Brother of director Chester M. Franklin
Directed 5 different actors in Oscar-nominated performances: Alfred Lunt, Lynn Fontanne, Norma Shearer, Merle Oberon and Luise Rainer. Rainer won for her performance in The Good Earth (1937).
Father of Sidney Franklin Jr.
In 1937 it was announced that he would direct Bambi (1942), but production delays (it was eventually filmed five years after this announcement, in 1942) moved him away from the production. He eventually got a credit for artistic collaborator.