Editing Franchot Tone

{{short description|American actor, director (1905–1968)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Franchot Tone
| image              = Franchot Tone by Russell Ball.jpg
| caption            = Franchot Tone (1938)
| birth_name         = Stanislaus Pascal Franchot Tone
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1905|02|27|mf=y}}
| birth_place        = [[Niagara Falls, New York]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1968|09|18|1905|02|27|mf=y}}
| death_place        = [[New York City]], U.S.
| alma_mater         = [[Cornell University]]
| occupation         = {{hlist|Actor|producer|director}}
| years_active       = 1926–1968
| spouse             = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|[[Joan Crawford]]|1935|1939|reason=div}}
* {{marriage|[[Jean Wallace]]|1941|1948|reason=div}}
* {{marriage|[[Barbara Payton]]|1951|1952|reason=div}}
* {{marriage|[[Dolores Dorn]]|1956|1959|reason=div}}
}}
| children           = 2
}}
[[File:Franchot Tone star HWF.JPG|thumb|[[Hollywood Walk of Fame]] star at 6558 Hollywood Blvd.|alt=]]

'''Stanislaus Pascal Franchot Tone''' (February 27, 1905 – September 18, 1968) was an American actor, producer, and director of stage, film and television. He was a leading man in the 1930s and early 1940s, and at the height of his career was known for his gentlemanly sophisticate roles, with supporting roles by the 1950s. His acting crossed many genres including [[Pre-Code Hollywood|pre-Code]] romantic leads to [[Film noir|''noir'']] layered roles and [[World War I]] films. He appeared as a guest star in episodes of several [[Golden Age of Television|golden age]] television series, including ''[[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]'' and ''[[The Alfred Hitchcock Hour]]'' while continuing to act and produce in the theater and movies throughout the 1960s.

Tone was nominated for an [[Academy Award for Best Actor]] for his role as Midshipman [[Peter Heywood|Roger Byam]] in ''[[Mutiny on the Bounty (1935 film)|Mutiny on the Bounty]]'' (1935),<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1936/D|title=The 8th Academy Awards {{!}} 1936|website=Oscars.org {{!}} Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|access-date=June 9, 2019}}</ref> along with his co-stars [[Clark Gable]] and [[Charles Laughton]], making it the only film to have three simultaneous Best Actor nominations, and leading to the creation of the [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor|Best Supporting Actor]] category.

== Early life and education ==
Stanislaus Pascal Franchot Tone was born in [[Niagara Falls, New York]], the youngest son of Dr. Frank Jerome Tone, the wealthy president of the 
[[Edward Goodrich Acheson|Carborundum Company]], and his socially prominent wife, Gertrude Van Vrancken Franchot.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/10/15/archives/f-jerome-tone-76-a-brother-of-franchot-tone-the-actor.html|title=F. Jerome Tone, 76, a Brother Of Franchot Tone, the Actor|date=October 15, 1977|work=The New York Times|access-date=July 6, 2019|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Tone was also a distant relative of [[Wolfe Tone]] (the "father of [[Irish Republicanism]]").<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/woman-who-inherited-tone-s-spirit-1.28604|title=Woman who inherited Tone's spirit|newspaper=The Irish Times|access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref> Tone was of [[French Canadian]], Irish, Dutch and English ancestry. Through his ancestor, the nobleman Gilbert L'Homme de Basque, translated to Basque Homme and finally Bascom, he was of French [[Basque people|Basque]] descent.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://archive.org/details/genealogicalreco00harr|title=A genealogical record of Thomas Bascom and his descendants|last=Harris|first=Edward Doubleday|date=1870|publisher=W. P. Lunt|others=Boston Public Library|page=[https://archive.org/details/genealogicalrec00harr/page/63 63]}}</ref>

Tone was educated at [[The Hill School]] in [[Pottstown, Pennsylvania]], from which he was dismissed and Niagara Falls High School. He entered [[Cornell University]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Cornell Daily Sun 24 March 1937 — The Cornell Daily Sun|url=https://cdsun.library.cornell.edu/?a=d&d=CDS19370324.2.4&|access-date=July 6, 2019|website=cdsun.library.cornell.edu}}</ref> where he was president of the drama club,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Peros|first=Mike|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ghaSDgAAQBAJ&q=franchot+tone+cornell&pg=PA11|title=Dan Duryea: Heel with a Heart|date=October 11, 2016|publisher=University Press of Mississippi|isbn=978-1-4968-0995-7}}</ref> acting in productions of Shakespeare.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bishop|first=Morris|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s_t1BAAAQBAJ&q=Franchot+Tone&pg=PT432|title=A History of Cornell|date=October 15, 2014|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=978-0-8014-5537-7|language=en}}</ref> He was also elected to the [[Sphinx Head Society]] and joined the [[Alpha Delta Phi]] fraternity. After graduating in 1927, he gave up the family business to pursue an acting career, moving to [[Greenwich Village]], New York.<ref>{{cite book|last=Chandler|first=Charlotte|title=Not the Girl Next Door: Joan Crawford, A Personal Biography|publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=2008|pages=[https://archive.org/details/notgirlnextdoorj00chan/page/120 120]|isbn=978-1-4165-4751-8|url=https://archive.org/details/notgirlnextdoorj00chan/page/120}}</ref>

== Career ==

=== 1927–1932: Broadway ===
[[File:Green-Grow-the-Lilacs-1931.jpg|thumb|left|[[June Walker]] (Laurey Williams), [[Helen Westley]] (Aunt Eller Murphy) and Tone (Curly McClain) in the original Broadway production of ''[[Green Grow the Lilacs (play)|Green Grow the Lilacs]]'' (1931)]]

Tone was in ''The Belt'' (1927), ''Centuries'' (1927–28), ''The International'' (1928), and a popular adaptation of ''[[The Age of Innocence]]'' (1928–29) with [[Katherine Cornell]]. He followed it with appearances in ''[[Uncle Vanya]]'' (1929), ''Cross Roads'' (1929), ''Red Rust'' (1929–30), ''Hotel Universe'' (1930), and ''Pagan Lady'' (1930–31).

