Frank is a SAG-AFTRA Actor and Creator who is a proud alumnus of The University of Missouri-Kansas City, where he obtained his Bachelors of Arts in Theatre Performance. Frank has a background in various sports, marching band, personal training and is a nerd for stage combat/fight choreography! He is strongly zealous about projects that excavate what it means to be human through unpacking the broken, vulnerable, playful, and powerful expressions of life. As well as projects that demand rigorous exploration through physicality. Despite if it's something cerebral, fighting a CGI monster (or both 🤯), Frank is all about storytelling that is going to be inspirational, hopeful, and entertaining to the masses on screens and stages across the world.
#ImaBeFrank
An original series designed to share my personal experiences in life through advice, (struggles, victories and everything in between), to serve as a tool. A tool for discovery, passion, motivation and hopefully freedom for others! View the full playlist on YouTube here: www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1T103gZFB5O2TcsgMEtc0kQMnOoqfwEK
Press
"Oakley’s Clay matches Jacob’s Lula dollar for dollar, and when he finally lays it all out there, it’s like a volcano erupting. You are looking at Clay as he strips away the layers of his three-piece suit, and hearing so much anger, pain, hurt, resentment, misunderstanding, and fear that you begin to wonder where Clay ends and Baraka’s personal inner-monologue begins.
- Abigail Trabue, PerformInk Kansas City.
Dutchman
"Oakley launches into a blistering monologue that reads like, well, Baraka at his most righteous. Oakley’s hard-fought calm makes the proceedings even more intense. He’s gone to great pains, he suggests, to give himself over to “my people’s madness,” the peculiar neurosis that makes Bessie Smith sing and Charlie Parker play and Clay (and, by extension, Baraka) write, when the “sane” thing to do would be to lash out at people like Lula.
Clay’s monologue is the beating heart of the play, and Oakley handles it well."
- Liz Cook, The Pitch.
Dutchman
"Frank Oakley III negotiates the transformation of Clay from mild-mannered commuter to enraged black man with impressive flexibility."
- Robert Trussell, KC Studio.
Dutchman
"Standout performances come from... and Frank Oakley III. "...Oakley gives a very low-key burn in this sequence that causes the play to take on a more human note. Instead of yelling and screaming through the rage he feels, Oakley uses a controlled-tone burn to explain himself. What a beautiful piece of work he delivers in this scene."
- Bob Evans, Kansas City Performing Arts Examiner.
Jitney
"That young preacher of course was Martin Luther King, Jr., who is magnificently portrayed by Frank Oakley III."
- Steve Wilson, Broadway World Kansas City.
Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott
"Not enough can be said about Frank Oakley, III, who gives a stunning performance as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. That’s just one of several characters Oakley portrays. Portraying a legend, even in his early days, requires an actor to understand the history and the dynamics of this particular character. Oakley speaks in the style of Dr. King, when he is addressing huge crowds. He also gives a general performance as King when he is in conversation with his wife. That character alone requires several nuances that he brings with expertise. Like the other actors, he, too, changes characters throughout the production."
- Bob Evans, Kansas City Performing Arts Examiner.
Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott
- Abigail Trabue, PerformInk Kansas City.
Dutchman
"Oakley launches into a blistering monologue that reads like, well, Baraka at his most righteous. Oakley’s hard-fought calm makes the proceedings even more intense. He’s gone to great pains, he suggests, to give himself over to “my people’s madness,” the peculiar neurosis that makes Bessie Smith sing and Charlie Parker play and Clay (and, by extension, Baraka) write, when the “sane” thing to do would be to lash out at people like Lula.
Clay’s monologue is the beating heart of the play, and Oakley handles it well."
- Liz Cook, The Pitch.
Dutchman
"Frank Oakley III negotiates the transformation of Clay from mild-mannered commuter to enraged black man with impressive flexibility."
- Robert Trussell, KC Studio.
Dutchman
"Standout performances come from... and Frank Oakley III. "...Oakley gives a very low-key burn in this sequence that causes the play to take on a more human note. Instead of yelling and screaming through the rage he feels, Oakley uses a controlled-tone burn to explain himself. What a beautiful piece of work he delivers in this scene."
- Bob Evans, Kansas City Performing Arts Examiner.
Jitney
"That young preacher of course was Martin Luther King, Jr., who is magnificently portrayed by Frank Oakley III."
- Steve Wilson, Broadway World Kansas City.
Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott
"Not enough can be said about Frank Oakley, III, who gives a stunning performance as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. That’s just one of several characters Oakley portrays. Portraying a legend, even in his early days, requires an actor to understand the history and the dynamics of this particular character. Oakley speaks in the style of Dr. King, when he is addressing huge crowds. He also gives a general performance as King when he is in conversation with his wife. That character alone requires several nuances that he brings with expertise. Like the other actors, he, too, changes characters throughout the production."
- Bob Evans, Kansas City Performing Arts Examiner.
Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott
Article Interviews
Celebrate Black Excellence 365 - "Frank Oakley, III talks Netflix's Sweet Magnolias, The Game, new action sci-fi thriller Rewind"
The Independent - "Being Frank: Sky's the Limit for Kansas City Born Actor"
UMKC Today - "Alumnus Stars in Hit Netflix Show"
Media From the Heart - My Devotional Thoughts - "Interview with Actor Frank Oakley III, Love in the Sun"
KC Studio - "Truthfulness is the Hallmark of This Emerging Actor's Style"
The Independent - "Being Frank: Sky's the Limit for Kansas City Born Actor"
UMKC Today - "Alumnus Stars in Hit Netflix Show"
Media From the Heart - My Devotional Thoughts - "Interview with Actor Frank Oakley III, Love in the Sun"
KC Studio - "Truthfulness is the Hallmark of This Emerging Actor's Style"
Podcast/Video Interviews
So Many Shows! - "Sweet Magnolias: Interview with Harlan Actor Frank Oakley III" (Interview starts at 31:00)
The Cool Out Corner Podcast - "Keeping it Frank"
Fandom Family Chats - "Sweet Magnolias Cast Interview - Frank Oakley III (Harlan Bixby)"
The Cool Out Corner Podcast - "Keeping it Frank"
Fandom Family Chats - "Sweet Magnolias Cast Interview - Frank Oakley III (Harlan Bixby)"