Dwight Frye
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Dwight Frye in Bride of Frankenstein |
Dwight Iliff Frye (
February 22 1899–
November 7 1943) was an
American stage and screen
actor.
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 dwarf assistant in the film
Frankenstein. (This character, named Fritz, is often mistakenly referred to as Igor, a character originated by Bela Lugosi in the later film
Son of Frankenstein.)
Frye had a prominent role in
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, many extra scenes of Frye being shot as a sub plot, but were edited out of the final version to shorten the running time.
During the early 1940's, 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". He had 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 former U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, but Frye tragically succumbed to a heart attack a few days after signing for the part.
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.
Also, the music company Wind-up Entertainment Inc. houses one music publishing concern called Renfield Music Publishing, and another called Dwight Frye Music, which publishes artists such as
Evanescence and
Creed.
Frye died in
Hollywood and was buried in the
Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in
Glendale, California.