He joined the [[Theatre Guild]] and played Curly in their production of ''[[Green Grow the Lilacs (play)|Green Grow the Lilacs]]'' (1931)'','' where Tone sang, which later became the basis for the musical ''[[Oklahoma!]]''<ref name="Dietz">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L0hNDwAAQBAJ&q=franchot+tone&pg=PA97|page=97|title=The Complete Book of 1930s Broadway Musicals|last=Dietz|first=Dan|date=March 29, 2018|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1-5381-0277-0}}</ref> [[Robert Benchley]] of ''[[The New Yorker]]'' said that "Tone made lyrical love to [co-star] Walker" between the [[Sammy Lee (choreographer)|Sammy Lee]] chorus routines of the play.<ref name="Dietz" /> The [[Lynn Riggs]] play received mixed reviews, mostly favorable, and was a popular success lasting 64 performances on Broadway in addition to its roa was also a founding member of the [[Group Theatre (New York)|Group Theatre]], when the Theater Guild disbanded, along with other former guild members [[Harold Clurman]], [[Cheryl Crawford]], [[Lee Strasberg]], [[Stella Adler]], and [[Clifford Odets]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1989-06-26-8902120781-story.html|title=BROADWAY REBELS|last=Kogan|first=Rick |website=Chicago Tribune|date=June 26, 1989 |access-date=August 12, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Hardison Londré|first=Felicia|author2=Berthold, Margot|title=The History of World Theater: From the English Restoration to the Present|publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group|year=1999|pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyofworldth00bert_0/page/530 530]|isbn=0-8264-1167-3|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofworldth00bert_0/page/530}}</ref> Clifford Odets recalled of Tone's acting, "The two most talented young actors I have known in the American theater in my time have been Franchot Tone and [[Marlon Brando]], and I think Franchot was the more talented."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hethmon|first=Robert H.|date=Spring 2002|title=Days with the Group Theatre: An Interview with Clifford Odets|journal=Michigan Quarterly Review|volume=XLI|issue=2|issn=1558-7266|hdl=2027/spo.act2080.0041.201}}</ref> Strasberg, who was a director in the Group during 1931–1941 and then teacher of "The Method" in the 1950s,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://people.com/archive/picks-and-pans-review-broadway-dreamers-the-legacy-of-the-group-theatre-vol-31-no-25/|title=Picks and Pans Review: Broadway Dreamers: the Legacy of the Group Theatre|website=PEOPLE.com|access-date=August 13, 2019}}</ref> had been a castmate of Tone's in ''Green Grow the Lilacs''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.playwrightshorizons.org/shows/trailers/american-voice-brief-history-adaptation/|title=The American Voice: A Brief History of Adaptation – Trailers + More|website=Playwrights Horizons|access-date=August 12, 2019}}</ref>

These were intense and productive years for him; among the productions of the Group he acted in were ''1931'' (1931) lasting 12 performances, Maxwell Anderson's ''Night Over Taos'' (1932) a play in verse that lasted 10, ''The House of Connelly'' (1931) lasting 91 performances and [[John Howard Lawson]]'s ''Success Story'' (1932) directed by Lee Strasberg.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0RMwAAAAQBAJ&q=franchot+tone&pg=PA56|page=56|title=Real Life Drama: The Group Theatre and America, 1931–1940|last=Smith|first=Wendy|date=August 6, 2013|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-307-83098-2}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0RMwAAAAQBAJ&q=play+1931+franchot+tone&pg=PA70|title=Real Life Drama: The Group Theatre and America, 1931–1940|page=70|last=Smith|first=Wendy|date=August 6, 2013|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-307-83098-2}}</ref> Outside of Group productions, he was in ''A Thousand Summers'' (1932).<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2gdVAAAAYAAJ&q=franchot+tone&pg=PA96|title=Home Journal|date=1932|publisher=Hearst Corporation}}</ref>

Tone made his film debut with ''[[The Wiser Sex]]'' (1932) starring [[Claudette Colbert]], filmed by [[Paramount Pictures|Paramount]] at their [[Kaufman Astoria Studios|Astoria Studios]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1932/03/12/archives/melvyn-douglas-and-claudette-colbert-in-a-melodrama-of-gangsters.html|title=Melvyn Douglas and Claudette Colbert in a Melodrama of Gangsters and the Inevitable Romance.|last=Hall|first=Mordaunt|date=March 12, 1932|work=The New York Times|access-date=August 13, 2019|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

=== 1933–1939: The MGM years ===
Tone was the first of the Group to go to Hollywood when [[MGM]] offered him a film contract. In his memoir on the Group Theater, ''The Fervent Years'', Harold Clurman recalls Tone being the most confrontational and egocentric of the group, a "strikingly individualistic personality."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Clurman |first=Harold |title=The fervent years; the story of the Group Theatre and the thirties |date=1975 |pages=51}}</ref> [[Burgess Meredith]] credits Tone with informing him of the existence of "the Method" and what was soon to be the [[Actors Studio]] under Strasberg's teachings.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_AwPp47_HJIC&q=franchot+tone|title=Strasberg at the Actors Studio: Tape-recorded Sessions|last=Strasberg|first=Lee|date=1991|publisher=Theatre Communications Grou|isbn=978-1-55936-022-7}}</ref> Tone himself considered cinema far more invasive to private life and paced differently from theater productions. He recalled his stage years with fondness,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.joancrawfordbest.com/articlescreenland1233.htm|title=Joan Unmasks Hollywood for Franchot Tone|website=www.joancrawfordbest.com|access-date=June 9, 2019}}</ref> financially supporting the Group Theater in its declining years.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/criticalintroduc0003bigs|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/criticalintroduc0003bigs/page/179 179]|quote=odets and franchot tone.|title=A Critical Introduction to Twentieth-century American Drama|last1=Bigsby|first1=C. W. E.|last2=Bigsby|first2=Christopher William Edgar|date=1982|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-27116-5}}</ref>

MGM immediately gave Tone a series of impressive roles, casting him in six [[Pre-Code Hollywood|pre-Code]] film standards. Starting in 1933 with a support role in the romantic [[WWI]] drama ''[[Today We Live]]'', written by [[William Faulkner]] in collaboration with director [[Howard Hawks]]. The script was first conceived as a WWI buddy film, but the studio executives wanted a vehicle for their popular leading lady [[Joan Crawford]], forcing Faulkner and Hawks to work in the romance between co-stars [[Gary Cooper]] and Crawford.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hogue|first=Peter|date=1981|title=HAWKS AND FAULKNER: "Today We Live"|journal=Literature/Film Quarterly|volume=9|issue=1|pages=51–58|issn=0090-4260|jstor=43796162}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Phillips|first=Gene D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wrm3ZWTfrmEC&q=Turn+about&pg=PA14|title=Fiction, Film, and Faulkner: The Art of Adaptation|date=1988|publisher=Univ. of Tennessee Press|isbn=978-1-57233-166-2|language=en}}, article on book: ''[[Fiction, Film, and Faulkner]]''</ref> Tone was then the romantic male lead in ''[[Gabriel Over the White House]]'' starring [[Walter Huston]],<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JiEHAQAAIAAJ&q=broadway+actors+in+film+franchot+tone&pg=RA1-PA27|magazine=Time|title=Gabriel Over the White House|last=Hadden|first=Briton|date=1933}}</ref> followed by a lead role with [[Loretta Young]] in ''[[Midnight Mary]]''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1933/07/15/archives/midnight-mary-and-three-other-pictures-now-on-view-along-broadway.html|title=' Midnight Mary' and Three Other Pictures Now On View Along Broadway.|last=A.d.s|date=July 15, 1933|work=The New York Times|access-date=August 12, 2019|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Tone romanced [[Miriam Hopkins]] in [[King Vidor]]'s ''[[The Stranger's Return]]'' and was the male lead in ''[[Stage Mother (1933 film)|Stage Mother]]''. He also had a role in ''[[Bombshell (1933 film)|Bombshell]]'', with [[Jean Harlow]] and [[Lee Tracy]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iFQ8DwAAQBAJ&q=bombshell+1933+franchot+tone&pg=PT50|title=TEN MOVIES AT A TIME: A 350-Film Journey Through Hollywood and America 1930–1970|last=DiLeo|first=John|date=November 1, 2017|publisher=Hansen Publishing Group LLC|isbn=978-1-60182-653-4}}</ref> The last of the sequence of films was ''[[Dancing Lady]]'', with an on-screen love triangle with his future wife Joan Crawford and [[Clark Gable]], which was a "lavishly staged spectacle" with a solid performance by Tone.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1933/12/01/archives/joan-crawford-clark-gable-and-franchot-tone-in-the-capitols-new.html|title=Joan Crawford, Clark Gable and Franchot Tone in the Capitol's New Pictorial Offering.|last=Hall|first=Mordaunt|date=December 1, 1933|work=The New York Times|access-date=August 12, 2019|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

[[Twentieth Century Pictures]] borrowed Tone to romance [[Constance Bennett]] in ''[[Moulin Rouge (1934 film)|Moulin Rouge]]'' (1934) as she played dual roles in which "she shines as a comedienne" and his performance was called "equally clever in a role that calls for a serious mein" by ''[[The New York Times]]''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1934/02/08/archives/the-screen-constance-bennett-franchot-tone-helen-westley-and-tullio.html|title=THE SCREEN; Constance Bennett, Franchot Tone, Helen Westley and Tullio Carminati in a Musical Film.|last=Hall|first=Mordaunt|date=February 8, 1934|work=The New York Times|access-date=August 24, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Back at MGM, he was again co-starring with Crawford in ''[[Sadie McKee]]'' (1934), then was borrowed by [[Fox Film|Fox]] to co-star "commendably" with [[Madeleine Carroll]] in [[John Ford]]'s French Foreign Legion picture, ''[[The World Moves On]]'' (1934).<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1934/06/30/archives/madeleine-carroll-franchot-tone-and-dudley-digges-in-the-new.html|title=Madeleine Carroll, Franchot Tone and Dudley Digges in the New Picture at the Criterion.|last=Hall|first=Mordaunt|date=June 30, 1934|work=The New York Times|access-date=August 24, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

After ''[[The Girl from Missouri]]'' (1934) with Harlow,<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vgVStU_SWRcC&q=bombshell+1933+franchot+tone&pg=PA63|title=Seen That, Now What?: The Ultimate Guide to Finding the Video You Really Want to Watch|last=Shaw|first=Andrea|date=April 9, 1996|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-0-684-80011-0}}</ref> MGM finally gave Tone top billing in ''[[Straight Is the Way]]'' (1934), although it was considered a "B" film, one which didn't have a high publicity or production cost. Warner Bros. then borrowed him for ''[[Gentlemen Are Born (1934 film)|Gentlemen Are Born]]'' (1934).

At [[Paramount Pictures|Paramount]], Tone co-starred in the Academy Award nominated hit movie, ''[[The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (film)|The Lives of a Bengal Lancer]]'' (1935) with Gary Cooper.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/1934/film/reviews/the-lives-of-a-bengal-lancer-1117792662/|title=The Lives of a Bengal Lancer|date=January 1, 1935|website=Variety|language=en|access-date=September 20, 2019}}</ref> He was top billed in ''[[One New York Night]]'' (1935) but billed underneath Harlow and [[William Powell]] in ''[[Reckless (1935 film)|Reckless]]'' (1935). He supported Crawford and [[Robert Montgomery (actor)|Robert Montgomery]] in ''[[No More Ladies]]'' (1935) and had another box-office success with ''[[Mutiny on the Bounty (1935 film)|Mutiny on the Bounty]]'', for which he was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Actor]], along with co-stars Clark Gable and [[Charles Laughton]].<ref name=":2" />

Warner Bros. borrowed him again, this time to play [[Bette Davis]]' leading man in ''[[Dangerous (1935 film)|Dangerous]]'' (1935). After a lead role in ''[[Exclusive Story]]'' (1935), he was again paired with friend Loretta Young in ''[[The Unguarded Hour]]'' (1936), and also starred with [[Grace Moore]] in Columbia's ''[[The King Steps Out]]'' (1936), notable for the debut of an eleven-year-old [[Gwen Verdon]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://masterworksbroadway.com/artist/gwen-verdon/|title=Gwen Verdon|website=The Official Masterworks Broadway Site|access-date=August 12, 2019}}</ref>

Tone and Harlow co-starred again in ''[[Suzy (film)|Suzy]]'' (1936) with then up and comer [[Cary Grant]], who was billed third.<ref name=":3" /> The film was popular with audiences, but reviews were less than kind with ''The New York Times'' negatively comparing it to other recent WWI movies calling it "balderdash", but thanked "Mr. Tone for the few honest moments of drama that the film possesses. His young Irishman is about the only convincing and natural character in the piece."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1936/07/25/archives/suzy-at-capitol-clears-spelvin-mystery-alex-botts-produces.html|title=' Suzy' at Capitol Clears Spelvin Mystery -- Alex Botts Produces Earthquake at Roxy.|last=Nugent|first=Frank S.|date=July 25, 1936|work=The New York Times|access-date=January 29, 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> He then filmed ''[[The Gorgeous Hussy]]'' (1936) with Crawford, Robert Taylor and [[Lionel Barrymore]] with co-star [[Beulah Bondi]] earning an Academy Award nomination for the [[Andrew Jackson]] period piece.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/1935/film/reviews/the-gorgeous-hussy-1200411149/|title=The Gorgeous Hussy|date=January 1, 1936|website=Variety|access-date=August 13, 2019}}</ref> A Crawford and Gable film capitalizing on ''[[It Happened One Night]]'' by casting the pair in roles as fast talking journalists in ''[[Love on the Run (1936 film)|Love on the Run]]'' (1936),<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2GJRDwAAQBAJ&q=MGM+1932+franchot+tone+contract&pg=PP141|title=MGM|last=Balio|first=Tino|date=March 14, 2018|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-42967-8}}</ref> found Tone in a supporting role.

[[RKO Pictures|RKO]] borrowed him to appear opposite [[Katharine Hepburn]] in ''[[Quality Street (1937 film)|Quality Street]]'' (1937), a costume drama that lost $248,000 at the box office.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iPEhCJbul9QC&q=quality+street+1937+new+york+times+review&pg=PA299|title=Giant: George Stevens, a Life on Film|last=Moss|first=Marilyn Ann|date=August 4, 2015|publisher=Terrace Books|isbn=978-0-299-20433-4}}</ref> Back at MGM he supported [[Spencer Tracy]] and [[Gladys George]] in ''[[They Gave Him a Gun]]'' (1937).

[[File:Between Two Women 1937.jpg|left|thumb|Top-billed with a lead role back at MGM studios on a 1937 film poster]]
He had the lead in ''[[Between Two Women (1937 film)|Between Two Women]]'' (1937) and co-starred for the final time with Crawford in ''[[The Bride Wore Red]]'' (1937), then joined [[Myrna Loy]] in ''[[Man-Proof]]'' (1938) and Gladys George in ''[[Love Is a Headache]]'' (1938).

