{{Short description|American director and actor (1936–2019)}} {{other people}} {{Infobox person | name = James Frawley | image = James_Frawley_in_I_Spy_1966.jpg | caption = James Frawley in ''I Spy,'' 1966 | birth_name = James Joseph Frawley | birth_date = {{Birth date|1936|9|29}} | birth_place = Houston, Texas, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|2019|1|22|1936|9|29}} | death_place = Indian Wells, California, U.S. | other_names = | occupation = Film director, actor | years_active = 1960–2019 | spouse = | domestic_partner = | parents = | website =}}
'''James Joseph Frawley''' (September 29, 1936 – January 22, 2019) was an American director and actor. He was a member of the Actors Studio since around 1961.<ref>{{cite book|first=David|last=Garfield|title=A Player's Place: The Story of The Actors Studio|url=https://archive.org/details/playersplacestor00garf|url-access=registration|year=1980|publisher=MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc.|location=New York|isbn=0025426508|page=[https://archive.org/details/playersplacestor00garf/page/278 278]|chapter=Appendix: Life Members of The Actors Studio as of January 1980}}</ref><ref>[http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi/f/findaid/findaid-idx?c=wiarchives;cc=wiarchives;type=simple;rgn=Entire%20Finding%20Aid;q1=Jim%20Frawley;view=reslist;subview=detail;sort=freq;didno=uw-whs-tape00339a James Frawley] at the University of Wisconsin's [http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi/f/findaid/findaid-idx?c=wiarchives;view=reslist;subview=standard;didno=uw-whs-tape00339a;focusrgn=summaryinfo;cc=wiarchives;byte=50771135 Actors Studio audio collection] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131004223020/http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi/f/findaid/findaid-idx?c=wiarchives;view=reslist;subview=standard;didno=uw-whs-tape00339a;focusrgn=summaryinfo;cc=wiarchives;byte=50771135|date=2013-10-04}}</ref> He was best known for directing ''The Muppet Movie'' (1979),<ref>[https://d23.com/the-muppet-movie-facts/ Celebrate 40 Years of The Muppet Movie with These "Muppetational" Facts-D23]</ref> and ''The Monkees'' television series.
==Career== Born in Houston, Texas, Frawley had a short-lived acting career, appearing in supporting roles in film and television from 1963 to 1966. A memorable appearance was the role of Hawaii District Attorney Alvarez in the 1965 ''Perry Mason'' episode "The Case of the Feather Cloak." In 1966, he was hired as a director for the new series ''The Monkees,'' he ended up directing half of the series 58 episodes.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://themonkees.com/tvepisodes.htm|title=TV Episodes|website=themonkees.com|access-date=2018-02-24|archive-date=2022-07-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220710082147/http://themonkees.com/tvepisodes.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>
He began a career of over four decades as a director. TV series he directed included ''Cagney & Lacey,'' ''Magnum, P.I.,'' ''Smallville,'' ''Ghost Whisperer,'' and ''Judging Amy,'' along with many others. He directed occasional feature films and television films, most notably ''The Muppet Movie'' in 1979, in which he also had a cameo. His last acting role was that of a bartender in TV's ''American Gothic'' in 1996.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}
He won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series in 1967 for the episode "Royal Flush" of ''The Monkees,'' and was nominated for the same award the following year for another ''Monkees'' episode, "The Devil and Peter Tork."<ref name="auto">[https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/2019/01/23/prodigious-film-and-tv-director-james-frawley-remembered-monkees/2662574002/'Monkees' TV director and Indian Wells resident James Frawley dies in desert he loved-Desert Sun]</ref>
Frawley died from a heart attack while at home in Indian Wells, California, on January 22, 2019, at the age of 82.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2019/film/news/james-frawley-dead-dies-monkees-muppet-movie-1203117008/|title=James Frawley, Director of 'The Monkees,' 'The Muppet Movie,' Dies at 82|date=January 24, 2019}}</ref>
==Filmography== ===Director=== {{div col|colwidth=26em}} * ''The Monkees'' (1966–1968) * ''That Girl'' (1967–1968) * ''The Christian Licorice Store'' (1971) * ''Kid Blue '' (1973) * ''The Big Bus'' (1976) * ''Columbo'' (1977–1978, 1989) * ''The Eddie Capra Mysteries'' (1978–1979) * ''The Muppet Movie'' (1979) * ''The Great American Traffic Jam'' (1980) * ''Magnum, P.I.'' (1982–1984) *Faerie Tale Theatre's Hansel And Gretel 1982 * ''Scarecrow and Mrs. King'' (1983–1985) * ''Cagney & Lacey'' (1984–1988) * ''Fraternity Vacation'' (1985) * ''Spies, Lies and Naked Thighs'' (1988) * ''Father Dowling Mysteries'' (1990–1991) * ''Law & Order'' (1992–1993) * ''Picket Fences'' (1994–1995) * ''Chicago Hope'' (1994–1996) * ''Ally McBeal'' (1997) - Pilot * ''On the 2nd Day of Christmas'' (1997) * ''Sins of the Mind'' (1997) * ''Vengeance Unlimited'' (1998–1999) * ''The Three Stooges'' (2000) * ''Ghost Whisperer'' (2005–2006) * ''Smallville'' (2001) * ''Judging Amy'' (1999–2005) * ''Notes from the Underbelly'' (2007) * ''Dirty Sexy Money'' (2007) * ''Grey's Anatomy'' (2007–2009) * ''Private Practice'' (2008–2009) {{div col end}}
===Actor=== {{div col|colwidth=26em}} * ''Greenwich Village Story'' (1963) - Norman * ''Ladybug Ladybug'' (1963) - Truck Driver * ''The Troublemaker'' (1964) - Sal Kelly / Sol Kelly / Judge Kelly * ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' (1964-1966, 2 episodes) - Max / Lieutenant Manuera * ''The Outer Limits'' (1964, Episode: "The Inheritors") - Pvt. Robert Renaldo * ''Gunsmoke'' (1964, S10E7: "Help Me Kitty") - Outlaw Furnas * ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' (1965, Episode: Fifty-Two, Forty-Five or Work") - Joe Galardi * ''McHale's Navy'' (1966, 2 Episodes) - The German Sergeant / The German Noncom * ''The Monkees'' (1966-1968, 12 episodes) - Voice on telephone / Mr. Schneider / Rudy Bayshore (voice) * ''Hogan's Heroes'' (1966, Episode: "The Great Impersonation") - Gestapo Captain * ''My Favorite Martian'' (1966, Episode: "Doggone Martin") - Mr. Frisby * ''Blue Light'' (1966, Episode: "Field of Dishonor") - Ehrlich * ''Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea'' (1966, Episode: "Killers of the Deep") - Manolo * ''I Spy'' (1966, Episode: "It's All Done with Mirrors") - Greenburg * ''Wild Wild Winter'' (1966) - Stone * ''The Muppet Movie'' (1979) - Waiter {{div col end}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name}} * {{TCMDb name}} * {{IBDB name}}
{{James Frawley}} {{EmmyAward ComedyDirector 1950-1975}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frawley, James}} Category:1936 births Category:2019 deaths Category:American male film actors Category:American male television actors Category:American television directors Category:American comedy film directors Category:Male actors from Houston Category:Film directors from Texas Category:Primetime Emmy Award winners Category:20th-century American male actors