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Dwight Frye‌

Gender

Male

Birthday

calendar1899-02-22

Popularity

star4.1

Dwight Frye

Salina, Kansas, USA

Dwight Frye

Salina, Kansas, USA

Gender

Male

Birthday

calendar1899-02-22

Popularity

star4.1

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

Movie Credits

Dracula

Dracula‌
star7.2
calendar 1931

Bride of Frankenstein

Bride of Frankenstein‌
star7.5
calendar 1935

Frankenstein

Frankenstein‌
star7.5
calendar 1931

The Ghost of Frankenstein

The Ghost of Frankenstein‌
star5.8
calendar 1942

Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man

Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man‌
star6.2
calendar 1943

The Doorway to Hell

The Doorway to Hell‌
star6.1
calendar 1930

The Night Bird

The Night Bird‌
star6.0
calendar 1928

The Maltese Falcon

The Maltese Falcon‌
star6.4
calendar 1931

Dead Men Walk

Dead Men Walk‌
star4.6
calendar 1943

The Vampire Bat

The Vampire Bat‌
star5.3
calendar 1933

Sea Devils

Sea Devils‌
star5.7
calendar 1937

The Circus Queen Murder

The Circus Queen Murder‌
star5.0
calendar 1933

Think It Over

Think It Over‌
star7.0
calendar 1938

The Many Faces of Dracula

The Many Faces of Dracula‌
star5.0
calendar 2000

Frankenstein: A Cinematic Scrapbook

Frankenstein: A Cinematic Scrapbook‌
star5.7
calendar 1991

Sinners in Paradise

Sinners in Paradise‌
star5.3
calendar 1938

The Shadow

The Shadow‌
star6.5
calendar 1937

Who Killed Gail Preston?

Who Killed Gail Preston?‌
star6.0
calendar 1938

Man to Man

Man to Man‌
star5.7
calendar 1930

Beware Of Ladies

Beware Of Ladies‌
star5.0
calendar 1936

Submarine Alert

Submarine Alert‌
star4.6
calendar 1943

Atlantic Adventure

Atlantic Adventure‌
star5.5
calendar 1935

Fast Company

Fast Company‌
star5.4
calendar 1938

Hangmen Also Die!

Hangmen Also Die!‌
star6.9
calendar 1943

The Night Hawk

The Night Hawk‌
star0.0
calendar 1938

The Man Who Found Himself

The Man Who Found Himself‌
star7.0
calendar 1937

Alibi for Murder

Alibi for Murder‌
star5.5
calendar 1936

Upstream

Upstream‌
star5.8
calendar 1927

The Blonde from Singapore

The Blonde from Singapore‌
star5.0
calendar 1941

The Man in the Iron Mask

The Man in the Iron Mask‌
star7.1
calendar 1939

Drums of Fu Manchu

Drums of Fu Manchu‌
star6.1
calendar 1940

Sky Bandits

Sky Bandits‌
star5.0
calendar 1940

Mystery Ship

Mystery Ship‌
star0.0
calendar 1941

Adventure in Sahara

Adventure in Sahara‌
star5.6
calendar 1938

A Strange Adventure

A Strange Adventure‌
star5.0
calendar 1932

Gangs of Chicago

Gangs of Chicago‌
star5.3
calendar 1940

Something to Sing About

Something to Sing About‌
star6.3
calendar 1937

The Crime of Doctor Crespi

The Crime of Doctor Crespi‌
star4.5
calendar 1935

Phantom Raiders

Phantom Raiders‌
star6.1
calendar 1940

Exit Smiling

Exit Smiling‌
star7.9
calendar 1926

The Invisible Man

The Invisible Man‌
star7.5
calendar 1933

Invisible Enemy

Invisible Enemy‌
star6.0
calendar 1938

The Son of Monte Cristo

The Son of Monte Cristo‌
star6.2
calendar 1940

Attorney for the Defense

Attorney for the Defense‌
star6.0
calendar 1932

Dangerous Blondes

Dangerous Blondes‌
star6.0
calendar 1943

Flying Blind

Flying Blind‌
star5.0
calendar 1941

The Western Code

The Western Code‌
star0.0
calendar 1932

Devil Pays Off

Devil Pays Off‌
star3.3
calendar 1941

Florida Special

Florida Special‌
star6.0
calendar 1936

The Great Impersonation

The Great Impersonation‌
star0.0
calendar 1935

Drácula

Drácula‌
star6.8
calendar 1931

The Black Camel

The Black Camel‌
star6.0
calendar 1931

Don't Talk

Don't Talk‌
star5.6
calendar 1942

Universal Horror

Universal Horror‌
star7.2
calendar 1998

By Whose Hand?

By Whose Hand?‌
star6.0
calendar 1932

Tv Credits