Date of Birth

12 December 1985, Palo Alto, California, USA

Birth Name

David John Franco

Nickname

Davy

Height

5' 7" (1.7 m)

Mini Biography

David John Franco was born in Palo Alto, California, to Betsy Franco, an author, and Douglas Eugene "Doug" Franco, who ran a Silicon Valley business. He has two older brothers, actors James Franco and Tom Franco. His father was of Portuguese and Swedish descent, and his mother is Jewish. Dave made his first television appearance at age 21, in 2006, in an episode of 7th Heaven (1996). A string of high-profile TV work followed, interspersed with roles in some moderately successful movies, including Charlie St. Cloud (2010) and Fright Night (2011), and he came to bigger prominence when he played Eric Molson in the hit movie version of the cult TV series 21 Jump Street (2012). He subsequently co-starred in the zombie romance Warm Bodies (2013) and the thriller Now You See Me (2013), and provided a voice role for The Lego Movie (2014). His upcoming films include Neighbors (2014), 22 Jump Street (2014), and Unfinished Business (2015).

Trivia

• Son of Betsy Franco.
• Has two cats named Harry and Arturo. The cats belonged to his brother James Franco until he moved to New York, and gave the two cats to Dave.
• Childhood hero was Roald Dahl.
• Lives in Hollywood. [2010]
• Tested for the role of Edward Cullen in Twilight (2008).
• Has two brothers, James Franco and Tom Franco.
• Dave and his brother James Franco have played famous comic book characters from opposing companies. James played Harry Osborn, best friend of Marvel Comics' Peter Parker/Spider-Man and son of his arch nemesis, The Green Goblin, in Sam Raimi's film trilogy. Dave voiced Edward Nygma/The Riddler, iconic nemesis of DC Comics' Batman in the series Young Justice: Legacy (2013). Dave more recently provided the voice for Tony Stark/Iron Man in Marvel Avengers Academy (2016), alongside his then-fiancée Alison Brie, meaning that he has now played characters from both DC and Marvel.
• Dave's father was of half-Portuguese and half-Swedish descent, with his Portuguese roots in the Madeira islands. Dave's mother is from an Ashkenazi Jewish family (from Russia, Germany, Poland, and Lithuania).
• On his father's side, he is the grandson of Daniel Franco Jr. and Marjorie J. (Peterson) Franco, a published author of young adult books. On his mother's side, he is the grandson of Daniel Verne (born Daniel S. Verovitz) and Marjorie "Mitzie" Levine. One of Dave's maternal great-grandfathers, Emanuel "Manuel" V. Levine, was a prominent judge in Cleveland, Ohio.
• Began his relationship with actress Alison Brie c. 2012.
• Two of his movies, 22 Jump Street (2014) and Warm Bodies (2013), feature the same two songs on their respective soundtracks; John Waite's "Missing You" from 1984 and "Midnight City" by M83 from 2011.
• Engaged to Alison Brie since August 2015. They married in 2017.
• Graduated from the University of Southern California.
• Took Molly (MDMA) together with his wife Brie the night they met.
• While attending USC he wrote, directed and edited comedy shorts in the early days of Funny or Die.

Trademarks:

• Big bright smile
  
• Often plays characters much younger than himself
  

Quotes

• [observation, age 27, on playing teenage roles] Everyone always says, especially in the business, it's great to look a lot younger than you are for longevity's sake. But sometimes I just want to look my damn age and play a character my age. I don't want to play high school again.
• For example, for me, my brother helped me get a manager, which I don't take for granted. It's tough getting a manager, let alone one that actually cares about you and is smart. But from there, no one's going to cast me just because I'm James Franco's little brother.
• As much as I love and respect my brother, I'm doing my best to distance myself from him and kind of show people that, even though we do look similar and have similar mannerisms, we are completely different.
• I'm a tough critic on myself.
• I don't just wanna be James Franco's little brother.
• At this point, I feel like I can allow myself to be goofy and take more risks, and even if I do fall on my face, I know it's not the end of the world and at least I tried to do something different.
• I'm not one of those people who are, like, always joking in person.
• I'm a small shifty kind of guy.
• I can't say I was like a die-hard zombie fan, but I've definitely seen a few different zombie movies and TV shows.
• I just know that it's smart for my career to carve my own path and do my own thing.
• I'm a cat person.
• I think my first big purchase was actually for my mom. She had one of those '90s TVs in her living room that's like a 10x10 brick, so I purchased her a flatscreen for her living room.
• When I think of myself, I'm definitely... I'm not like a comedian.
• To be honest, I was kind of a shy kid growing up.