Frank Silvera

Frank Alvin Silvera (July 24, 1914 – June 11, 1970) was a Jamaican-born American character actor and theatrical director.

Born in Kingston, Jamaica and raised in Boston, Silvera dropped out of law school in 1934 after winning his first stage role. During the 1930s and 1940s, he was active in numerous stage productions on and off Broadway and appeared in radio shows. Silvera made his film debut in 1952. Over the course of his 36-year career, he was cast in a wide variety of ethnic roles in film and television. Silvera also remained active in theatre. Silvera was nominated for a Best Actor Tony Award in 1963 for his role in The Lady of the Camellias. He founded the Theatre of Being, a Los Angeles theatre for black actors, in 1965. At the time of his death he had a recurring role in the NBC Western series The High Chaparral.

Early life Silvera was born in Kingston, Jamaica, the son of a mixed-race Jamaican mother, Gertrude Bell and Portuguese Jewish father, Alfred Silvera. His family emigrated to the United States when he was six years old, settling in Boston. Silvera became interested in acting and began performing in amateur theatrical groups and at church.

Career Silvera left Northeastern University Law School in 1934, when he was cast in Paul Green's production of Roll Sweet Chariot. He next joined the New England Repertory Theatre where he appeared in productions of MacBeth, Othello and The Emperor Jones. He also worked at Federal Theatre and with the New Hampshire Repertory Theatre. In 1940, Silvera made his Broadway debut in a small role in Big White Fog. His career was interrupted in 1942, when he enlisted in the United States Navy during World War II. He was assigned to Camp Robert Smalls, where he and Owen Dodson were in charge of entertainment. Silvera directed and acted in radio programs and appeared in USO shows. Honorably discharged at the war's end in 1945, he joined the cast of Anna Lucasta and became a member of the Actors Studio.

In 1952, Silvera made his film debut in the western, The Cimarron Kid. Because of his strongly Latin appearance, he was cast in a variety of ethnic roles in films and television.

Silvera made guest appearances in numerous television series, mainly dramas and westerns, including Studio One in Hollywood, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Bat Masterson, Thriller, Riverboat, The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters, The Untouchables, Gunsmoke, Perry Mason and Bonanza. In 1962 he portrayed Dr. Koslenko in The Twilight Zone episode "Person or Persons Unknown", opposite Richard Long. That year, he also played Minarii, a Polynesian man in the 1962 film Mutiny on the Bounty, again starring Marlon Brando. He also appeared as King Lear in Central Park in the New York Shakespeare Festival's production of Shakespeare's play. In 1963, he starred with Dean Martin in the movie Toys in the Attic. Silvera was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for playing Monsieur Duval in The Lady of the Camellias.

In 1964, Silvera and Vantile Whitfield founded the Theatre of Being, a Los Angeles-based theatre dedicated to providing black actors with non-stereotypical roles. One of their first projects was producing The Amen Corner by African-American writer James Baldwin. Silvera and Whitfield financed the play themselves and with donations from friends. It opened on March 4, 1964, and would gross $200,000 within the year, moving to Broadway in April 1965. Beah Richards won critical acclaim for her performance as the lead.

Silvera continued his career in films and guest star roles on television. In 1965, he appeared as Gaspar, one of the Biblical Magi in the epic film The Greatest Story Ever Told, In 1966, he teamed with Marlon Brando for the third time in the Western The Appaloosa. The next year, he portrayed Nick Sorella in The St. Valentine's Day Massacre, followed by guest roles on Dundee and the Culhane and The Wild Wild West. He appeared as a Mexican bandit in Martin Ritt’s 1967 Western classic, Hombre, based on the Elmore Leonard novel. In 1969, Silvera had a supporting role as Goatherd in Che!, and as Lobero in the Zapata Western Guns of the Magnificent Seven.

Silvera was then hired as the first guest director at Fresno State College, with plans to stage a production of The Tea Concession by Henry Kemp-Blair, which reversed the racial positions of black and white in a drama about South Africa. However, he was forced to resign less than two weeks later, caught in the middle of administrative shakeups and the aborted hiring of Marvin X by the Black Studies department. "With this upheaval it seemed to blacks and browns that Silvera was part of the package, part of the hardline takeover (at Fresno State College). There was such a sense of despair and betrayal...they took it out on me," Silvera said to David Hale, theater writer for The Fresno Bee. "It seemed to me they thought I was the agent to smooth things over while the establishment hatched up something else dirty."

At the time of his death, Silvera had a recurring role in the NBC western series The High Chaparral as the Mexican rancher, Don Sebastian Montoya. His final film, Valdez Is Coming, was released posthumously, in 1971.

