William Frank Newton (Frankie Newton) (January 4, 1906 – March 11, 1954) was a trumpeter from Emory, Virginia. He played in several New York bands in the 1920s and 1930s, including bands led by Sam Wooding, Chick Webb, Charlie Barnet, Andy Kirk and Charlie "Fess" Johnson. In the 1940s he played with bands led by Lucky Millinder and Pete Brown. He played in clubs in New York and Boston, with musicians such as pianist James P. Johnson, drummer Sid Catlett and clarinetist Edmond Hall.
He accompanied Bessie Smith on her final recordings (November 24, 1933), Maxine Sullivan on 'Loch Lomond', and Billie Holiday's 'Strange Fruit' session (Café Society, 1939).
Between March, 1937 and August, 1939, eight recording sessions issued under Newton's name were produced. Three sessions in 1937 were made for Irving Mills's Variety label. In 1939, Newton recorded a six song sessions with Victor, a four song session for Vocalion, two individual one song sessions for Blue Note, and finally one 2 song session for Vocalion. 14 records in all.
Politically, Newton was known to be a communist. (As an homage, historian Eric Hobsbawn has written jazz criticism for the New Statesman under the pen name "Francis Newton".)