Dwight Frye

Dwight Frye

Biography: 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

Place of Birth: Not available

Birthday: February 22, 1899

Deathday: November 07, 1943

Popularity:

3.757

Known For

Dracula
Dracula

1931-02-12

Bride of Frankenstein
Bride of Frankenstein

1935-04-20

Frankenstein
Frankenstein

1931-11-21

The Ghost of Frankenstein
The Ghost of Frankenstein

1942-03-13

Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man

1943-03-05

The Doorway to Hell
The Doorway to Hell

1930-10-18

The Night Bird
The Night Bird

1928-09-16

The Maltese Falcon
The Maltese Falcon

1931-05-23

Dead Men Walk
Dead Men Walk

1943-04-12

The Vampire Bat
The Vampire Bat

1933-01-21

Sea Devils
Sea Devils

1937-02-19

The Circus Queen Murder
The Circus Queen Murder

1933-04-10

Think It Over
Think It Over

1938-07-24

The Many Faces of Dracula
The Many Faces of Dracula

2000-01-01

Frankenstein: A Cinematic Scrapbook
Frankenstein: A Cinematic Scrapbook

1991-01-01

Sinners in Paradise
Sinners in Paradise

1938-05-19

Who Killed Gail Preston?
Who Killed Gail Preston?

1938-02-24

The Shadow
The Shadow

1937-12-22

Man to Man
Man to Man

1930-12-05

Beware Of Ladies
Beware Of Ladies

1936-12-21

Submarine Alert
Submarine Alert

1943-06-28

Atlantic Adventure
Atlantic Adventure

1935-08-25

Fast Company
Fast Company

1938-07-05

Hangmen Also Die!
Hangmen Also Die!

1943-04-15

The Night Hawk
The Night Hawk

1938-10-01

The Man Who Found Himself
The Man Who Found Himself

1937-04-02

Alibi for Murder
Alibi for Murder

1936-09-23

Upstream
Upstream

1927-01-30

The Blonde from Singapore
The Blonde from Singapore

1941-10-15

The Man in the Iron Mask
The Man in the Iron Mask

1939-07-13

Drums of Fu Manchu
Drums of Fu Manchu

1940-03-15

Sky Bandits
Sky Bandits

1940-07-06

Mystery Ship
Mystery Ship

1941-09-03

Adventure in Sahara
Adventure in Sahara

1938-11-15

A Strange Adventure
A Strange Adventure

1932-11-20

Gangs of Chicago
Gangs of Chicago

1940-05-18

Something to Sing About
Something to Sing About

1937-09-30

The Crime of Doctor Crespi
The Crime of Doctor Crespi

1935-09-23

Phantom Raiders
Phantom Raiders

1940-06-07

Exit Smiling
Exit Smiling

1926-11-06

The Invisible Man
The Invisible Man

1933-11-03

Invisible Enemy
Invisible Enemy

1938-04-03

The Son of Monte Cristo
The Son of Monte Cristo

1940-12-05

Attorney for the Defense
Attorney for the Defense

1932-05-21

Dangerous Blondes
Dangerous Blondes

1943-09-23

Flying Blind
Flying Blind

1941-08-29

The Western Code
The Western Code

1932-09-15

Devil Pays Off
Devil Pays Off

1941-11-10

Florida Special
Florida Special

1936-04-21

The Great Impersonation
The Great Impersonation

1935-12-08

Drácula
Drácula

1931-03-11

The Black Camel
The Black Camel

1931-06-21

Don't Talk
Don't Talk

1942-02-28

Universal Horror
Universal Horror

1998-10-08

By Whose Hand?
By Whose Hand?

1932-07-06