In ''[[Three Comrades (1938 film)|Three Comrades]]'' (1938) Tone was teamed with Robert Taylor and [[Margaret Sullavan]] in a film about disillusioned soldiers returning to Germany after World War I. He made ''[[Three Loves Has Nancy]]'' (1938) with [[Janet Gaynor]] and Robert Montgomery and co-starred with [[Franciska Gaal]] in ''[[The Girl Downstairs (film)|The Girl Downstairs]]'' (1938), a Cinderella type story. He then starred in a "B" picture with [[Ann Sothern]] in ''[[Fast and Furious (1939 film)|Fast and Furious]]'' (1939) as married crime sleuths, the third movie in a series with different sets of actors in each, that were marketed towards the [[Nick and Nora Charles|''Thin Man'']] films audiences.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vp7i1FSO4g8C&q=franchot+tone+fast+and+furious&pg=PA60|title=Forever Mame: The Life of Rosalind Russell|last=Dick|first=Bernard F.|date=September 18, 2009|publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi|isbn=978-1-60473-139-2|language=en}}</ref>

After his contract ended, Tone left MGM in 1939 to act on Broadway in a return to his stage roots, often working with "the Group's" members of its formative years, and playwrights such as Eugene O'Neill.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Liebman|first=Roy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ICUSDgAAQBAJ&q=wiser+sex+1932+franchot+tone&pg=PA226|title=Broadway Actors in Films, 1894–2015|date=January 27, 2017|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-7685-5}}</ref> He returned to Broadway for [[Irwin Shaw]]'s ''The Gentle People'' (1939) and an adaptation of [[Ernest Hemingway]]'s ''[[The Fifth Column and the First Forty-Nine Stories|The Fifth Column]]'' (1940), which only had a short run.

=== 1940–1949: The Universal, Columbia & Paramount combination ===
[[File:Phantom-Lady-2.jpg|right|thumb|Tone and [[Ella Raines]] in ''Phantom Lady'' (1944); an early noir and villainous role for him]][[File:I Love Trouble (1948) 1.jpg|right|thumb|250px|[[Janis Carter]], [[Janet Blair]] and Tone in ''I Love Trouble'' (1948)]]
Tone signed a contract with Universal, starring in his first Western there, ''[[Trail of the Vigilantes]]'' (1940), where he more than earns his spurs alongside the likes of [[Broderick Crawford]] and [[Andy Devine]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Crowther|first=Bosley|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1940/12/07/archives/the-screen.html|title=The Screen|date=December 7, 1940|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 7, 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> He was soon back supporting female stars though, making ''[[Nice Girl?]]'' (1941) with [[Deanna Durbin]].

Tone also signed a multi-picture deal with Columbia, where he made two films with [[Joan Bennett]], ''[[She Knew All the Answers]]'' (1941) and ''[[The Wife Takes a Flyer]]'' (1942).

Back at Universal he was top billed in ''[[This Woman Is Mine]]'' (1941). Tone went to Paramount to star in ''[[Five Graves to Cairo]]'' (1942), a [[World War II]] espionage story directed by [[Billy Wilder]].

He also returned to MGM to star in ''[[Pilot No. 5]]'' (1943) then it was back to Universal for ''[[His Butler's Sister]]'' (1943) with Durbin.

Tone made two more films at Paramount, ''[[True to Life (film)|True to Life]]'' (1943) with [[Mary Martin]] and ''[[The Hour Before the Dawn]]'' (1944) with [[Veronica Lake]]. He had one of his best roles in Universal's ''[[Phantom Lady (film)|Phantom Lady]]'' (1944) directed by [[Robert Siodmak]], an early [[film noir]] picture and a villainous part for Tone.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TLWdNXcu76cC&q=mgm+1930+franchot+tone&pg=PA310|title=Mystery Movie Series of 1930s Hollywood|last=Backer|first=Ron|date=August 1, 2012|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-9018-9}}</ref> Also impressive was his performance in ''[[Dark Waters (1944 film)|Dark Waters]]'' (1944) with [[Merle Oberon]] for [[Benedict Bogeaus]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1944/11/22/archives/the-screen-dark-waters-a-thriller.html|title=THE SCREEN; ' Dark Waters' a Thriller|last=Crowther|first=Bosley|date=November 22, 1944|work=The New York Times|access-date=August 23, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

He continued his stage career by performing on Broadway in ''Hope for the Best'' (1945) with [[Jane Wyatt]]; the production ran for a little more than three months.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qiQaAAAAYAAJ&q=Franchot+Tone|title=Current Biography Yearbook|date=1954|publisher=H. W. Wilson Company|language=en}}</ref>

At Universal Tone did ''[[That Night with You]]'' (1945) with [[Susanna Foster]] and ''[[Because of Him]]'' (1946) with Durbin.

Tone made ''[[Lost Honeymoon]]'' (1947) at [[Eagle-Lion Films|Eagle-Lion Studios]] and ''[[Honeymoon (1947 film)|Honeymoon]]'' (1947) with [[Shirley Temple]]. While at Columbia he had roles in ''[[Her Husband's Affairs]]'' (1947) with [[Lucille Ball]], and ''[[I Love Trouble (1947 film)|I Love Trouble]]'' (1947), then ''[[Every Girl Should Be Married]]'' (1948) reteamed with Grant at RKO. He had the lead as an assistant D.A. looking for the murderer of a journalist while being distracted by a beauty played by then wife Jean Wallace in the film noir thriller, ''[[Jigsaw (1949 film)|Jigsaw]]'' (1949).<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780452289789|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780452289789/page/712 712]|quote=franchot tone jigsaw.|title=Leonard Maltin's 2009 Movie Guide|last1=Maltin|first1=Leonard|last2=Sader|first2=Luke|last3=Clark|first3=Mike|date=2008|publisher=Penguin|isbn=978-0-452-28978-9|language=en}}</ref> He then had a supporting part as a murder victim in ''[[Without Honor (1949 film)|Without Honor]]'' (1949), a noir film co-starring [[Laraine Day]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HEWeCQAAQBAJ&q=franchot+tone+without+honor&pg=PA473|title=Film Noir Guide: 745 Films of the Classic Era, 1940–1959|last=Keaney|first=Michael F.|date=May 20, 2015|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-9155-1|language=en}}</ref>

=== 1949: Producer ===
[[File:EiffelMonseigneur.jpg|left|thumb|Tone and Laughton in ''The Man on the Eiffel Tower'' (1949)|alt=]]
Tone produced and starred in ''[[The Man on the Eiffel Tower]]'' (1949), a troubled production suffering from filming delays on location, creative wrangling and the picture’s hard-to-transfer single-strip technicolor film stock.<ref name=":0" /> It has benefited from restorations in the 2000s that have coincided with theatrical showings and vastly improved DVD releases.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.digitallyobsessed.com/displaylegacy.php?ID=10110|title=The Man on the Eiffel Tower (1949)|access-date=April 8, 2010|archive-date=June 13, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613093416/http://www.digitallyobsessed.com/displaylegacy.php?ID=10110|url-status=dead}}</ref> Tone's tour de force role as a [[manic depression|manic depressive]] [[Antisocial personality disorder|sociopath]] included performing many of his own stunts on the [[Eiffel Tower|Paris landmark]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Higham|first=Charles|title=Hollywood cameramen: sources of light|publisher=Garland|year=1986|pages=110|isbn=0-8240-5764-3 }}</ref>

