Jonathan Frakes

Jonathan Frakes is 74 years old, born on 19 August 1952 in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania [1] [2]. At an age when many actors have stopped, he spent 2025 and early 2026 directing the ninth episode of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy and launching a weekly podcast with his old co-star Brent Spiner [4] [5].

Early life and family

Frakes was born Jonathan Scott Frakes in Bellefonte, in central Pennsylvania [1]. He grew up in Bethlehem, where his father taught English literature at Lehigh University [2]. At Liberty High School he played trombone in the band and ran track [2]. The trombone followed him to college: TV Guide's biography notes that he played in the Penn State marching band [1].

Penn State gave him a BFA in Theater Arts in 1974, and Harvard University an MA in Acting in 1976 [2]. The sources we found do not name his mother or any siblings, so we leave them out.

The break

Before television, Frakes needed rent money. TV Guide reports that in the 1970s, while he was looking for acting work, Marvel Comics paid him to dress as Captain America at comic conventions [1]. The Star Trek Universe cast biography lists his first television parts as guest roles on The Doctors, Charlie's Angels and Barnaby Jones [2]. TV Guide's credit list also shows guest work on The Waltons, Fantasy Island, Hart to Hart, The Dukes of Hazzard, Quincy, M.E. and Hill Street Blues [8]. None of these made him a star, but together they show years of steady guest work.

The first part people remember is Stanley Hazard in the 1985 miniseries North and South [2]. It also changed his private life, as described below. Two years later he was cast as Commander William Riker, first officer of the USS Enterprise-D, in Star Trek: The Next Generation, a role he played from 1987 to 1994 [2].

Career timeline

• 1970s: Looks for acting work and appears at comic conventions as Captain America for Marvel Comics [1].
• 1974 and 1976: Finishes a BFA at Penn State and an MA in Acting at Harvard [2].
• 1985: Plays Stanley Hazard in North and South [2].
• 1987 to 1994: Plays Riker in Star Trek: The Next Generation [2].
• 1996: Directs Star Trek: First Contact [2].
• 1998: Directs Star Trek: Insurrection [2].
• 2002: Directs the film Clockstoppers [2].
• 2004: Directs the film Thunderbirds [2].
• 2023: Appears in the Hallmark film A Biltmore Christmas [7] [8].
• 2025 and 2026: Directs Star Trek: Starfleet Academy episode 9, "300th Night", and hosts a podcast with Brent Spiner [4] [5].

From Riker to director

Frakes began directing while he was still playing Riker on The Next Generation [4]. TV Guide's credits list him as a director on Deep Space Nine and Voyager, and the Star Trek Universe cast biography adds Enterprise, Discovery, Strange New Worlds and Picard [8] [2]. AOL counts 31 Star Trek episodes and films that he has directed, including First Contact and Insurrection, with the Starfleet Academy episode in that total [4].

First Contact (1996) is the one that carried his name beyond Trek fans. It earned him a Saturn Award nomination for Best Director in 1997 [1]. He followed it with Insurrection in 1998 [2].

Outside Trek, he moved into network television. AOL names episodes of Roswell, Castle, The Librarians and The Orville, and the films Clockstoppers and Thunderbirds [4]. TV Guide's list, which gives 46 directing credits in all, adds Burn Notice, Leverage, Dollhouse, V, Falling Skies, Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., NCIS: Los Angeles, The Gifted, Leverage: Redemption and Stuart Fails to Save the Universe [8]. The same list shows him as an executive producer on Roswell and as a co-executive producer on The Librarians [8].

He has also written. TV Guide notes that he co-wrote the science fiction book The Abductors: Conspiracy with Dean Wesley Smith [1].

Best-known work

Year	Title	Role
1985	North and South	Stanley Hazard [2]
1987 to 1994	Star Trek: The Next Generation	Commander William Riker [2]
1996	Star Trek: First Contact	Director [2]
1998	Star Trek: Insurrection	Director [2]
2002	Clockstoppers	Director [2]
2004	Thunderbirds	Director [2]
2023	A Biltmore Christmas	Actor [7]

Beyond the table, TV Guide's credit list shows him returning as Riker in Star Trek: Picard and acting credits in animated and comedy shows such as American Dad!, Family Guy, Futurama, Adventure Time, Gargoyles and Star Trek: Lower Decks [8] [2].

Awards

TV Guide's biography lists these recognitions [1]:

• 1996: Annie Award nomination, Best Individual Achievement: Voice Acting.
• 1997: Saturn Award nomination, Best Director.
• 1997: Blockbuster Entertainment Award nomination, Favorite Supporting Actor, Science Fiction.
• 1997 and 1999: Hugo Award nominations, Best Dramatic Presentation.
• 2024: Saturn Award win, Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series.
• 2024: a Lifetime Achievement Award win.
• 2024: Hugo Award nomination, Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form.

The listing does not say which body gave the 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award, so we do not name one.

Net worth

We found no net worth estimate from a reliable outlet with a date, so this page does not give a figure. Sites that publish a number without naming a method are not good enough for a financial claim.

Relationships

Frakes is married to the actress Genie Francis, and they wed in 1988 [2] [6]. In a 2023 interview he said they had been together for 38 years [7].

He has told the story of how they met himself. In that interview he said, "I met my wife, the wonderful Genie Francis, on a show called Bare Essence," a 1983 nighttime soap [7]. They fell in love while filming North and South in 1985, and their first date was a Memorial Day trip to New Orleans during that shoot [7]. Frakes added that he was surprised she said yes: "So why she would go out with me is a mystery!" [7]

The couple have two children [2] [6]. Their daughter, Eliza, is an actor and writer [7]. The outlets we checked do not name their son, and we do not report his name or details of his life. We do not list earlier relationships, because we found no two reliable outlets that report them on the record.

What he is doing now

Frakes directed "300th Night", episode 9 of the first season of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, which premiered on Paramount+ on 5 March. It was written by Kirsten Beyer from a story by Beyer and Kenneth Lin [4]. Asked whether it would be his last Trek episode for the moment, he answered: "At least for the time being. Yes. I wouldn't have been able to make the schedule" for the other shows [4]. He said his 2025 schedule, which included launching the podcast, left no room for more [4]. His previous Trek episode was "A Space Adventure Hour" in the third season of Strange New Worlds [4].

The podcast is Dropping Names ...and other things, a conversation show with Brent Spiner, described on its own site as a podcast with "longtime friends and Star Trek: The Next Generation legends" in which they talk to people they have met in Hollywood about fan moments and awkward encounters [5].

In April 2026 TrekMovie quoted him on the franchise. He said, "I'm sure that Trek will resurface, it always has, and it always will," and "there will be a Star Trek on the air through 2027" [3]. On the cost of new productions he said: "It's a different beast now, and that beast is very expensive" [3]. The same piece mentions his PanCAN Purple Stride walk, set for 25 April [3].

In November 2025, he and Genie Francis appeared together on the State of Mind podcast. Frakes said there that "Roddenberry created 'Star Trek,' built a future in which there was hope" [6].

Related

For another actor from the same cast, see Brent Spiner.