[12] On Sunday 4 October 1936, he was arrested (and later sentenced to 28 days hard labour) while helping to block a march by the British Union of Fascists, during the Battle of Cable Street.
[13][14] In 1936 Franks studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts,[15] and later performed on numerous early BBC Television shows, including The Insect Play (1939) and The Pilgrims Progress (1939).
[18] Due to his political beliefs, Franks refused conscription to the British Army and he was imprisoned as a conscientious objector during World War II.
Franks' design work with the mining community of Boosbeck provided inspiration to the artist Adam Clarke, a graduate of the Royal College of Art.
[22] The life and work of Franks also featured in the Twentieth Century Society symposium 'Bye Bye Bauhaus', held at The University of Westminster School of Architecture in 2019.