Frank Simons is from the small town of McKinleyville, in the heart of Northern California's coastal Redwood Empire. He graduated High School in 1979, and immediately began attending San Francisco State University. Frank graduated SF State in 1983 with Bachelor's of Arts Degrees in Drama (Acting & Directing emphasis) and in History (American emphasis). While at State, in Frank's Junior year, he won "Best Actor" for his portrayal of "Bird Boot" in the Tom Stoppard comedy "The Real Inspector Hound" for the exclusive "Brown Bag Theater" group. His senior year he was selected as one of the Directors of the Brown Bag program. During his Senior year (1983) Frank began working in the professional theater in San Francisco. He caught the eye of his first Agent in 1984, while performing at the "One Act Theatre Company." Local Stage highlights included playing "St. Eusebius" in "Noonday Demons" by Peter Barnes, and "Algernon" in "The Importance of Being Earnest." In early 1985 Frank auditioned for the Disney Channel film "The Blue Yonder" (later renamed "Time Flyer") to play a young Art Carney. The message that he got the part was on Frank's answering machine before he got home from the audition.
After shooting "The Blue Yonder" Frank moved to Los Angeles, and has utilized it as his Acting base ever since. The late 1980's and early 1990's saw Frank begin a profitable commercial career sprinkled with occasional TV movie starring roles and much local Theater. Highlights included co-starring with Peter Falk in one of the first of the new Columbo movies of the week. Many national commercials for products as diverse as Hyundai autos, Apple Computers, and Burger King. A commercial highlight was working with Magic Johnson as a spokesman for Target Stores. On the local stage Frank won a "Dramalouge" for his portrayal of "Malviolo" in "Twelfth Night." Frank received rave reviews for many local stage productions, from local papers as well as known publishers such as the LA Times and Variety. Frank's performance as "Dr. Van Helsinki" for a "Knightsbridge Theater" production of "Dracula - The Comedy" and playing "The Preacher" in a production of "The Road" at the Zypher Theater were particularly noteworthy. Frank was regularly seen on Ivan Spiegel's various stages at the Burbage Theatre, starring in many west coast premieres.
The mid and late 1990's were a continuation of commercial success, occasional television roles, industrial videos, and much local Theater. Notable television highlights included playing the American Prophet Edgar Cayce in "Ancient Prophecies" for NBC, a voice over guest role on the sitcom "Family Matters" (later edited out!), and starring in a series of promos for NBC as the head of the network promoting various programs including the hit "Quantum Leap." Approximately 30 national and regional commercials during this active period for such varied products as Wrigley's Gum (still his number one money maker - check for this spot on Frank's reel on this site's Home page) General Motors, and Snickers. On the local stage Frank won "Best Actor" for the his performance as "Sidney Bruhl" in "Deathtrap" for the 1998 season of the Palos Verde Players.
The early and mid 2000's saw Frank continue making commercials, occasional TV guest appearences, industrial videos, and numerious Stage performances. Notable television and film performances included playing the lead comic villain, the evil "Dr. Oddlike" in the family friendly comedy "Soccer Dog: European Cup" for Columbia, and performing on the short lived "Orlando Jones Show" for the FX Network. National and regional commercials included spots for Lexis, Budweiser, and a series of dealer spots for Buick. A notable commericial at this time was for Quakerstate Motor Oil opposite Denis Leary. The spot (included on Frank's reel), was incorporated into a skit for Comedy Central's Roast of Mr. Leary. Many local stage highlights, including playing "Scrooge" in "A Christmas Carol" (2006) for International City Theatre in Long Beach.
The late 2000's, through 2012, were a busy, exciting, time - television, commericals, voice overs, and stage appearences. Television credits included playing the high school astronomy teacher "Mr. Zwicky" in an episode of "90210" and the wonderfully eccentric "Professor Herbert Dippington" in an episode of "Imagination Movers" for Disney. In 2010 Frank finally had a spot on the Superbowl - for CareerBuilder dot com. In 2010 -11, Frank had a notable voice over spot for Charter Communications voicing a giraffe and a turtle. On stage, Frank played the wonderfully corrupt and corpulent Belgian Ambassador in the debut of "Film Chinois" for Grove Theater Center, Burbank. "Film Chinois" won the coveted "Ovation" award for "Best New Play" in Los Angeles and Variety singled out with praise Frank's performance in their review. In 2009, Frank played "Juror # 3" (the Lee J.Cobb part), in a dynamic revival of "12 Angry Men" for GTC.
The early 20-teens through and including 2017 were a continuation of TV appearances, commerical and voice over bookings, and lots of Los Angeles based theater. Frank played the flamboyant theater critic Vic DeBlaze for the Disney XD hit "Kickin' iT!" In 2014, Frank shot his first 3-D project, playing a newspaper editor, for the pilot "Unusual Targets." 2014 also saw Frank record his first voice over for a theatrical movie trailer. In late 2015, Frank was cast to play an iconic character for the Nickelodeon hit "Henry Danger" - the "Old Time Traveler" (Doc Brown), which first aired in 2016. Commerical bookings during this time included spots for Cheetos and Apple. In mid 2016, Frank had a national spot for Wendy's wherein he played a scientist who invents a hover-board. Two jobs, both airing in 2016, inspired by the iconic character "Doc Brown" from the classic film "Back to the Future!" On the local stage, Frank originated the role of "Bobby" in the world premiere of the 2-person play "Bobby & Matt - Passing Notes through Life." This wonderful production extended 3 months at GTC in Burbank. Frank also began a 6 year run of annual Christmas performances of a unique, dynamic 3 person version of "A Christmas Carol," at Grove Theater Center. Frank played all the male characters in Dicken's classic tale (except Scrooge), and performed half the narration. Look for a separate tab on the Home page dedicated to Frank's many performances and many characters played, from this timeless story.
The late 20-teens and early 2020's have been a busy time for Frank. On TV, a fun standout was playing the over-the-top Puritan grump "Barnabas Pinch" in an episode of the short-lived Renaissance Faire set comedy "American Princess" for the "Lifetime Network." Frank also voiced a part in his first PBS documentary playing a reporter for the LA Times. In 2018, Frank began performing a dynamic live on-going theater presentation at Los Angeles's world famous Griffith Observatory. As one of a small select group of individual lecturers, Frank performs show themed monologues and live voice-over narration of 3 different Dome projected shows in Griffith Observatory's Samuel Oschin Planetarium. Look for a separate tab highlighting these unique, live, entertainingly educational shows.
Most professional work was shutdown during the pandemic in March of 2020, but Frank was fortunate enough to book a short SAG film and record a fun voice-over as "The Jester" in a spot for Red Bull energy drink. This long running national spot was instrumental in helping Frank achieve one of his career long goals - vesting 20 years in the Screen Actors Guild earnings based Pension Plan. This Red Bull spot's earnings finally delivered that 20th year for Frank. All in all, keeping on keeping on :)
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