James Franco, best known for his breakout leading role on Freaks and Geeks (1999), was born on April 19, 1978, in Palo Alto, California, to Betsy Franco, a writer, artist, and performer, and Douglas Eugene “Doug” Franco, who owned a Silicon Valley firm. His mother is Jewish, while his father is Portuguese and Swedish.
James Franco graduated from Palo Alto High School in 1996 and went on to UCLA, studying English, with his two younger brothers, Dave Franco, himself an actor, and Tom Franco. To combat his timidity, he began acting while studying there, which he quit after only one year, much to his parent’s dismay.
James began aggressively pursuing his ambition of working as an actor in Hollywood after fifteen months of rigorous training at Robert Carnegie’s Playhouse West.
In that short period of time, he secured a leading part in Freaks and Geeks (1999). The show, however, was not popular with its audience at the time and was terminated after one year.
It has since become a cult classic. Franco appeared in the TV miniseries To Serve and Protect before joining Freaks and Geeks (1999). (1999). Following that, he starred in Whatever It Takes (2000).
Despite his consistent employment, it wasn’t until the TNT made-for-television film, James Dean (2001), that James ascended to fan-magazine stardom and got to show off his ability.
He has been working nonstop since then. After losing the starring role to Tobey Maguire, James took on the role of “Harry Osborne,” Spider-best Man’s buddy, in the summer 2002 blockbuster Spider-Man (2002). He reprised his role as Osborne in the trilogy’s last two installments.
Following that were Deuces Wild (2002) and City by the Sea (2002), in which Robert De Niro cast him after seeing his performance in James Dean (2001).
He appeared in Pineapple Express (2008), alongside Seth Rogen, Nights in Rodanthe (2008), starring Richard Gere and Diane Lane, and In the Valley of Elah (2007), starring Tommy Lee Jones.
James Franco’s Net Worth
James Franco has six real estate holdings, five cars, and one luxury yacht. James Franco’s assets also include nearly $12 million in cash reserves. James Franco also has a $9 million investing portfolio consisting of 8 stocks. He has an estimated net worth of between $20 million to $50 million.