Personal life Silvera married actress Anna Lillian Quarles in 1942. They met while appearing in a stage production of Stevedore. Quarles was the sister of historian and educator Benjamin Arthur Quarles. They had two children, Frank Jr. and Linda, before divorcing in 1963.

Death Silvera was killed on June 11, 1970, after accidentally electrocuting himself while repairing a garbage disposal unit in his kitchen sink. He was 55.

Legacy In 1973, the Frank Silvera Writers' Workshop Foundation, Inc. was created in honor of Silvera and his efforts to support black-American actors and playwrights. The organization sponsors promising African-American playwrights. In 2005, the workshop was among 406 New York City arts and social service institutions to receive part of a $20 million grant from the Carnegie Corporation, which was made possible through a donation by New York City mayor, Michael Bloomberg.

Filmography

+ Television Year Title Role Notes 1951–57 Studio One in Hollywood Various roles 2 episodes 1954 The Marriage Mr. Ramon Episode #1.1 1955 Producers' Showcase Judge Episode: "The Skin of Our Teeth" 1957 The Seven Lively Arts John Episode: "The World of Nick Adams"1958 Wanted: Dead or Alive Sheriff Will Echert Episode: "Sheriff at Red Rock" Playhouse 90 Nick Serrello Episode: "Seven Against the Wall" Perry Mason Jonathan Hyett Episode: "The Case of the Fancy Figures" s2e10.1959 Alfred Hitchcock Presents Mr. Roderiguez Season 4 Episode 15: "A Personal Matter" Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater Ysidro Episode: "Trouble at Tres Cruces" Decoy Andrew Garcia Episode: "Across the World" Bat Masterson Grasia Episode: "The Romany Knives" The Lineup Papa Vanetti Episode: "My Son is a Stranger" The Man From Blackhawk Kiczek Episode: "The Gypsy Story"1960 Johnny Ringo Bevinetto Episode: "Shoot the Moon" The Law and Mr. Jones Garcia Episode: "Music to Hurt By" Thriller Cesare Romano / Charlie Roman Episode: "The Guilty Men" Hong Kong Kivori Episode: "Freebooter" The Rebel Cota Episode: "Deathwatch" Riverboat Colonel Ashley Episode: "Devil in Skirts" The Untouchables Dino Patrone Episode: "A Seat on the Fence" 1961–64 Bonanza El Jefe / Mateo Ybarra 2 episodes1962 The Twilight Zone Dr. Koslenko Episode: "Person or Persons Unknown" The New Breed John Hernandez Episode: "My Brother's Keeper" The Beachcomber Various roles 2 episodes The Dick Powell Show Episode: "Borderline"1963 The Defenders Ballin Episode: "The Last Illusion" The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters The Indian, Speaks to the Wind Episode: "The Day of the Taboo Man"1964 The Great Adventure Gambi Episode: "The Pirate and the Patriot" Channing Episode: "Memory of a Firing Squad" The Alfred Hitchcock Hour Alejandro Season 3 Episode 4: "The Life Work of Juan Diaz" Mr. Novak Andy Towner Episode: "Boy Under Glass" 1964–65 Kraft Suspense Theatre Various roles 2 episodes1965 Profiles in Courage Episode: "Hamilton Fish" Daniel Boone Marcel Bouvier Episode: "Daughter of the Devil" Rawhide Pajarito Episode: "El Hombre Bravo" Gunsmoke John Drago Episode: "Death Watch"1966 I Spy Munoz Episode: "Crusade to Limbo" The Rat Patrol Arab Leader Episode: "The Chain of Death Raid" Run for Your Life Esteban Episode: "The Shock of Recognition"1967 Dundee and the Culhane Luis Montoya Episode: "The Vasquez Brief" The Wild Wild West El Sordo Episode: "The Night of Jack O'Diamonds" 1967–70 The High Chaparral Don Sebastian Montoya 14 episodes 1968 The Young Loner Carlos Television film 1968–71 The Wonderful World of Disney Carlos 4 episodes 1969 Marcus Welby, M.D. Nick Eugenides Episode: "The Vrahnas Demon"1970 The Flying Nun Thomas Sebastien Martinez Episode: "No Tears for Mrs. Thomas" Hawaii Five-O Frank Kuakua Episode: "Paniolo"Aired posthumously 1971 The Boy from Dead Man's Bayou Television filmAired posthumously 1976 Perilous Voyage General Salazar Television filmAired posthumously, filmed in 1968 (final film role)