Born into a showbusiness family his parents were circus aerialists Frankie Darro appeared in his first film at age six Due to his small size and youthful appearance he played teenagers well into his 20s Always a physical performer Darro often did his own stunts many times out of necessity his small stature made it difficult to find stunt doubles his size He was an accomplished horseman and in addition to westerns made several films where he played jockeys In 1933 he played the lead as a troubled teen in a major film for Warner Brothers Wild Boys Of The Road It is a precode film with a realistic look at The Great Depression from the point of view of the youth of the time This film seems to have been rediscovered only recently and has received critical acclaimThat same year he played a troubled youth in the James Cagney classic The Mayor Of Hell Later in 1935 he had a key role in the cult serial classic The Phantom Empire1935 As Darro got older however he found it increasingly difficult to secure employment and by the late 1940s was doing uncredited stunt work and bit parts He had a recurring role on The Red Skelton Hour 1951 unrecognized by his fans he played Robby The Robot in the groundbreaking scifi film The Forbidden Planet 1956 though Marvin Miller best remembered as Michael Anthony of TVs Millionaire195560 was the robots voice After that Frankie appeared sporadically in films and on TV
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