Franklyn Seales was a renowned stage television and actor, best recognized for his portrayal of the fastidious business manager Dexter Stuffins on the NBC sitcom "Silver Spoons." He also appeared in various films, including the true-crime drama "The Onion Field."
Born in 1952 on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent, Seales was one of eight children. In 1960, his family relocated to the United States, settling in New York City. Seales began painting at the age of six and initially planned to study art at Pratt Institute. However, John Houseman noticed his talent when he was helping a friend audition by performing the balcony scene from "Romeo and Juliet."
Signed to a full scholarship at Juilliard, Seales studied acting as a member of Houseman's Acting Company during the early 1970s. His first significant break was the PBS broadcast of the television drama "The Trial of the Moke" in 1978, where he portrayed Lt. Henry O. Flipper, the first black graduate of West Point.
Seales made his film debut in the true-crime drama "The Onion Field" in 1979, playing a weak and gullible ex-con who is manipulated into a senseless crime that results in the murder of a police officer. From 1983 to 1987, he played the character for which he was best remembered, the finicky business manager Dexter Stuffins on the NBC sitcom "Silver Spoons," which also starred John Houseman as stoic Grandpa Stratton.
Toward the end of his life, Seales worked primarily in the non-profit Equity-waiver theatre on the Westside of Los Angeles, appearing in plays ranging from the theater of the absurd to Shakespeare. Los Angeles Times critic Lawrence Christon praised Seales as "one of America's most compelling stage actors."
As a member of the all-star L.A. Theatre Works, Seales contributed $6,000 to perform classic plays on the radio alongside other notable actors, including James Earl Jones, Ted Danson, Richard Dreyfuss, Bonnie Bedelia, Stacy Keach, Michael York, and Ed Asner.
Seales' last performance was in "Nothing Sacred" at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles in the fall of 1988. A comedic adaptation of Turgenev's "Fathers and Sons," it was directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, and Seales appeared as Uncle Havel, an aristocratic fop and former military man.
Despite being acclaimed for his versatility, Seales acknowledged that being a light-skinned black man had limited the roles available to him. Franklyn Seales died on May 14, 1990, from complications related to AIDS at his family's home in Brooklyn, New York.
