Frank Silvera - Black History Mini Docs

Frank Alvin Silvera (July 24, 1914 – June 11, 1970) was a Jamaican-born African-American character actor and theatrical director. Silvera was known throughout Hollywood as "the man with a thousand faces" because of his ability to play a wide array of roles. He appeared in more than 75 television shows and films mostly as a white man or a Mexican.

With his fair-skinned complexion, Silvera also portrayed a white man in his Broadway debut in a revival of Thornton Wilder's The Skin of Our Teeth, which earned him favorable reviews. In November 1955, he portrayed John Pope, Sr., the Italian father of Ben Gazzara and Anthony Franciosa's characters on Broadway in Michael V. Gazzo’s, A Hatful of Rain (a role portrayed by Lloyd Nolan on screen), and again was praised by critics.

Silvera made guest appearances in numerous television series, mainly dramas and westerns, including Playhouse 90, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Bat Masterson, Thriller, Riverboat, Rawhide, The Untouchables, Wanted: Dead or Alive, Daniel Boone, I Spy, Hawaii Five-O, Perry Mason and Bonanza. In 1962 he portrayed Dr. Koslenko in the classic The Twilight Zone episode "Person or Persons Unknown", opposite Richard Long. Silvera wasn’t cast in a black role until he financed his own theatre production of "The Amen Corner" written by James Baldwin.

#FrankSilvera died in an accident at home in 1970. At the time, he was contracted for a recurring role in the NBC western series, The High Chaparral as the Mexican squire, Don Sebastian Montoya. His final film, Valdez Is Coming, was released posthumously, in 1971.

His legacy is left with the Frank Silvera Writer's Workshop Foundation, Inc., co-founded by Morgan Freeman to help Black playwrights achieve their goals. They received part of a $20 million grant from the Carnegie Foundation for their efforts. A World War II Navy Veteran, Silvera was buried with honors at Long Island National Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York.

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