Roger Neal Francke, later known as Rodd Dana or Robert Mark, was born in Vernal, Utah. He studied at the University of California, Los Angeles, and then honed his acting skills at the Pasadena Playhouse. Initially, Dana began his career with TV commercials, before making his screen debut in the 1958 creature feature War of the Colossal Beast, where he played a 60-foot man.
Dana continued to work in small roles and cameos, but eventually became disheartened with the acting industry. He then moved to Rome, where he studied medicine for a year, before losing interest in this career path and returning to acting.
In Italy, Dana appeared in TV commercials and eventually landed a role as a Roman soldier in the epic film Cleopatra in 1963. He became fluent in Italian and took on the stage name Robert Mark. He then starred in a series of eurospy thrillers as a British secret agent, as well as spaghetti westerns as a gunslinger.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Dana continued to work as a small part actor and voice dubber. However, in 2003, he reinvented himself as a writer of fiction, publishing his first novel Conversations with the Devil: Dialogues with the Soul on Amazon under the pen name Jon Christian Eagle.
Since then, Dana has written several more books, including The Portal in 2016, Magdala Legacy in 2018, and Orion Files Trilogy in 2020. His books are described as "Sci-Fi, and mind-altering Historical Fantasy" on his website.
