View source for Frank Aletter

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{short description|American actor}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Frank George Aletter
| image              = Bringing Up Buddy Cast.jpg
| caption            = [[Doro Merande]], Frank Aletter, and [[Enid Markey]] from the sitcom ''[[Bringing Up Buddy]]''
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1926|01|14}}
| birth_place        = [[College Point, Queens]], New York City, U.S.
| death_date         = {{death date and age |2009|05|13|1926|01|14}}
| death_place        = [[Tarzana, California]], U.S.
| resting_place      = 
| occupation         = Actor
| years_active       = 1955–1991
| spouse             = {{marriage|[[Lee Meriwether]]<br>|1958|1974|end=divorced}}
| children           = 2
}}

'''Frank George Aletter''' (January 14, 1926 – May 13, 2009) was an American [[theatre]], [[film]], and [[television]] [[actor]].

==Early years==
Born in [[College Point, Queens|College Point]], [[Queens]], New York, Aletter studied acting at the [[Dramatic Workshop]] in [[Manhattan]]. He served in the [[United States Army]] in Germany from January 1946 to 1948.<ref name=opa/><ref>Gross, Ben. [https://www.newspapers.com/image/460054055/ "A TV Star Who'd Like To Be a Truck Driver "], ''Sunday News'' ([[New York Daily News]]), New York, New York, volume 44, number 29, November 15, 1964, page 39c.</ref>

==Career==
Aletter's Broadway debut came in 1950 as a replacement for [[Eli Wallach]] in ''[[Mister Roberts (play)|Mister Roberts]]''.<ref name=opa/> During the 1950s, he appeared on Broadway in ''[[Bells Are Ringing (musical)|Bells Are Ringing]]'', ''Time Limit'', and ''[[Wish You Were Here (musical)|Wish You Were Here]]''.<ref>{{IBDB name|id=92341}}</ref>

He soon moved on to a prolific television career, appearing as a guest on numerous shows between 1956 and 1988. Aletter starred in three programs in the 1960s, beginning with ''[[Bringing Up Buddy]]'', a sitcom during the 1960–1961 season,<ref name="etvs">{{Cite book |last=Terrace |first=Vincent |title=Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 |date=2011 |publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers |isbn=978-0-7864-6477-7 |edition=2nd |location=Jefferson, N.C. |page=137}}</ref> featuring Aletter with [[Enid Markey]] and [[Doro Merande]], who portrayed his overprotective spinster aunts to Aletter's character, Buddy Flower, a bachelor stockbroker. He appeared in the eighth episode of [[Lucille Ball]]'s ''[[The Lucy Show]]'' in the 1962 segment "Lucy the Music Lover." Aletter was cast as Dr. Sam Eastman, an ear-nose-throat specialist who adores classical music.

Aletter's wife, [[Lee Meriwether]], a former [[Miss America]], guest-starred once on ''Bringing Up Buddy''. After ''Bringing Up Buddy'', Aletter guest-starred in ''[[Target: The Corruptors]]'', ''[[The Lloyd Bridges Show]]'', and ''[[The Eleventh Hour (1962 TV series)|The Eleventh Hour]]''. He portrayed murderer Harry Collins on the 1963 ''[[Perry Mason (1957 TV series)|Perry Mason]]'' episode "The Case of the Skeleton's Closet". Also in 1963, he co-starred in ''[[The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)|The Twilight Zone]]'' episode "[[The Parallel]]". In 1964, he played murder victim, television news reporter Tommy Towne, in "The Case of the Arrogant Arsonist."

In the 1964–1965 season, Aletter appeared in ''[[The Cara Williams Show]]'', with [[Cara Williams]] as his television wife.{{r|etvs|page1=163}} The two worked at the same company in violation of policy that employees could not marry each other and maintain their employment for that company. The show hence focused on how the couple kept the marriage secret.

In the 1965–1966 season, he guest-starred in two episodes of ''[[Twelve O'Clock High (TV series)|Twelve O'Clock High]]'', once as Lt. Col. Bill Christy and as a sergeant in public relations.

Aletter had another regular role in ''[[It's About Time (TV series)|It's About Time]]'', a [[Sherwood Schwartz]] series on CBS in 1966–1967.{{r|etvs|page1=516}} 

He played Professor Irwin Hayden in the [[Richard Donner]]-directed, 36-part, live-action [[cliffhanger]] serial ''[[Danger Island (TV series)|Danger Island]]'' on ''[[The Banana Splits]] Adventure Hour'', which aired on Saturday mornings on NBC from 1968 to 1970. In the fall of 1970, he had a supporting role in the NBC sitcom ''[[Nancy (TV series)|Nancy]]''.

