Appearances

Title	Role	Year	Approx. Age
Thoroughbreds Don't Cry	'Dink' Reid	1937	20
The Unwelcome Stranger	Charlie Anderson	1935	18
Little Men 1934	Dan	1934	17
No Greater Glory	Feri Ats	1934	17
Wild Boys on the Road	Eddie	1933	16
The Vanishing Legion - Serial	Jimmie Williams	1931	14
The Lightning Warrior - Serial	Jimmy Carter	1931	14

Born into a show-business family - his parents were circus aerialists - Frankie Darro appeared in his first film at age six. Due to his small size and youthful appearance, he played teenagers well into his 20s. Always a physical performer, Darro often did his own stunts, many times out of necessity - his small stature made it difficult to find stunt doubles his size, and at that time the studio's were more lax about that kind of thing.

One of the earliest successful child actors, Frankie was known as the boy in the Saturday matinee serials, starring in over six of them, including the cult serial classic The Phantom Empire (1935), a strange mixture of aliens, robots and cowboys.

He was an accomplished horseman and, in addition to westerns, made several films where he played jockeys. In 1933 he played the lead as a troubled teen in a major film for Warner Brothers Wild Boys Of The Road (1933). It is a pre code film with a realistic look at the Great Depression, from the point of view of the youth of the time. This film seems to have been rediscovered only recently and has received critical acclaim.

That same year, he played a troubled youth in the James Cagney classic, The Mayor Of Hell. Later in 1935, he had a key role in Burn 'Em Up Barnes (1934) and film that dared to tell a story about the car racing circuit.

As Darro got older, however, he found it increasingly difficult to secure employment, and by the late 1940s was doing uncredited stunt work and bit parts. He had a recurring role on The Red Skelton Hour (1951), unrecognized by his fans, he played "Robby The Robot" in the groundbreaking sci-fi film The Forbidden Planet (1956), though Marvin Miller, best remembered as Michael Anthony of TVs Millionaire (1955-60), was the robot's voice. After that Frankie appeared sporadically in films and on TV .

He died on Christmas day 1976 in Huntington Beach, California of a heart attack.