Burgess Meredith and Charles Laughton star with Tone. Meredith is credited as director, although Tone took over duties when Meredith was in front of the camera with Laughton sometimes directing himself.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Jones|first=Preston Neal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qB7zFm4an8EC&q=the+man+on+the+eiffel+tower+%281949%29&pg=PA82|title=Heaven and Hell to Play with: The Filming of The Night of the Hunter|date=2002|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation|isbn=978-0-87910-974-5|language=en}}</ref> The film has, according to French director [[Jean Renoir|Jean Renior]], some of the best cinematic pictures of the [[Eiffel Tower]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.tft.ucla.edu/mediascape/blog/the-crank-the-man-on-the-eiffel-tower-program-notes-42513-screening/|title=The Crank: 'The Man on the Eiffel Tower' Program Notes (4/25/13 Screening)|date=April 28, 2013|website=Mediascape Blog|access-date=July 7, 2019|archive-date=July 7, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190707062247/http://www.tft.ucla.edu/mediascape/blog/the-crank-the-man-on-the-eiffel-tower-program-notes-42513-screening/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== 1950–1959: Live theater television ===
Tone relocated to New York and began appearing in New York City-based live theater television, including ''[[The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse]]'', ''[[Lux Video Theatre]]'', ''[[Danger (TV series)|Danger]]'', ''[[Suspense (American TV series)|Suspense]]'' and ''[[Starlight Theatre (TV series)|Starlight Theatre]]''. He returned to Hollywood to appear in ''[[Here Comes the Groom (1951 film)|Here Comes the Groom]]'' (1951).<ref name="los">Franchot Tone, 'Gentleman' of Movies, Dies ''Los Angeles Times'' September 19, 1968: 3.</ref>

Back on the small screen, Tone was in ''[[Lights Out (1946 TV series)|Lights Out]]'', ''[[Tales of Tomorrow]]'', ''[[Hollywood Opening Night]]'', ''[[The Revlon Mirror Theater]],'' and ''[[The Philip Morris Playhouse]]''. But he soon returned to Broadway, appearing in a big hit with ''Oh, Men! Oh, Women!'' (1953–54), which ran for 400 performances,<ref name=":12">{{Cite book|last=Liebman|first=Roy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ICUSDgAAQBAJ&q=wiser+sex+1932+franchot+tone&pg=PA226|title=Broadway Actors in Films, 1894–2015|date=January 27, 2017|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-7685-5}}</ref> a revival of ''[[The Time of Your Life]]'' (1955) and Eugene O'Neill's ''[[A Moon for the Misbegotten]]'' with [[Wendy Hiller]] and [[Cyril Cusack]] in 1957.<ref name="los" />

During this time he continued to appear on TV adaptations of Broadway plays, in such original productions as ''[[Twelve Angry Men (Westinghouse Studio One)|Twelve Angry Men]]'', as well as ''[[The Elgin Hour]]'', ''[[The Ford Television Theatre]]'', and in ''[[The Best of Broadway]]'' series in a production of ''[[The Guardsman]]'' with [[Claudette Colbert]]. Tone then continued in ''[[Four Star Theatre]]'', ''[[Robert Montgomery Presents]]'', a ''[[Playwrights '56]]'' production of ''[[The Sound and the Fury]]'', ''[[Omnibus (U.S. TV series)|Omnibus]]'', ''[[General Electric Theater]]'', ''[[The United States Steel Hour]]'', ''[[The Kaiser Aluminum Hour]]'', ''[[The Alcoa Hour]]'', ''[[Climax!]]'', ''[[Armchair Theatre]]'', ''[[Pursuit (TV series)|Pursuit]]'', ''[[Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse]]'', ''[[Alfred Hitchcock Presents]]'', ''[[Goodyear Theatre]]'', ''[[Playhouse 90]]'', and ''[[DuPont Show of the Month]]''.

He did a TV adaptation of ''[[The Little Foxes]]'' (1956) with [[Greer Garson]] and played [[Frank James]] in ''[[Bitter Heritage]]'' (1958).<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8aelDwAAQBAJ&q=franchot+tone+tv+episodes&pg=PA3611|title=The Encyclopedia of Best Films: A Century of All the Finest Movies, V-Z|last=Nash|first=Jay Robert|date=November 1, 2019|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1-5381-3419-1}}</ref> In 1957 Tone co-produced, co-directed, and starred in an adaptation of [[Anton Chekhov|Chekhov's]] ''[[Uncle Vanya]]'', which was filmed concurrently with an [[off-Broadway]] [[Revival (theatre)|revival]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3TaMAQAAQBAJ&pg=PT114|title=Anton Chekhov|last=Emeljanow|first=Victor|date=October 18, 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-55106-4}}</ref> His performance as the Russian country doctor with "ennui" was praised and the preserving of the stage production to film only varied by the addition of then-wife Dolores Dorn.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1958/04/29/archives/uncle-vanya-franchot-tone-stars-in-chekhov-drama.html|title='Uncle Vanya'; Franchot Tone Stars in Chekhov Drama|last=Weiler|first=A. H.|date=April 29, 1958|work=The New York Times|access-date=August 11, 2019|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

=== 1960–1968: Final films and television ===
In the early 1960s Tone was in episodes of ''[[Bonanza]]''<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hSIkCQAAQBAJ&q=franchot+tone+tv+episodes&pg=PA314|title=Jacques Tourneur: The Cinema of Nightfall|last=Fujiwara|first=Chris|date=May 3, 2011|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-6611-5|language=en}}</ref> and ''[[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]'' ("[[The Silence (The Twilight Zone)|The Silence]]") and appeared on Broadway in an adaptation of ''[[Mandingo (play)|Mandingo]]'' (1961). He then played the spent, dying president in the screen adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel ''[[Advise & Consent (film)|Advise & Consent]]'' (1962), an [[Otto Preminger]] film that the director had unsuccessfully lobbied [[Martin Luther King Jr.|Martin Luther King]] to portray a senator in, while two U.S. senators played extras on Capitol Hill locations previously used for ''[[Mr. Smith Goes to Washington]].''<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B5alnowvF3sC&q=franchot+tone+advise+and+consent+mlk&pg=PT24|title=Son of the 100 Best Movies You've Never Seen|last=Crouse|first=Richard|date=December 15, 2010|publisher=ECW Press|isbn=978-1-55490-330-6|language=en}}</ref>''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/Hollywood_on_the_Hill.htm|title=U.S. Senate: Hollywood on the Hill|website=www.senate.gov|access-date=August 23, 2019}}</ref>''

On stage in 1963 he acted in a revival of O'Neill's ''[[Strange Interlude]]'', with [[Ben Gazzarra]] and [[Jane Fonda]], and ''Bicycle Ride to Nevada''. The next year he appeared in [[Lewis John Carlino]]'s ''Double Talk''.

