Dwight Frye

Actor
BirthdayFeb 22, 1899 (44 years old)
DeathdayNov 7, 1943
Place of birthSalina, Kansas, USA
GenderMale

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Dwight Iliff Frye (February 22, 1899 – November 7, 1943) was an American stage and screen actor, noted for his appearances in the classic horror films Dracula, Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein. Frye was born in Salina, Kansas. Nicknamed "The Man with the Thousand-Watt Stare," and "The Man of a Thousand Deaths," 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 assistant in the film Frankenstein. (This character, named Fritz, is often mistakenly referred to as Ygor, a character originated by Béla Lugosi in the later film Son of Frankenstein.) Frye had a prominent role in the 1933 horror film The Vampire Bat, starring Lionel Atwill, Melvyn Douglas, 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 and many extra scenes of Frye were shot as a sub plot but were edited out of the final version to shorten the running time as well as to appease the censor boards. The most memorable of these "cut scenes" was that of Karl killing the Burgomaster portrayed by E. E. Clive. No known prints of these scenes survive today, but photographs of the scene were used to illustrate the scene's synopsis and are included in the recent Universal DVD release of the film. During the early 1940s, Frye alternated between film roles and appearing on stage in a variety of productions ranging from comedies to musicals, as well as appearing in a stage version of Dracula. In 1924 he played the Son in a translation of Luigi Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author.[1] There was a Dwight Frye Fan Club at one time,[2] but it is currently dormant. He also made a contribution to the war effort by working nights as a tool designer for Lockheed Aircraft. Frye's strong resemblance to former Secretary of War Newton D. Baker helped land him what would have been a substantial role in the biographical film Wilson, based on the life of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, but he died of a heart attack while riding on a bus in Hollywood a few days before filming was to have begun. Frye was interred in Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery. Description above from the Wikipedia article Dwight Frye, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia

Known for

Fritz

Nov 21, 1931

Renfield

Feb 12, 1931

Karl

Apr 20, 1935

Reporter (uncredited)

Nov 3, 1933

Rudi a Vasarian

Mar 5, 1943

Villager at Meeting / Grave Robber (flashback) (uncredited)

Mar 13, 1942

Renfield (archive footage) (uncredited)

Mar 11, 1931

Hostage

Apr 15, 1943

Herman Gleib

Jan 21, 1933

Wilmer Cook

May 23, 1931

Jessop the Butler (uncredited)

Jun 21, 1931

Zolarr

Apr 12, 1943

Fouquet's Valet

Jul 13, 1939

Monk, Gangster

Oct 18, 1930

(archive footage)

Oct 8, 1998

Mr. Easton (makeup supervisor)

Sep 30, 1937

Eddie Anders

Jun 7, 1940

Dr. Thomas

Sep 23, 1935

Marshall (uncredited)

May 19, 1938

Gravet, 'the Jackal'

Nov 15, 1938

Fritz

Nov 21, 1931

Renfield

Feb 12, 1931

Karl

Apr 20, 1935

Reporter (uncredited)

Nov 3, 1933

Rudi a Vasarian

Mar 5, 1943

Villager at Meeting / Grave Robber (flashback) (uncredited)

Mar 13, 1942

Acting


Participated in 55 movies, 0 TV series

2000

Renfield (archive footage)


1998

(archive footage)


1991

Fritz / Karl (archive footage)


1943

Hoodlum (uncredited)


1943

Haldine (uncredited)


1943


1943

Zolarr


1943


1942

Villager at Meeting / Grave Robber (flashback) (uncredited)


1942

Ziggy (uncredited)


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