Dwight Frye - The Underrated Player

If you are a fan of early horror movies, you've surely seen Dwight Frye. He appeared in both Dracula as Renfield and in Frankenstein as Fritz.  While he was never the leading man, he added a somewhat creepy and warped presence to any movie he was in, and let's be honest, nobody could play "crazy" like he could!

Dwight Iliff Frye was born on February 22, 1899 in Salina, Kansas.  He trained as a concert pianist before becoming an actor, both on the Broadway stage and in movies (both silent and talkies).  Interestingly, on Broadway he played in comedies, not the horror genre he would later by typecast in.

He is probably best known for his role in Dracula, where he played the insane realtor Renfield to perfection, and his role as the cruel hunchback Fritz in the movie Frankenstein.  In spite of his character Fritz being killed in the movie Frankenstein, he later had roles in The Bride of Frankenstein, Son of Frankenstein, The Ghost of Frankenstein, and Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman.  Perhaps reincarnation is possible (at least in Hollywood)!

Frye quickly became known for his portrayal of crazies, madmen, and villains.  "The man with the thousand-watt stare" was typecast in these roles, a fact he was not happy about.  He was quoted as saying "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 mea a chance!  And, please, God, may it be before I go screwy playing idiots, half-wits and lunatics on the talking screen!"

 

In 1943, Frye was cast in the non-horror movie Wilson, but passed away before he could film his part.  He died of a heart attack on November 7, 1943, at the age of 44.  He'd had a heart condition for years, but his Christian Science beliefs caused him to not seek treatment for it.  He is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.  

On Alice Cooper's 1971 album "Love It to Death", Frye is immortalized in "The Ballad of Dwight Fry", truly an interesting tribute to the characters Frye portrayed.