He was cast in TV shows such as ''[[The Eleventh Hour (1962 TV series)|The Eleventh Hour]]'', ''[[Dupont Show of the Week]]'', ''[[The Reporter (TV series)|The Reporter]]'', ''[[Festival (Canadian TV series)|Festival]]'', ''[[The Alfred Hitchcock Hour]]'', and ''[[The Virginian (TV series)|The Virginian]]''. He appeared in what is possibly the first TV movie, ''[[See How They Run (1964 film)|See How They Run]]'' (1964).<ref name="los" />

In Europe, Tone made ''[[La bonne soupe]]'' (1965). He co-starred in the ''[[Ben Casey]]'' medical series from 1965 to 1966 as Casey's supervisor, Dr. Daniel Niles Freeland.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IMVADwAAQBAJ&q=franchot+tone+dr+freedland+ben+casey&pg=PA180|title=TV in the USA: A History of Icons, Idols, and Ideas [3 volumes]|last=LoBrutto|first=Vincent|date=January 4, 2018|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-4408-2973-4|language=en}}</ref>

He had roles in [[Otto Preminger]]'s film ''[[In Harm's Way]]'' (1965) in which he portrayed [[Admiral]] [[Husband E. Kimmel]] and Arthur Penn's ''[[Mickey One ]]''(1965), and an episode of ''[[Run for Your Life (TV series)|Run for Your Life]]''.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaoffi00mona|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaoffi00mona/page/537 537]|quote=the girl from missouri 1934 ny times.|title=The Encyclopedia of Film|last=Monaco|first=James|date=1991|publisher=Perigee Books|isbn=978-0-399-51604-7}}</ref> He appeared off-Broadway in ''Beyond Desire'' (1967) and his last roles were in ''[[Shadow Over Elveron]]'' (1968) and ''[[Nobody Runs Forever]]'' (1968), a British film originally titled ''The High Commissioner''.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yzPADT7BTRcC&q=franchot+tone+nobody+runs+forever&pg=PT1110|title=Leonard Maltin's 2013 Movie Guide: The Modern Era|last=Maltin|first=Leonard|date=September 4, 2012|publisher=Penguin|isbn=978-1-101-60463-2|language=en}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
[[File:Dancing Lady Crawford Tone.jpg|thumb| Tone and first wife [[Joan Crawford]]|alt= A well-dressed gentlemen embracing a coiffed woman as they look deeply into each other's eyes]]

In 1935, Tone married actress [[Joan Crawford]]; the couple were divorced in 1939.<ref name="time">{{cite web|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,863200,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110131174124/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,863200,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 31, 2011|title=Milestones, Mar. 17, 1958|date=March 17, 1958|publisher=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|access-date=February 3, 2010}}</ref> They made seven films together – ''[[Today We Live]]'' (1933), ''[[Dancing Lady]]'' (1933), ''[[Sadie McKee]]'' (1934), ''[[No More Ladies]]'' (1935), ''[[The Gorgeous Hussy]]'' (1936), ''[[Love on the Run (1936 film)|Love on the Run]]'' (1936), and ''[[The Bride Wore Red]]'' (1937).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/MovieDetails/7567?cxt=filmography|title=AFI{{!}}Catalog|website=catalog.afi.com|access-date=June 9, 2019}}</ref> Their union produced no children; despite considerable effort, Crawford's pregnancies all ended in miscarriage.

Tone took their divorce hard, and his recollections of her were cynical — "She's like that old joke about [[Philadelphia]]: first prize, four years with Joan; second prize, eight".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E4RMkVqRposC&q=She%27s+like+that+old+joke+about+Philadelphia%3A+first+prize%2C+four+years+with+Joan%3B+second+prize%2C+eight.&pg=PT150|title=Holy Matrimony!: Better Halves and Bitter Halves: Actors, Athletes, Comedians, Directors, Divas, Philosophers, Poets|last=Boze|first=Hadleigh|date=December 11, 2012|publisher=Andrews McMeel Publishing|isbn=978-1-4494-4098-5}}</ref> Many years later, however, when Tone was dying of lung cancer, Joan often cared for him, paying for medical treatments. Tone suggested they remarry, but she declined.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-cf2gT2bRG8C&q=franchot+tone+ashes+scattered&pg=PA250|title=Joan Crawford: Hollywood Martyr|last=Bret|first=David|date=April 15, 2009|publisher=Hachette Books|isbn=978-0-7867-3236-4}}</ref>

In 1941, Tone married fashion model-turned-actress [[Jean Wallace]], who appeared with Tone in both ''[[Jigsaw (1949 film)|Jigsaw]]'' and ''[[The Man on the Eiffel Tower]]''. The couple had two sons and were divorced in 1948. She later married actor [[Cornel Wilde]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xs8CDgAAQBAJ&q=franchot+tone+and+jean+wallace+custody&pg=PA217|title=Hard-Boiled Hollywood: Crime and Punishment in Postwar Los Angeles|last=Lewis|first=Jon|date=April 19, 2017|publisher=Univ of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-28431-9}}</ref>

In 1951, Tone's relationship with actress [[Barbara Payton]] made headlines when he was rendered unconscious for 18 hours and sustained numerous facial injuries following a fistfight with actor [[Tom Neal]], a rival for Payton's attention.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18496382|title=Franchot Tone In Coma After Brawl|date=September 16, 1951|work=Sunday Herald (Sydney, NSW : 1949–1953)|access-date=June 9, 2019|pages=5}}</ref> Plastic surgery nearly fully restored his broken nose and cheek. Tone subsequently married Payton, but divorced her in 1952, after obtaining photographic evidence she had continued her relationship with Neal.<ref>{{cite book|last=Nash|first=Jay Robert |title=Great Pictorial History of World Crime: Murder|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2004|pages=888|isbn=1-928831-22-2}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CGmXR3fwKmQC&q=franchot+tone&pg=PA24|page=24|title=I Am Not Ashamed|last=Payton|first=Barbara|date=2008|publisher=Holloway House Publishing|isbn=978-0-87067-108-1}}</ref> Payton and Neal capitalized on the scandal touring with a production of [[The Postman Always Rings Twice (novel)|''The'' ''Postman Always Rings Twice'']].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CGmXR3fwKmQC&q=barbara+payton+tom+neal+postman+rings+twice&pg=PA144-IA10|title=I Am Not Ashamed|last=Payton|first=Barbara|date=February 2008|page=144|publisher=Holloway House Publishing|isbn=978-0-87067-108-1}}</ref>

In 1956, Tone married [[Dolores Dorn]], with whom he appeared in a film version of ''[[Uncle Vanya (1957 film)|Uncle Vanya]]'' (1957) which Tone directed and produced. The couple divorced in 1959.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

== Death ==
Tone, a [[chain smoker]], died of [[lung cancer]] in New York City on September 18, 1968.<ref>{{cite book|last=Donnelley|first=Paul |title=Fade To Black: A Book Of Movie Obituaries|publisher=Omnibus Press|date=October 5, 2005|edition=3|pages=922|isbn=1-84449-430-6}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=DS19680918.2.26&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1|title=Desert Sun 18 September 1968 — California Digital Newspaper Collection|website=cdnc.ucr.edu|access-date=June 9, 2019}}</ref> He was cremated and his ashes kept on a shelf in his son's library, surrounded by the works of Shakespeare,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7-DgDAAAQBAJ&q=franchot+tone+ashes&pg=PA752|title=Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.|last=Wilson|first=Scott|date=August 17, 2016|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-7992-4}}</ref> until July 24, 2022, when they were interred in the Point Comfort Cemetery of [[Quebec|Quebec, Canada]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://ottawacitizen.remembering.ca/obituary/franchot-tone-1085763280#:~:text=The%20ashes%20of%20famed%20Hollywood,until%20his%20death%20in%201968 | title=Franchot Tone, Other Sympathy Announcements, Ottawa Citizen Remembering }}</ref>

On February 8, 1960, Franchot Tone received a star on the [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]] for his contribution to the motion picture industry, located at 6558 Hollywood Blvd, on the south side of the 6500 block.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

