Biography

Boston-born Franklyn Farnum was on the vaudeville stage at the age of 12 and was featured in a number of theatre and musical productions by the time he entered silent films near the age of 40. He appeared to be at his most comfortable in the saddle, his career dominated mostly by westerns. Some of his more famous films include the serial Vanishing Trails (1920) and features The Clock (1917), The Firebrand (1922), The Drug Store Cowboy (1925) and The Gambling Fool (1925). In 1925 he left films, but returned five years later at the advent of sound, only to find himself billed much further down the credits, if at all. He continued on, however, in these obscure roles well into the 1950s. Largely forgotten today, he is not related to silent actors and brothers Dustin Farnum and William Farnum. One of his three wives was the ill-fated Alma Rubens, to whom he was briefly married in 1918. Farnum passed away from cancer in 1961.
- IMDb mini biography by: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net

He appeared in eight Best Picture Academy Award winners, tied with Bess Flowers for the most of any actor: The Life of Emile Zola (1937), Going My Way (1944), The Lost Weekend (1945), Gentleman's Agreement (1947), All About Eve (1950), The Greatest Show on Earth (1952), Around the World in 80 Days (1956) and The Apartment (1960). He was also in nine other Academy Award Best Picture nominees: Stagecoach (1939), Johnny Belinda (1948), A Letter to Three Wives (1949), The Heiress (1949), Sunset Boulevard (1950), A Place in the Sun (1951), The Country Girl (1954), The Ten Commandments (1956), and Witness for the Prosecution (1957).

Daughter Martha Lillian Smith (b. 3/3/1898) in Boston, MA

His real name was William Smith; "Franklyn Farnum" was a stage name, and he was not related to actors William Farnum or Dustin Farnum, who were brothers.

Father with Edythe Walker of Geraldine Farnum.