Franc Luz (born December 22, 1950) is an American actor of stage, film
and television seen in popular leading dramatic film roles in the
1980s and 1990s. These credits were supplemented with TV guest
appearances and several regular roles in TV series. Luz is perhaps
best known for his parts in The Nest, Ghost Town, When Harry Met
Sally..., and, to Star Trek fans, as the symbiont Odan in a 1991
episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, in the season 4 episode
"The Host".Luz, who hails from Massachusetts, attended New Mexico
State University, with the intention of studying and breaking into
dramatic arts as a career. He studied both singing and theater arts to
double his future prospects in show business. After graduation, Luz
won parts in many local and regional theater productions. His first
breakthrough arrived in the late 1970s, when he landed the major role
of policeman Floyd in Fiorello, which ran at the Equity Liberty
Theater in New York City. In 1979, he received attention playing
Wanenis, the noble North American savage in the period piece Whoopee!.
Both of the latter led to his first movie role, which also arrived
that year; he was cast in a supporting part in the film Voices. On the
heels of this film exposure, Luz made his first transition to
television. He auditioned for and won the role of Dr. John Bennett on
NBC's daytime serial The Doctors. This role made him instantly noticed
by daytime viewers, and he was nominated for a 1980 Daytime Emmy Award
for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. Luz continued in the
role for another year before leaving the show in 1981.After his
departure from The Doctors, Luz returned to theatre work. He was often
seen in the early 1980s playing the role of the sadistic dentist in
the original off-Broadway production of Little Shop of Horrors. For
this, he was nominated for the 1983 Drama Desk Award in the
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical category. The voices of Luz,
Lee Wilkof, Jennifer Leigh Warren and others are featured in the 1992
CD release Little Shop of Horrors Soundtrack - Original Off-Broadway
Cast.Along the way, he joined other daytime soaps; in 1983, he played
Tommy Lobo on One Life to Live. Shortly after, he appeared on Ryan's
Hope for a particularly heated story arc in 1984; he played Steve
Latham, lover of Delia Reid Ryan Coleridge (played at the time by
Robin Mattson), who held Delia captive while she was still committed
to marry Matthew Crane (Harve Presnell). Their affair was indirectly
responsible for leading Crane to accuse Delia of attempted murder. Luz
claimed in a 1985 interview that playing Steve Latham was particularly
satisfying to him as an actor, since he got to play a sinister
character who wasn't hapless or taken advantage of. His previous roles
on The Doctors and One Life to Live were "nice guys" who had their
lovers stolen away by more ruthless counterparts.
and television seen in popular leading dramatic film roles in the
1980s and 1990s. These credits were supplemented with TV guest
appearances and several regular roles in TV series. Luz is perhaps
best known for his parts in The Nest, Ghost Town, When Harry Met
Sally..., and, to Star Trek fans, as the symbiont Odan in a 1991
episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, in the season 4 episode
"The Host".Luz, who hails from Massachusetts, attended New Mexico
State University, with the intention of studying and breaking into
dramatic arts as a career. He studied both singing and theater arts to
double his future prospects in show business. After graduation, Luz
won parts in many local and regional theater productions. His first
breakthrough arrived in the late 1970s, when he landed the major role
of policeman Floyd in Fiorello, which ran at the Equity Liberty
Theater in New York City. In 1979, he received attention playing
Wanenis, the noble North American savage in the period piece Whoopee!.
Both of the latter led to his first movie role, which also arrived
that year; he was cast in a supporting part in the film Voices. On the
heels of this film exposure, Luz made his first transition to
television. He auditioned for and won the role of Dr. John Bennett on
NBC's daytime serial The Doctors. This role made him instantly noticed
by daytime viewers, and he was nominated for a 1980 Daytime Emmy Award
for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. Luz continued in the
role for another year before leaving the show in 1981.After his
departure from The Doctors, Luz returned to theatre work. He was often
seen in the early 1980s playing the role of the sadistic dentist in
the original off-Broadway production of Little Shop of Horrors. For
this, he was nominated for the 1983 Drama Desk Award in the
Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical category. The voices of Luz,
Lee Wilkof, Jennifer Leigh Warren and others are featured in the 1992
CD release Little Shop of Horrors Soundtrack - Original Off-Broadway
Cast.Along the way, he joined other daytime soaps; in 1983, he played
Tommy Lobo on One Life to Live. Shortly after, he appeared on Ryan's
Hope for a particularly heated story arc in 1984; he played Steve
Latham, lover of Delia Reid Ryan Coleridge (played at the time by
Robin Mattson), who held Delia captive while she was still committed
to marry Matthew Crane (Harve Presnell). Their affair was indirectly
responsible for leading Crane to accuse Delia of attempted murder. Luz
claimed in a 1985 interview that playing Steve Latham was particularly
satisfying to him as an actor, since he got to play a sinister
character who wasn't hapless or taken advantage of. His previous roles
on The Doctors and One Life to Live were "nice guys" who had their
lovers stolen away by more ruthless counterparts.
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