After studying drama at Syracuse University, Frank Langella joined the Lincoln Center Repertory company as one of the original repertory company members. He spent much of the next decade onstage with OBIE-winning turns in The Old Glory, Good Day, and The White Devil. His feature debut came in 1970 with Frank Perry's Diary of a Mad Housewife. He then appeared in Mel Brooks' The Twelve Chairs winning the Best Supporting Actor Award from the National Board of Review for the two performances.

He earned a Tony for his Broadway debut in Edward Albee's Pulitzer-winner Seascape and a Tony nomination as Dracula. He made his Broadway directorial debut at the helm of Albert Innaurato's Passione in 1980. Other notable performances during the 1980's came in Sir Peter Hall's production of Amadeus, Noel Coward's Design for Living, co-starring Jill Clayburgh, and Mike Nichols' 1985 staging of Hurlyburly.

During the 1990's, he appeared in Warner Bros.' Dave, HBO's Doomsday Gun and Universal's Junior. He starred with Geena Davis in Cutthroat Island, Ridley Scott's 1492: The Conquest of Paradise, and played ‘Quilty' in Adrian Lyne's remake of Lolita. Returning to the small screen, he appeared in TNT's Moses and the NBC miniseries Jason and the Argonauts.

In 2005, Langella resurfaced in a major way with his compelling role in the George Clooney-Steven Soderbergh-produced improvised HBO series Unscripted. He will next be seen in the role of Perry White, the editor of the Daily Planet, in director Bryan Singer's Superman Returns.