Biography
Franklyn Farnum (born William Smith) was an American actor and Hollywood extra. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, on 5 June 1878, he began performing in vaudeville at the age of twelve and appeared in several Broadway musical productions, including Somewhere Else (1913) and Ziegfeld revues.
He entered silent films around 1915, often starring in westerns such as The Clock (1917), The Firebrand (1922) and The Drug Store Cowboy (1925). After a period away from the screen, he returned with the advent of sound and worked extensively as a character actor and uncredited extra. Farnum appeared in at least 1,100 films, including Sunset Boulevard (1950) as the Undertaker, and holds a record for appearances in eight Academy Award-winning Best Picture films. He died of cancer on 4 July 1961 in Woodland Hills, California.
