Frank went on to study acting with Stella Adler and Jeff Corey, and did theater at the Beverly Hills Playhouse.  He also had the part of a high school student in Elia Kazan's EAST OF EDEN, before being accepted into the University of Oregon on an athletic scholarship.  Frank left Hollywood behind; but only briefly.

   On a school break he auditioned for a part and was cast in REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE, directed by Nicholas Ray and starring then unknown James Dean.  Because of his reputation from his days in the Hollywood High club/gang The Athenians, Frank was approached by Nick Ray and David Weisbart, REBEL'S Producer, to help them recreate a reality about rebellious teens from middle class families.  Frank was given an office at Warner Brothers and according to Rolling Stone magazine, "he ended up helping director Nick Ray and screenwriter Stewart Stern shape REBEL into an accurate piece of 1955 sociology."   Frank  was instrumental in selecting Jimmy's '49 Merc and his famous red jacket, which was not unlike the original Athenian club jackets; and one of the Nick Ray biographies quotes, "...the knife duel between Jim and Buzz (Corey Allen) was staged with the aid of Frank Mazzola."  Nick also signed a REBEL poster with a personal note of thanks, "For Frank Mazzola who helped so much to make the texture of REBEL into a living realty."  

   To Frank it became clear that the truly creative aspects of film making were behind the camera.  Inspired by Nick Ray and David Weisbart, who had edited A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, Frank decide to pursue editing and learn the process of film making.  While working as an assistant at Universal Studios, he was involved with Hitchcock's PSYCHO and Stanley Kubrick's SPARTACUS.  Following assisting jobs at Fox studios and The Mirish Corp., Frank learned some of his most valuable lessons from working with Ralph Winter's  as the first assistant on Blake Edwards' THE PARTY. 

   After the creation of several complicated montages that received excellent reviews, Frank moved to New York and AVCO Embassy and began his career as an editor on films such as MACHO CALLAHAN, STILETTO, and a re-edit of LA PISCINE, starring Alain Delon and Romy Schneider.

   Acquiring the reputation for doctoring films, Frank was sought out by film director Donald Cammell to create montages and re-edit PERFORMANCE, a film that was sitting on the shelf at Warner Brothers.  Frank's work with Donald on PERFORMANCE lead to the film's release.  It has now received cult classic status and according to The British Film Institute, "PERFORMANCE is one of the most extraordinary British films, and arguably the greatest."

   Frank's career as an editor excelled from this point forward with films such as Peter Fonda's directorial debut, THE HIRED HAND, Donald Cammell's DEMON SEED, and A WOMEN CALLED MOSES starring Cicely Tyson with narration by Orsen Welles. Also Michael Barry's THE SECOND COMING OF SUZANNE, which Frank co-produced and edited, won three of the top ten awards at The Atlanta Film Festival including the gold medal for editing.  "The exhilarating beauty of the color cinematography and visual wizardry of the many montage sequences establish cinematographer Isadore Mankofsky and editor/montage artist Frank Mazzola as two of the worlds finest artists in their respective fields." (Stratford Film Festival)

   Stanley Kauffman of The New Republic wrote, "Mazzola has used almost the whole contemporary editing vocabulary."  Other reviewers have written that Frank is, "a master craftsman at film editing," he "creates a perfect sense of pacing," and his "montage sequences rate spontaneous audience applause." 

    As Rex Reed wrote in The New York Daily News, "Frank Mazzola, the excellent film editor, has attempted to do something different with film." Even to date, he continues to dedicate his time and creative energy as an independent force in maintaining film as an art form.

     Two years ago Frank completed production on restoring and editing a Donald Cammell short, THE ARGUMENT. Video Watchdog's wrote "the film is a surreal gem...abandoned, once lost, now found, THE ARGUMENT, like the Phoenix, has been reborn."  The screening of the short became the catalyst for Tartan Films and London's Channel 4, to join forces with Frank on the restoration of The Director's Cut of DONALD CAMMELL'S WILD SIDE, after the original producers had taken it from his control.

    Following the WILD SIDE premiere at The Edinburgh International Film Festival, Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian wrote:
    "Perhaps the most remarkable event of the festival has been WILD SIDE, the last film by the late Donald Cammell, presented in a radically new director's cut, lovingly prepared by editor and long time associate Frank Mazzola...Under Mazzola's microsurgery, it emerges as classic cinema..."

    In cooperation with Universal Studios, Pando Productions and Tartan Films, Frank went on to produced the restoration of Peter Fonda's western masterpiece THE HIRED HAND. THE SUNDANCE CHANNEL has acquired the rights and has recently released a beautiful collector's edition DVD set with original cast and crew commentary.

    Last fall, Frank paid tribute to Walter Mirisch, one of the most successful Producers in Hollywood.  His films too numerous to list, include the Academy Award winning, IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, WEST SIDE STORY, SOME LIKE IT HOT and of course the famous PINK PANTHER series.  In association with The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Frank produced a tribute film series and very moving documentary film reel.  Along with Frank's fond memories of a well respected man, Julie Andrews, Blake Edwards and Sydney Poitier, turned out to honor and thank Walter Mirisch.

The tribute series, a huge success in Los Angeles, is now slated for the winter season at New York’s Museum of Modern Art.

 Frank is presently featured in The American Masters Series documentary on James Dean, a TBS documentary on Nicholas Ray, the Vanity Fair “Hollywood Issue” feature article on Ray and a new book on Donald Cammell by Sam and Rebecca Umland.  He has also appeared on LARRY KING LIVE.