Frank Muller
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| Frank Muller | |
|---|---|
 Frank Muller in the title role of King Henry V, Riverside Shakespeare Company, NYC, 1983. |
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| Born | May 5, 1951 Netherlands |
| Died | June 4 2008 Duke University Medical Center |
| Official website | |
Frank Muller (May 5, 1951 – June 4, 2008) was a stage and television actor, but was most famous as an audiobook narrator. He was regarded to be the greatest American audiobook narrator of the 20th century.[1]
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[edit] Early life
Muller was born in The Netherlands, the eldest of five children. His family emigrated to the United States when he was five.
[edit] Career
Muller was a classically trained actor who began his career working on stage and doing commercials. He spent many years on the New York stage, playing King Henry V for the Riverside Shakespeare Company, and working at the Roundabout Theater, and the New York Shakespeare Festival and others. He also garnered some small parts on television in shows like Law And Order, Life Goes On, Harry and the Hendersons, and All My Children.[2]
It is as an audiobook narrator, however, that he was most famous. In 1979, Henry Trentman founded Recorded Books and hired Muller as a narrator.[3] The company began by publishing public domain audiobooks such as Call of the Wild and A Tale of Two Cities but later expanded into copyrighted works as audiobooks began to grow in popularity. Muller soon became the narrator of choice for such authors as Stephen King, John le Carré, John Grisham, Elmore Leonard and many others. Muller won the 2003 Audie Award for Best Male Narrator for his reading of Elmore Leonard's Tishomingo Blues.
[edit] Motorcycle accident
On November 5, 2001, while riding his motorcycle in Los Angeles, Muller sideswiped a center concrete construction divider. He was thrown from the bike and landed on his head and chest. Although he was wearing a helmet, he suffered severe head trauma and was later diagnosed with diffuse axonal injury.
Muller was taken to Antelope Valley Medical Center in Lancaster, California, where he went into cardiac arrest three times.
Muller had seven surgeries and was in a coma for over a month. From the time of the accident until his death, he was unable to work.
In 2002, Stephen King, who had also experienced a life-threatening auto accident, organized a benefit for Muller with Pat Conroy, John Grisham, and Peter Straub. King went on to help found the Wavedancer Foundation, an organization dedicated to helping disabled performers, writers, and members of the production community.[4].
[edit] Personal life
Muller was married to Erika Muller and had two children, Diana and Morgan. In 2003, the Mullers moved to a house outside Raleigh, North Carolina, United States, that was modified specifically for Frank's therapeutic and rehabilitative needs.
On November 5 2001 Muller suffered severe head trauma and as multiple fractures from a motorcycle accident in California, and ceased his acting career. He died on June 4, 2008 at Duke University Hospital in Durham, NC.[5]