== Filmography ==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!style="background:#B0C4DE;"|Year
!style="background:#B0C4DE;"|Title
!style="background:#B0C4DE;"|Role
!style="background:#B0C4DE;" class="unsortable" |Notes
|-
| 1932
| ''[[The Wiser Sex]]''
| Phil Long
|
|-
| rowspan="7" | 1933
| ''[[Today We Live]]''
| Ronnie
|
|-
| ''[[Gabriel Over the White House]]''
| Hartley "Beek" Beekman
|
|-
| ''[[Midnight Mary]]''
| Thomas "Tom" Mannering, Jr.
|
|-
| ''[[The Stranger's Return]]''
| Guy Crane
|
|-
| ''[[Stage Mother (1933 film)|Stage Mother]]''
| Warren Foster
|
|-
| ''[[Bombshell (1933 film)|Bombshell]]''
| Gifford Middleton
|
|-
| ''[[Dancing Lady]]''
| Tod Newton
|
|-
| rowspan="6" | 1934
| ''[[Moulin Rouge (1934 film)|Moulin Rouge]]''
| Douglas Hall
|
|-
| ''[[Sadie McKee]]''
| Michael Alderson
|
|-
| ''[[The World Moves On]]''
| Richard Girard
|
|-
| ''[[The Girl from Missouri]]''
| T.R. Paige, Jr.
|
|-
| ''[[Straight Is the Way]]''
| Benny
|
|-
| ''[[Gentlemen Are Born (1934 film)|Gentlemen Are Born]]''
| Bob Bailey
|
|-
| rowspan="6" | 1935
| ''[[The Lives of a Bengal Lancer (film)|The Lives of a Bengal Lancer]]''
| Lieutenant Forsythe
|
|-
| ''[[One New York Night]]''
| Foxhall Ridgeway
|
|-
| ''[[Reckless (1935 film)|Reckless]]''
| Robert "Bob" Harrison, Jr.
|
|-
| ''[[No More Ladies]]''
| Jim "Jimsy Boysie" Salston
|
|-
| ''[[Mutiny on the Bounty (1935 film)|Mutiny on the Bounty]]''
| Midshipman Roger Byam
|
|-
| ''[[Dangerous (1935 film)|Dangerous]]''
| Don Bellows
|
|-
| rowspan="6" | 1936
| ''[[Exclusive Story]]''
| Dick Barton
|
|-
| ''[[The Unguarded Hour]]''
| Sir Alan Dearden
|
|-
| ''[[The King Steps Out]]''
| Emperor Franz Josef
|
|-
| ''[[Suzy (film)|Suzy]]''
| Terry
|
|-
| ''[[The Gorgeous Hussy]]''
| John Eaton
|
|-
| ''[[Love on the Run (1936 film)|Love on the Run]]''
| Barnabus W. "Barney" Pells
|
|-
| rowspan="4" | 1937
| ''[[Quality Street (1937 film)|Quality Street]]''
| Dr. Valentine Brown
|
|-
| ''[[They Gave Him a Gun]]''
| James "Jimmy" Davis
|
|-
| ''[[Between Two Women (1937 film)|Between Two Women]]''
| Allan Meighan
|
|-
| ''[[The Bride Wore Red]]''
| Giulio
|
|-
| rowspan="5" | 1938
| ''[[Man-Proof]]''
| Jimmy Kilmartin
|
|-
| ''[[Love Is a Headache]]''
| Peter Lawrence
|
|-
| ''[[Three Comrades (1938 film)|Three Comrades]]''
| Otto Koster
|
|-
| ''[[Three Loves Has Nancy]]''
| Robert "Bob" Hanson
|
|-
| ''[[The Girl Downstairs (film)|The Girl Downstairs]]''
| Paul / Mr. Wagner
|
|-
| 1939
| ''[[Fast and Furious (1939 film)|Fast and Furious]]''
| Joel Sloane
|
|-
| 1940
| ''[[Trail of the Vigilantes]]''
| "Kansas" / Tim Mason
|
|-
| rowspan="3" | 1941
| ''[[Nice Girl?]]''
| Richard Calvert
|
|-
| ''[[She Knew All the Answers]]''
| Mark Willows
|
|-
| ''[[This Woman is Mine]]''
| Robert Stevens
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1942
| ''[[The Wife Takes a Flyer]]''
| Christopher Reynolds
|
|-
| ''[[Star Spangled Rhythm]]''
| John in Card-Playing Skit
|
|-
| rowspan="4" | 1943
| ''[[Five Graves to Cairo]]''
| Corporal John J. Bramble / "Paul Davos"
|
|-
| ''[[Pilot No. 5]]''
| George Braynor Collins
|
|-
| ''[[His Butler's Sister]]''
| Charles Gerard
|
|-
| ''[[True to Life (film)|True to Life]]''
| Fletcher Marvin
|
|-
| rowspan="3" | 1944
| ''[[Phantom Lady (film)|Phantom Lady]]''
| Jack Marlow
|
|-
| ''[[The Hour Before the Dawn]]''
| Jim Hetherton
|
|-
| ''[[Dark Waters (1944 film)|Dark Waters]]''
| Dr. George Grover
|
|-
| 1945
| ''[[That Night with You]]''
| Paul Renaud
|
|-
| 1946
| ''[[Because of Him]]''
| Paul Taylor
|
|-
| rowspan="3" | 1947
| ''[[Lost Honeymoon]]''
| Johnny Gray
|
|-
| ''[[Honeymoon (1947 film)|Honeymoon]]''
| David Flanner
|
|-
| ''[[Her Husband's Affairs]]''
| William "Bill" Weldon
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1948
| ''[[I Love Trouble (1948 film)|I Love Trouble]]''
| Stuart Bailey
|
|-
| ''[[Every Girl Should Be Married]]''
| Roger Sanford
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1949
| ''[[Jigsaw (1949 film)|Jigsaw]]''
| Howard Malloy
| Alternative title: ''Gun Moll''
|-
| ''[[Without Honor (1949 film)|Without Honor]]''
| Dennis Williams
| Alternative title: ''Woman Accused''
|-
| 1950
| ''[[The Man on the Eiffel Tower]]''
| Johann Radek
| Also co-producer
|-
| 1951
| ''[[Here Comes the Groom (1951 film)|Here Comes the Groom]]''
| Wilbur Stanley
|
|-
| 1956
| ''The Little Foxes''
| Horace
| TV movie
|-
| 1957
| ''[[Uncle Vanya (1957 film)|Uncle Vanya]]''
| Dr. Astroff
| Also co-producer and co-director
|-
| 1958
| ''Bitter Heritage''
| Frank James
| TV movie
|-
| 1961
| ''Witchcraft''
| Your Host
| TV movie
|-
| 1962
| ''[[Advise & Consent (film)|Advise & Consent]]''
| The president
|
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1964
| ''La bonne soupe''
| John K. Montasi Jr.
|<ref>{{Cite book|last=Blum|first=Daniel|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EQrtw8lzEg8C&q=Franchot+Tone&pg=PA198|title=Daniel Blum's Screen World 1965|date=1966|publisher=Biblo & Tannen Publishers|isbn=978-0-8196-0306-7|language=en}}</ref>
|-
| ''[[See How They Run (1964 film)|See How They Run]]''
| Baron Frood
| TV movie
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1965
| ''[[In Harm's Way]]''
| Admiral Kimmel
|
|-
| ''[[Mickey One]]''
| Rudy Lapp
| Directed by [[Arthur Penn]]
|-
| rowspan="2" | 1968
| ''Shadow Over Elveron''
| Barney Conners
| TV movie
|-
| ''[[Nobody Runs Forever]]''
| Ambassador Townsend
| Alternative title: ''The High Commissioner'', (final film role)
|}

