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Mob Boss 'Mr. Perkins' in Gowanus 83
Franklin Ojeda Smith co-stars as Deacon Lemuel Cuffy in the first and second seasons. He also appeared in HBO series The Wire as a church minister. As Mr. King in the 20th Century Fox feature Won't Back Down and as Les in the Disney feature Invincible.
| Season one appearances | |||
| Boardwalk Empire | The Ivory Tower | Broadway Limited | Anastasia |
| Nights in Ballygran | Family Limitation | Home | Hold Me in Paradise |
| Belle Femme | The Emerald City | Paris Green | A Return to Normalcy |
| Season two appearances | |||
| 21 | Ourselves Alone | A Dangerous Maid | What Does the Bee Do? |
| Gimcrack & Bunkum | The Age of Reason | Peg of Old | Two Boats and a Lifeguard |
| Battle of the Century | Georgia Peaches | Under God's Power She Flourishes | To the Lost |
Mini Biography[]
Born on the Sea Islands of South Carolina, Franklin and his siblings joined their mother in the 'Fort Apache' section of the South Bronx in 1954. A native Gullah speaker, Franklin says, "my dialect was so rich that I was put into classes with students who only spoke Spanish and the teacher spoke neither." Early on he met life long friends and was "adopted" into a Puerto Rican family (The Ojedas). In the South Bronx, he attended the same junior (P.S. 52) and high schools (Morris) as General Colin Powell. As a collegian at Hampton Institute in Virginia, Franklin excelled as a baseball player (he won a national batting championship) but more importantly, he found his grounding in academic life. He is a professor of sociology and has been at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey for nearly 40 years. But he says, "I avoided my secret, inner passion for over forty-five years, then 12 years ago cancer ran me down. I had an epiphany. I said yes! Franklin explains that "back in the day the 'barb wire' was more visible" and early on he chose baseball over acting; then academia and not baseball. Among his principal Television roles are: Boardwalk Empire, Nurse Jackie, Rescue Me, The Wire, Law & Order, Cold Case, and Hack. He is excited about his role in the 20th Century Fox film - 'Won't Back Down' starring Viola Davis and Maggie Gyllenhaal.