Emmy-Nominated Actor James Farentino, Co-star in ‘The Bold Ones’ & ‘Dynasty,’ Has Died at Age 73… Rest in Peace (video)
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on January 27, 2012
Actor James Farentino, in the center, with Martin Sheen and Kirk Douglas in the 1980 film 'The Final Countdown,' has died at age 73
Somehow I missed the sad announcement of the death of film, stage, and TV actor James Farentino. Co-starring on the television dramas “The Bold Ones: The Lawyers,” “Dynasty,” “Cool Million,” and the mini-series “Sins” and in many major films, he was a popular actor for decades.
Farentino passed away on Tuesday at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles at age 73. He reportedly had a heart ailment.
Born in Brooklyn in 1938, a Golden Globe winner and an Emmy nominee, Farentino also co-starred with NFL defensive tackle-turned-actor Bubba Smith on the one-season TV drama “Blue Thunder” in 1984. Smith passed away in August 2011 — he died at age 66 of complications from the weight-loss drug Phentermine.
Rest in peace, James, and heartfelt prayers go to your family and friends. Thank you for sharing your many creative talents with the world.
James Farentino: “Dynasty” star dies at 73
From Washington Post, James Farentino, TV actor who stalked Sinatra’s daughter, dies at 73:
James Farentino, a prolific stage and television actor whose career came to a withering halt after he was arrested for cocaine possession and charged with stalking Frank Sinatra’s daughter Tina, died Jan. 24 at a hospital in Los Angeles. He was 73.
A family spokesman told the Associated Press that Mr. Farentino had a heart ailment.
Handsome, with a sculpted chin and wavy black hair, Mr. Farentino was best known for recurring roles on television series and TV movies. From 1969 to 1972, he played a slick litigator on the NBC drama “The Bold Ones: The Lawyers,” and he was a private eye for hire on the NBC detective drama “Cool Million” (1972-73). In the early 1980s, he portrayed a psychiatrist in the first season of the hit ABC series “Dynasty.”
He began his career onstage in 1961, playing one of the Mexican beach boys opposite Bette Davis in a Broadway version of the Tennessee Williams drama “The Night of the Iguana.” He earned a Golden Globe award for most promising male actor for his role as an overly confidant ladies’ man in the 1966 movie comedy “The Pad (And How to Use It).”
In 1973, Mr. Farentino played Stanley Kowalski to Rosemary Harris’s Blanche DuBois in a New York revival of Williams’s “A Streetcar Named Desire.”
Marlon Brando originated the role of Kowalski, who ravages his fragile sister-in-law, Blanche. “I didn’t want to make him an ape,” Mr. Farentino said of his role at the time. “I see him as having his territory invaded. . . . That kind of had a connection for me. I treat Blanche as an intruder, as a threat to my kingdom.”
In the New York Times, theater critic Clive Barnes wrote that Mr. Farentino approached the part “with far more suavity than, say, Mr. Brando. He’s not just an ox. He’s a natural leader, and he shows his feelings for both his wife and Blanche with considerable complexity.”
The Bold Ones – Opening Credits, Season 2
Beautiful graphics and orchestration of the opening credits of “Dynasty” — the score was composed by the incomparable Bill Conti.
Dynasty – Season 2 Opening Credits
Blue Thunder – Opening Credits
From ABC News, Actor James Farentino Dies of Heart Failure at 73:
Actor James Farentino, who appeared in dozens of movies and television shows, died Tuesday in a Los Angeles hospital, according to a family spokesman. He was 73.
Farentino died of heart failure at Cedars-Sinai Hospital after a long illness, said the spokesman, Bob Palmer.
Farentino starred alongside Kirk Douglas and Martin Sheen in the 1980 science fiction film “The Final Countdown.” The movie featured a modern aircraft carrier that travels back in time to Pearl Harbor hours before the Japanese attack.
Farentino also starred opposite Patty Duke in 1969′s “Me, Natalie.”
In 1967, he won a “Most Promising Newcomer” Golden Globe for his performance in the comedy “The Pad and How to Use It.”
He also had recurring roles on “Dynasty,” ”Melrose Place,” ”The Bold Ones: The Lawyers” and “ER,” playing the estranged father to George Clooney’s character.
In 1978, he was nominated for an Emmy for his portrayal of Saint Peter in the television mini-series “Jesus of Nazareth.”
From Huffington Post, James Farentino Dead; Actor Dies Of Heart Failure At 73:
LOS ANGELES — Actor James Farentino, who appeared in dozens of movies and television shows, died Tuesday in a Los Angeles hospital, according to a family spokesman. He was 73.
Farentino died of heart failure at Cedars-Sinai Hospital after a long illness, said the spokesman, Bob Palmer.
Farentino starred alongside Kirk Douglas and Martin Sheen in the 1980 science fiction film “The Final Countdown.” The movie featured a modern aircraft carrier that travels back in time to Pearl Harbor hours before the Japanese attack.
Farentino also starred opposite Patty Duke in 1969′s “Me, Natalie.”
In 1967, he won a “Most Promising Newcomer” Golden Globe for his performance in the comedy “The Pad and How to Use It.”
He also had recurring roles on “Dynasty,” “Melrose Place,” “The Bold Ones: The Lawyers” and “ER,” playing the estranged father to George Clooney’s character.
In 1978, he was nominated for an Emmy for his portrayal of Saint Peter in the television mini-series “Jesus of Nazareth.”
A four-time divorcee, Farentino’s tumultuous personal life made headlines, too.
In March 1994, he pleaded no contest to stalking his ex-girlfriend Tina Sinatra, daughter of Frank Sinatra.
In 2010, the actor was arrested at his Hollywood home on suspicion of battery when he tried to physically remove a man from his home.
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