television, appearing in shows such as Perry Mason, Mod Squad, The Virginian, and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.
His last feature film credit was in the film adaptation of That Championship Season in 1982.
Invaders from Mars is a hoot.
And, on a different level, so is The Caine Mutiny.