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Frank Alvin Silvera (July 24, 1914 – June 11, 1970) was an American actor and theatrical director. Silvera was born in Kingston, Jamaica to a Spanish Jewish father and Jamaican mother. His family later emigrated to the United States, settling in Boston where Silvera attended English High School and Northeastern Law School. Silvera later studied acting at the Actors Studio. Due to his light complexion, Silvera was cast in a wide variety of ethnic roles in films, and was cast without regards to his color in the theater. He played the father of Ben Gazzara and Anthony Franciosa on Broadway... MORE

Frank Alvin Silvera (July 24, 1914 – June 11, 1970) was an American actor and theatrical director. Silvera was born in Kingston, Jamaica to a Spanish Jewish father and Jamaican mother. His family later emigrated to the United States, settling in Boston where Silvera attended English High School and Northeastern Law School. Silvera later studied acting at the Actors Studio. Due to his light complexion, Silvera was cast in a wide variety of ethnic roles in films, and was cast without regards to his color in the theater. He played the father of Ben Gazzara and Anthony Franciosa on Broadway in Michael V. Gazzo's A Hatful of Rain (a role portrayed by Lloyd Nolan on screen). Until the 1960s, Silvera played "white" characters on Broadway, such as his Tony-nominated performance as the father Monsieur Duval in The Lady of the Camellias in 1963. He threw off color-blind casting in 1965, when he financed his own production of The Amen Corner by the African American writer James Baldwin. He was the Founder of The Theatre of Being, a Los Angeles-based theater dedicated to helping black actors get a foothold in show business. In films and on television, he was also cast without regards to his LESS