Biography for
Dwight Frye More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

22 February 1899, Salina, Kansas, USA

Date of Death

7 November 1943, Hollywood, California, USA (heart attack)

Birth Name

Dwight Iliff Fry

Height

5' 6½" (1.69 m)

Mini Biography

An extremely versatile character actor and originator of several memorable characterizations in the horror film genre, Dwight Frye had a notable theatrical career in the 1920s, moving from juvenile parts to leads before entering film. A favorite actor of Broadway theatrical producer-director Brock Pemberton, he originated the part of "the Son" in his hit 1922 production of Luigi Pirandello's "Six Characters in Search of an Author." Pemberton would continue to employ Frye in Broadway productions throughout the decade. 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 Dracula (1931) and Fritz the sadistic hunchbacked lab assistant in James Whale's Frankenstein (1931), the industry seemed determined to typecast Frye, and his film career would be marked with frustration. The Crime of Doctor Crespi (1935) offered him billing second only to that of villain Erich von Stroheim, but all too soon he was consigned to playing a lackluster array of crazies, 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." Frye was perplexed to find that his versatility in the theatre went unnoticed in Hollywood, where he was relegated to lunatic roles and often had his parts severely cut. Indeed, in Son of Frankenstein (1939) his role was deemed as unnecessary when an abrupt switch was made from Technicolor to black and white after his scenes were shot.

Frye, a devout Christian Scientist, had concealed a heart condition from his friends and family. After the outbreak of WWII, unable to enlist, he worked nights (between films and local theatre productions) as a draftsman for the Lockheed Aircraft Co. An uncanny physical resemblance to then-Secretary of War Newton Baker led his to being signed to a substantial role in Wilson (1944), directed by Henry King, based on the life of U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, but Frye succumbed to a heart attack on a crowded bus a few days after being cast while returning home from a movie with his son. He was buried at Forest Lawn Cemetary in Glandale, California.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Sister Grimm <srgrimm@teleport.com> and Jack Backstreet

Spouse

Laura Mae Bullivant

(1 August 1928 - 7 November 1943) (his death)

Trade Mark

Often portrayed deeply mentally disturbed individuals or ones with excessive oddities

Trivia

In 1971, the original Alice Cooper Group, being greatly inspired by Frye's "Renfield" character in Dracula (1931), further immortalized him in their song "The Ballad of Dwight Fry" (without the "e"). The nearly seven-minute conceptual composition appears on their "Love It To Death" album.

Interred at Forest Lawn, Glendale, California, in the Graceland section.

Father of Dwight David Frye.

Personal Quotes

[in the 1930s, regarding his typecasting] If God is good, I will be able to play comedy, in which I was featured on Broadway for eight seasons and in which no producer of motion pictures will give me a chance! And please God, may it be before I go screwy playing idiots, half-wits and lunatics on the talking screen!