His movie roles include ''[[Mister Roberts (1955 film)|Mister Roberts]]'', ''[[Tora! Tora! Tora!]]'', and Disney's ''[[A Tiger Walks]]''.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090519040355/http://movies.nytimes.com/person/796/Frank-Aletter/filmography Frank Aletter - Trailer - Showtimes - Cast - Movies] ''New York Times''</ref>

Aletter portrayed the supporting role of Tom Logan in the "[[Alcoa Premiere | Alcoa Premiere TV Series]]" Season 2 Episode 5 (S2E5) entitled "Mr. Lucifer", which aired November 1, 1962. The episode was written by sci-fi writer [[Alfred Bester]], with [[Fred Astaire]] as the host and in the title role opposite [[Elizabeth Montgomery]].  <ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160304130754/http://www.ovguide.com/tv_episode/alcoa-premiere-season-2-episode-5-mr-lucifer-199294 OV Guide - Alcoa Premiere S2E5 - Mr. Lucifer]</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHHcMVBQ5M0 YouTube Alcoa Premiere: Mr. Lucifer - Fred Astaire and Elizabeth Montgomery - Part 1]</ref>

Aletter worked with the [[Screen Actors Guild]], having been elected as a vice president in 1987.<ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DEEDA1E3AF932A25752C1A961948260&scp=1&sq=Frank+Aletter Patty Duke Re-elected By Screen Actors Guild] ''New York Times''</ref>

Aletter also played George Snyder on the 1970s sitcom ''[[Maude (TV series)|Maude]]'' in the episode "Love and Marriage" (season one, episode seven).

On January 8, 1978, Aletter played advertising executive Mr. Prescott in the episode "The Commercial" of ''[[All in the Family]].''

Aletter played Harry, a [[bigamy|bigamist]] with six wives to whom [[Blanche Devereaux|Blanche]] is engaged, in the pilot episode of ''[[The Golden Girls]].''

==Personal life==
On April 20, 1958, Aletter married [[Lee Meriwether]], actress and former Miss America, in San Francisco, California.<ref>{{Cite news |date=April 21, 1958 |title=Former Miss America Married |page=4 |work=Santa Cruz Sentinel |agency=Associated Press |location=California, Santa Cruz |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/11732707/santa_cruz_sentinel/ |access-date=June 15, 2017 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref> They divorced in 1974. They had two daughters, actresses Kyle Aletter-Oldham (best known for her run as one of [[Barker's Beauties]]) and Lesley Aletter.<ref name=opa/>

==Death==
On May 13, 2009, Aletter died of [[cancer]] at the age of 83 at his home in [[Tarzana, Los Angeles|Tarzana]], California.<ref name="opa">{{Cite book |last=Lentz |first=Harris M. III |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CH_GCwAAQBAJ&q=%22Frank+Aletter%22+actor&pg=PA6 |title=Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2009: Film, Television, Radio, Theatre, Dance, Music, Cartoons and Pop Culture |date=2010 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=9780786456451 |page=6 |language=en |access-date=June 17, 2017}}</ref> He was cremated and ashes were taken by his daughter in [[Chatsworth, California]].<ref>Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14000 Famous Persons by Scott Wilson</ref>

==Filmography==
{|class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class = "unsortable" | Notes
|-
|1955|| ''[[Mister Roberts (1955 film)|Mister Roberts]]'' || Gerhart ||
|-
|1964|| ''[[A Tiger Walks]]'' || Joe Riley ||
|-
|1970|| ''[[Tora! Tora! Tora!]]'' || Lt. Commander Thomas ||
|-
|1972|| ''[[Now You See Him, Now You Don't]]'' || TV Announcer ||
|-
|1972|| ''[[Run, Cougar, Run]]'' || Sam Davis ||
|-
| 1975|| ''[[Kolchak: The Night Stalker]]'' || Norman Cahill || One episode 
|-
|1983|| ''[[Private School (film)|Private School]]'' || Mr. Leigh-Jensen ||
|-
|1986|| ''[[Vasectomy: A Delicate Matter]]'' || Mr. Cromwell ||
|}
{{Portalbar|Biography|New York City|Los Angeles|California|Theatre|Film|Television|Organized labor}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb name|0018173}}
*{{IBDB name}}
*{{Amg name|796}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090519040355/http://movies.nytimes.com/person/796/Frank-Aletter/filmography New York Times Movies] His filmography there
*[https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/16/arts/television/16aletter.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=frank%20aletter&st=cse Frank Aletter, Screen Actor, Dies at 83]
*{{Find a Grave|37125630}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aletter, Frank}}
[[Category:1926 births]]
[[Category:2009 deaths]]
[[Category:Male actors from New York City]]
[[Category:American male film actors]]
[[Category:American male stage actors]]
[[Category:American male television actors]]
[[Category:20th-century American male actors]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in California]]
[[Category:Deaths from thyroid cancer]]
[[Category:People from Queens, New York]]
[[Category:Male actors from Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Screen Actors Guild]]
[[Category:United States Army soldiers]]
[[Category:American expatriates in Germany]]