Motion Picture Director, Producer. Born in Brooklyn, New York, at age 20, he got his start in the movie industry as an assistant cameraman and went on to be one of MGM Studios top directors. With his brother Chester M. Franklin, he co-directed a number of comedy shorts and features for children, such as "Gretchen the Greenhorn" (1916). In 1926, went to work at MGM and directed a number of sophisticated comedies and dramas. His many credits included "The Actress" (1928), "Wild Orchids" (1929), "Smilin' Through" (1932), "The Barretts of Wimpole Street" (1934) "The Good Earth" (1937), for which he earned an Oscar nomination. He left directing and went on to produce some of MGM's greatest pictures in the 1940s, such as "Waterloo Bridge" (1940), "Random Harvest" (1942), plus the Academy Award-winning films "Mrs. Miniver" (1942) and "The Yearling" (1946). He died of a heart attack at age 79 in Santa Monica, California and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Motion Picture Director, Producer. Born in Brooklyn, New York, at age 20, he got his start in the movie industry as an assistant cameraman and went on to be one of MGM Studios top directors. With his brother Chester M. Franklin, he co-directed a number of comedy shorts and features for children, such as "Gretchen the Greenhorn" (1916). In 1926, went to work at MGM and directed a number of sophisticated comedies and dramas. His many credits included "The Actress" (1928), "Wild Orchids" (1929), "Smilin' Through" (1932), "The Barretts of Wimpole Street" (1934) "The Good Earth" (1937), for which he earned an Oscar nomination. He left directing and went on to produce some of MGM's greatest pictures in the 1940s, such as "Waterloo Bridge" (1940), "Random Harvest" (1942), plus the Academy Award-winning films "Mrs. Miniver" (1942) and "The Yearling" (1946). He died of a heart attack at age 79 in Santa Monica, California and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith