Dwight Frye

Dwight Frye (February 22 1899–November 7 1943) was an American stage and screen actor.

Related Topics:
February 22 - 1899 - November 7 - 1943 - American - Actor

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A versatile character actor, originator of several memorable characterizations in the horror film genre. Dwight Frye had a notable theatre career, moving from juvenile parts to leads before entering film. He originated the part of "the Young Man" in the 1922 Broadway premiere of Luigi Pirandello's "Six Characters in Search of an Author." Cast with Bela Lugosi in a 1926 production of "The Devil and the Cheese, " he ultimately appeared in at least two Lugosi films. Despite (or perhaps because of) his memorable, impassioned portrayals of real estate agent-cum-madman Renfield in Tod Browning's 1931 film "Dracula, " and Fritz the sadistic hunchbacked lab assistant in James Whale's "Frankenstein, " the Industry seemed determined to typecast him. "The Crime of Dr. Crespi" (1935) offered him billing second only to that of villain Erich von Stroheim but too soon he was consigned to playing a lucklustre array of lunatics, spies, red herrings, grasping heirs, and bit parts. He occasionally returned to the stage in comedies, musicals, and thrillers such as "Night Must Fall" and a stage version of "Dracula." In the early '40's he worked nights (between films and local theatre productions) as a tool desginer for the Lockheed Aircraft Company. An uncanny physical resemblance to then-Secretary of War Newton D.Baker led to being signed to a substantial role in a film called "Wilson", based on the life of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, but Frye succumbed to a heart attack on a bus a few days later.

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Frye was born in Salina, Kansas. Nicknamed "the Man with the Thousand-Watt Stare", he specialized in the portrayal of mentally unbalanced characters, including his signature role, the madman Renfield in Tod Browning's 1931 version of Dracula. Later that same year he also played the hunchbacked dwarf assistant in the film Frankenstein.

Related Topics:
Salina, Kansas - Renfield - Tod Browning - 1931 - Dracula - Frankenstein

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Frye had a prominent role in The Vampire Bat, starring Lionel Atwill and Fay Wray, in which he played Herman, a half-wit suspected of being a killer. He also had a memorable role in the classic Bride of Frankenstein, in which he played Karl. The part of Karl was originally much longer, many extra scenes of Frye being shot as a sub plot, but were edited out of the final version to shorten the running time.

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In 1970 the rock-and-roll band Alice Cooper recorded a song titled "The Ballad of Dwight Fry" (without the final "e"), sung from the point of view of a character such as the actor might have played.

Related Topics:
1970 - Alice Cooper

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Frye died in Hollywood and was buried in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

Related Topics:
Hollywood - Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery - Glendale, California

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