Frank Howson(1952-2024)

Howson was born in Melbourne, Australia. He entered show-business at the age of 7 as a tap dancer, singer and child actor, and had starred in 21 major theatrical productions by his 21st birthday. Ever restless, he became interested in writing his own songs and went on to enjoy great success in this field by having his compositions recorded by such acts as Little River Band, Richie Havens, Dan Hill, Marc Jordan, Eric Idle, Kate Ceberano, Venetta Fields, Guy Pearce, amongst others. He discovered and published the band, Pseudo Echo who enjoyed much chart success internationally and scored a top 3 hit in the U.S. Howson recorded his own singles and enjoyed success in his homeland. He also headed a thriving music publishing and recording company. He went on to write many hit theater shows and gained a great deal of respect in Australia for his productions for children. In 1987, he wrote and produced the movie, Boulevard of Broken Dreams (1988), which was nominated for 7 AFI Awards including Best Film. It eventually won two. From there, Howson wrote and produced What the Moon Saw (1990), Hunting (1990) (which he also directed), Beyond My Reach (1990), My Forgotten Man (1993) (also directed) and others. During that time, he discovered Guy Pearce as a movie actor and starred him in his first 3 films. In 1989, he was presented with the Producer of the Year Award from Film Victoria. His films have been sold to such companies as Miramax, Disney, Warner, Village Roadshow, Paramount, J&M Entertainment, Filmstar, ABC, Hoyts, Skouras, etc. After a very prolonged and messy break-up with his business partner, Howson moved in 1997 to Los Angeles, where he now resides. He has been commissioned to write several screenplays for various producers and has remained active. In 2000, Arthur Hiller optioned the rights to Howson's screenplay, "The Lonely Heart". That same year, he was commissioned by Joe Eszterhas to write original songs for the movie, An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (1997). During that time, Howson was asked by acclaimed English actor Steven Berkoff to direct the TV version of his hit off-Broadway play, "Shakespeare's Villains". In July 2001, Frank Howson married actress Terri Garber in Miami, Florida. During the time he spent with Garber, he gave up his showbiz career but, since the split, has written new songs recorded by Little River Band on their 2004 album, "Test of Time". He was invited to be President of the Jury for the Melbourne Underground Film Festival in 2005 and is currently writing his memoirs on his life in the movie business. His award- winning song "Andre" was premiered at the Royal Albert Hall by Judith Durham during her latest U.K. tour. He recently received the Short Poppy Award in his hometown of Melbourne and his screenplay, "Winter in America", was performed in a rehearsed reading at the ACMI theatre, Federation Sqaure. In September 2005, he directed the Melbourne premiere of Caryl Churchill's acclaimed play, "A Number", to positive reviews.