Frank Howson

Recording artist

DJ Stan Rofe signed Howson to a recording deal and produced his first single: "Seventeen Ain't Young" (written by Jeff Barry)^[2] / Hide and seek (Richie Adams, Mark Barkan)^[2] performed by "Frankie Howson" (1969)^[7] who was seventeen during recording, it became a Top 40 hit in Melbourne.

Howson released two other singles This Night (Howson, Kenneth Firth, Miller)^[2] and 1983 The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter (John Capek, Howson).^[2][8]

Music publisher

Howson was manager of the Australian branch of German-based I.C. Records to publish musical works (including his own) distributed by EMI. He co-wrote John Paul Young's 1984 album One Foot in Front. He signed New romantic band Pseudo Echo and co-wrote their songs Autumnal Park and Destination Unknown with Tony Lugton,^[3] they later had a 1987 No. 1 hit in Australia with their version of Funky Town. I.C. Records scored 3 national hits in Australia in its first 12 months of operation. Howson and Peter Boyle were Executive Producers^[8] for John Paul Young's 1983 hit Soldier of Fortune (John Capek, Marc Jordan)^[2] reaching No. 15.

Howson and Allan Zavod wrote Time Can't Keep Us Apart^[2] which won the 1987 Asian Popular Song contest performed by Kate Ceberano^[9] to an estimated TV audience of 500 million.

Theatre works

Frank Howson began his career as stage actor, singer and dancer, and appeared in 21 major productions (including the Australian production of Oliver!) before turning 21.^[1] In the early 1970s, Howson met fellow actor Barry Ferrier while they were both appearing in the original Australian production of Jesus Christ Superstar, and the two men subsequently collaborated on a number of theatre-related projects. The first of these was a children's musical entitled The Faraway Land of Magical Frank, which was produced at the Toral Theatre in Melbourne in January 1976.^[10] Later that year, Howson and Ferrier released a concept recording of a follow-up children's musical, entitled The Boy who dared to dream, performed by Trevor White, pop singer Mark Holden and actors John Waters and Tommy Dysart. The first staged production of the show (featuring some of the actors from the concept recording) was mounted in Melbourne in January 1978, with a second production in May 1981.^[11]

Frank Howson went on to create two more children's musicals, without Ferrier's involvement: Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp (music by Robert Gavin, 1981) and Sinbad the Sailor: The Last Adventure (music by Ian McKean, 1982). Both were initially staged at the Alexander Theatre at Monash University..

Hollywood hiatus

Howson was on the Crystal Prix Jury for the 1997 Cannes Film Festival. From 1997 to 2005 Howson worked and lived in Hollywood. He served on the board of directors for the Starlight Children's Foundation of California.

Mr. Insincere, (written / performed by Howson)^[2] appears in the Disney movie Burn Hollywood Burn (1998), starring Eric Idle (as Alan Smithee) and Ryan O'Neal; with Whoopi Goldberg, Jackie Chan, Sylvester Stallone, and Robert Evans.^[19] Howson was asked by Steven Berkoff to direct the TV version of Berkoff's international hit theatre show Shakespeare's Villains (2002).^[5]

Howson later completed writing his memoirs on the film industry^[6] A Life in the Circus, and wrote songs for Steve Housden's (Little River Band lead guitarist) solo album.

MUFF & more

Richard Wolstencroft formed MUFF in 2000 and appointed Howson as president of the jury.^[6] Boulevard Films' The Intruder (directed by Wolstencroft) and The Final Stage (directed by Howson) were both presented at the 2005 festival.^[6] The following year saw Howson's film Remembering Nigel tie with Penny by John King for MUFF's 2006 Best Short Film award.^[20] He acted and was a script editor in a Wolstencroft film, The Beautiful and Damned.

Howson later served as a board member of Open Channel, a non-profit organisation that supports young filmmakers. Howson was invited to direct the premiere production of the short play The Replacement Son for the Short and Sweet festival at Melbourne's Arts Centre in December 2007.

Some excerpts from Howson's film Flynn can be seen in documentary on the life of Errol Flynn, The Tasmanian Devil.

The new release book The Actors' Handbook by Marnie Hill, published by AT2, contains an interview with him.

Howson in 2012 and 2013 wrote and directed two sell-out seasons of the musical "Genesis To Broadway" at Chapel Off Chapel, Melbourne. Cast member Fem Belling was nominated for a Green Room Award for Best Performance in a Musical.