Philip Franks

Philip Franks (born 1959 in London) is a British actor and director best known for his roles as tax inspector Cedric "Charley" Charlton in the British sitcom "The Darling Buds of May", and Sgt. Raymond Craddock on "Heartbeat". He has also made guest appearances in "Absolutely Fabulous", "Pie in the Sky", "Midsomer Murders" and "Foyle's War". Other appearances include the TV miniseries "Bleak House", "Martin Chuzzlewit", "The Buddha of Suburbia", "The Green Man" and "To Serve Them All My Days". Franks is also a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. He also makes regular appearances alongside Susie Dent in the 'Dictionary Corner' on the British quiz show Countdown (having applied to be a contestant on the show before becoming famous).

Franks has also directed many plays including "Kafka’s Dick" and "The Kiss of the Spiderwoman" (Nottingham Playhouse), "The Cocktail Party" (Edinburgh Festival), "Rebecca" (Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh), "Hamlet" (Greenwich and tour), "Macbeth" (Sheffield Crucible) and "The Duchess of Malfi" (West Yorkshire Playhouse, Greenwich and West End), "Private Lives" and "The Heiress" (Royal National Theatre), "The White Devil" (Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith); "Nicholas Nickleby" (Chichester Festival Theatre) and "The Tempest" (Liverpool Playhouse).

External links

* [http://www.baskervillehound.co.uk/philipfranks.htm Bio of Philip Franks from the website of the show he starred in, The Hound of the Baskervilles]
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0291683 IMDB page on Philip Franks]