== Partial TV credits ==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!style="background:#B0C4DE;"| Year
!style="background:#B0C4DE;"| Title
!style="background:#B0C4DE;"| Role
!style="background:#B0C4DE;" class="unsortable" | Episode(s)
|-
| 1954
| ''[[Studio One (American TV series)|Studio One]]''
| Juror No. 3
| "[[Twelve Angry Men (Westinghouse Studio One)|Twelve Angry Men]]"
|-
| 1955
| ''[[Four Star Playhouse]]''
| Ben Chaney
| "Award"
|-
| 1956
| ''[[General Electric Theater]]''
| Charles Proteus Steinmetz
| "Steinmetz"
|-
| 1957
| ''[[The Kaiser Aluminum Hour]]''
| Arthur Baldwin
| "Throw Me a Rope"
|-
| 1958
| ''[[Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse]]''
| Candy Lombe
| "The Crazy Hunter"
|-
| 1959
| ''[[Alfred Hitchcock Presents]]''
| Oliver Mathews
| Season 4 Episode 28: "The Impossible Dream"
|-
| 1960
| ''[[Bonanza]]''
| Denver McKee
| "Denver McKee"
|-
| 1961
| ''[[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]''
| Colonel Archie Taylor
| "[[The Silence (The Twilight Zone)|The Silence]]"
|-
| 1965–1966
| ''[[Ben Casey]]''
| Dr. Daniel Niles Freeland
| 27 episodes
|-
| 1964
| ''[[The Alfred Hitchcock Hour]]''
| The Great Rudolph (Rudolph Bitzner)
| Season 3 Episode 14: "The Final Performance"
|-
| 1965
| ''[[The Virginian (TV series)|The Virginian]]''
| Murdock
| "Old Cowboy"
|-
| 1967
| ''[[Run for Your Life (TV series)|Run for Your Life]]''
| Judge Taliaferro Wilson
| "Tell It Like It Is"
|}

== Theater appearances ==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!style="background:#B0C4DE;"| Date
!style="background:#B0C4DE;"| Production
!style="background:#B0C4DE;"| Role
|-
| October 19 – November 1927
| ''The Belt''
| Bunner
|-
| November 29–1, 928
| ''Centuries''
| Yankel
|-
| January 12 – February 1928
| ''[[The International (play)|The International]]''
| David Fitch
|-
| November 27, 1928 – May 1929
| ''[[The Age of Innocence#Film, television, and theatrical adaptations|The Age of Innocence]]''
| Newland Archer, Jr.
|-
| May 24–1, 929
| ''[[Uncle Vanya]]''
| Mikhail lvovich Astrov
|-
| November 11 – December 1929
| ''Cross Roads''
| Duke
|-
| December 17, 1929 – February 1930
| ''Red Rust''
| Fedor
|-
| April 14 – June 1930
| ''Hotel Universe''
| Tom Ames
|-
| October 20, 1930 – March 1931
| ''Pagan Lady''
| Ernest Todd
|-
| January 26 – March 21, 1931
| ''[[Green Grow the Lilacs (play)|Green Grow the Lilacs]]''
| Curly McClain
|-
| September 28 – December 1931
| ''The House of Connelly''
| Will Connelly
|-
| December 10, 1931 – December 1931
| ''1931''
|
|-
| March 9, 1932 – March 1932
| ''Night Over Taos''
| Federico
|-
| May 24 – June 1932
| ''A Thousand Summers''
| Neil Barton
|-
| September 26, 1932 – January 1933
| ''Success Story''
| Raymond Merritt
|-
| January 5 – May 1939
| ''The Gentle People''
| Harold Goff
|-
| March 6 – May 18, 1940
| ''The Fifth Column''
| Philip Rawlings
|-
| February 7 – May 19, 1945
| ''Hope for the Best''
| Michael Jordan
|-
| December 17, 1953 – November 13, 1954
| ''Oh, Men! Oh, Women!''
| Alan Coles
|-
| January 19–30, 1955
| ''[[The Time of Your Life]]''
| Joe
|-
| May 2 – June 29, 1957
| ''[[A Moon for the Misbegotten]]''
| James Tyrone, Jr.
|-
| May 22–27, 1961
| ''Mandingo''
| Warren Maxwell
|-
| March 11 – June 29, 1963
| ''[[Strange Interlude]]''
| Professor Henry Leeds
|-
| September 24, 1963
| ''Bicycle Ride to Nevada''
| Winston Sawyer
|}

== Radio appearances ==
{| class="wikitable"
! style="background: #B0C4DE;" | Year
! style="background: #B0C4DE;" | Program
! style="background: #B0C4DE;" | Episode
! style="background: #B0C4DE;" | Ref
|-
|| 1936|| ''[[Lux Radio Theatre]]'' || "[[Chained (1934 film)|Chained]]"||
|-
|| 1937|| ''[[Lux Radio Theatre]]'' || "[[Mary of Scotland (play)|Mary of Scotland]]"||
|-
|| 1943|| ''[[Lux Radio Theatre]]'' || "[[Each Dawn I Die]]"||
|-
|| 1943|| ''[[Lux Radio Theatre]]'' || "[[Five Graves to Cairo]]"||
|-
|| 1944|| ''[[Lux Radio Theatre]]'' || "[[The Hard Way (1943 film)|The Hard Way]]"||
|-
| 1952|| ''[[The United States Steel Hour#Theatre Guild on the Air|Theatre Guild on the Air]]'' || "[[The House of Mirth]]"||<ref>{{cite news|last1=Kirby|first1=Walter|title=Better Radio Programs for the Week|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2591748/the_decatur_daily_review/|newspaper=The Decatur Daily Review|date=December 14, 1952|page=54}}</ref>
|-
| 1953|| ''Broadway Playhouse'' ||"His Brother's Keeper"||<ref>{{cite news|last1=Kirby|first1=Walter|title=Better Radio Programs for the Week|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2668759/the_decatur_daily_review/|newspaper=The Decatur Daily Review|date=February 22, 1953|page=40|via = [[Newspapers.com]]|accessdate = June 23, 2015}} {{Open access}}</ref>
|}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Portal|Biography}}
{{Commons}}
* {{IMDb name|0867144}}
* {{IBDB name}}
* {{iobdb name|5980}}
*[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ExTwfxumidE Pronunciation of Franchot Tone]
*[http://www.alhirschfeldfoundation.org/piece/franchot-tone Al Hirschfeld illustration of Franchot Tone]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tone, Franchot}}
[[Category:American male film actors]]
[[Category:Film producers from New York (state)]]
[[Category:American male stage actors]]
[[Category:American male television actors]]
[[Category:20th-century American male actors]]
[[Category:Cornell University alumni]]
[[Category:The Hill School alumni]]
[[Category:Deaths from lung cancer in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Male actors from New York City]]
[[Category:People from Niagara Falls, New York]]
[[Category:1905 births]]
[[Category:1968 deaths]]
[[Category:American people of Irish descent]]
[[Category:American people of French-Canadian descent]]
[[Category:American people of Basque descent]]
[[Category:American people of English descent]]
[[Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract players]]
[[Category:20th-century American businesspeople]]
[[Category:Film directors from New York (state)]]