Frank Whaley (born Frank Joseph Whaley on July 20, 1963) is an American film and television actor known for his roles in independent films.
Frank Whaley was born in Syracuse, New York. He has two sisters and an older brother named Robert Whaley. His father, Robert Whaley, Sr., died in the 1990s of health problems related to alcoholism.
Frank and his brother, Robert, founded the NY-based band, The Niagaras. Though Whaley left the band to pursue his acting career, The Niagaras continued to perform in the New York City area. Rumors suggest that Frank might rejoin the Niagaras for a year-long tour in the upstate New York area.
Whaley began acting as a teenager. He made his film debut in 1987's Ironweed, and performed mostly in made-for-TV movies until 1989, when he appeared in Field of Dreams alongside Burt Lancaster and Kevin Costner, and Born on the Fourth of July alongside Tom Cruise. This latter film began a long collaboration with director Oliver Stone, including 1991's The Doors, in which he played Robbie Krieger, and, in the same year, JFK, in which he played a conspirator in the JFK assassination. In 1991, Whaley also starred in the John Hughes' film, Career Opportunities alongside Jennifer Connelly.
Over the next two years, he played supporting roles in movies such as Hoffa and Swing Kids. He appeared in his second (after 1991's Career Opportunities) leading film role in 1994's Swimming with Sharks, in which he starred opposite Kevin Spacey. In the same year, he played a supporting role as a college student named Brett, who was gunned down by Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta in Pulp Fiction.
In 1998, he started a regular role on the CBS series Buddy Faro. He has also appeared in episodes of The Dead Zone, Law & Order, and its spinoff Law & Order: Criminal Intent.
He made his directorial debut, Joe the King, in 1999, featuring his Doors costar Val Kilmer and longtime friend and colleague Ethan Hawke in starring roles.
Whaley was a guest star on the 2003 revival of The Twilight Zone, as well as on the hit HBO comedy Curb Your Enthusiasm, starring Seinfeld creator Larry David.
He appeared on the August 18, 2006 episode of the USA Network's Psych as Robert Dunn, a man being haunted by a female spirit. He also appeared on the big screen in 2006's World Trade Center.
He stars as the central villain in Screen Gems' 2007 horror film, Vacancy alongside Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale and guest starred on the April 10th, 2007 episode of Boston Legal where he plays a man who tried to alter the crime scene of a murder his brother committed.
