Biography: Marcus Carl Franklin began his career as a child star with two demanding and memorable roles, essayed in the mid- to late 2000s. He took one of his first bows as Ruben Santiago Jr., the lead character in George C. Wolfe's heavily praised drama Lackawanna Blues (2005) -- an HBO period piece about a little boy coming of age in an upstate New York rooming house during the late '50s and early '60s.