James Frawley in The Giuoco Piano Affair episode of The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
James Frawley, a character actor and Emmy award-winning director, died Jan. 22 at 82, according to the Palm Springs Desert Sun newspaper.
As an actor, he some times played secondary villains. His acting appearances included episodes of The Man From U.N.C.L.E., I Spy and The FBI.
He branched into directing during in the mid-1960s. He was active into the 2000s, according to his entry on IMDB.com.
Frawley won an Emmy for an episode of The Monkees and was nominated for another. He directed 28 episodes of that comedy series. But he proved adept at drama as well.
The director helmed six episodes of Columbo. Some of them included unusual staging. Murder, Smoke and Shadows in 1989 featured a young director as the killer. Some scenes emphasized visual tricks of movie making. Murder, a Self Portrait, also that same year, featured Patrick Bauchau as the killer. The episode included recreation of dreams described on tape.
Frawley also directed episodes of the original Magnum, PI, Scarecrow and Mrs. King and Law & Order. He also helmed The Muppet Movie.
Below is a video from the 1967 Emmys when Frawley won his directing award. It includes Barbara Bain and Bruce Geller of Mission: Impossible also getting Emmys as well as Buck Henry and Leonard B. Stern of Get Smart.
Filed under: The Other Spies | Tagged: Columbo, I Spy, James Frawley, The FBI, The Man From U.N.C.L.E |
The Spy Command 
What a great clip, thank you for that! Had forgotten how much fun the Emmys were. About James Frawley – unless these names are celebrated (as you do here) we forget how much craft talent, originality, and effort they put into their work. There’s a reason why we call it “memorable entertainment!”
And (I believe) in “The Giuoco Piano Affair” is where Sam Rolfe makes a cameo appearance as the “Big Texan!”