Arthur Sofield Franz was born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, to Dorothy and Gustave Franz, German immigrants. He was a reliable character actor in many '40s and '50s "B" pictures, often cast as a friendly small-town businessman or professional (as in The Doctor and the Girl (1949)) or the lead's sympathetic friend (as in 1953's Invaders from Mars (1953)). He wasn't confined to just "B" pictures, however. He had good parts in such major productions as Sands of Iwo Jima (1949) and Alvarez Kelly (1966) and acquitted himself well. However, the film he's probably best remembered for is Edward Dmytryk's solid little "B" thriller The Sniper (1952), in which he turned in an outstanding performance as a mentally unstable ex-soldier in San Francisco who, after being rejected by a woman he was interested in, snaps and terrorizes the city by taking out his old army rifle and stalking and picking off women.