[[quoteright:310:[[Film/Dracula1931 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dwight_frye_as_renfield.jpeg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:310:Look at his eyes! Why, the man's gone crazy!]]

->''"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!"''

Dwight Iliff Frye (February 22, 1899 – November 7, 1943) was an American actor remembered mostly for his appearances in the classic Franchise/UniversalHorror films ''[[Film/{{Dracula 1931}} Dracula]]'' (1931), ''[[Film/{{Frankenstein 1931}} Frankenstein]]'' (1931), and ''Film/BrideOfFrankenstein'' (1935), in which he [[TropeCodifier codified]] both TheIgor and TheRenfield.

Frye enjoyed an extensive and varied stage career (including a part in the first American production of ''Theatre/SixCharactersInSearchOfAnAuthor'') and gained some positive attention for his performances on Broadway, but his hot eyes and earnest delivery, in combination with his short stature, could be a bit overpowering on film. [[TypeCasting Hollywood cast him mostly as pathetic nutcases]], but he kept trying to pursue a successful film career, and would take any role he could to [[MoneyDearBoy pay his bills]]. These were usually limited to small, though memorable, parts in B-list gangster pictures (including the original 1931 version of ''Film/{{The Maltese Falcon|1931}}''), typically as the villain's henchman. He also appeared in the 1942 short film ''Film/DontTalk'' as a saboteur at a war munitions plant.

A devout Christian Scientist, Frye refused to seek medical attention for his secret coronary condition, and his untimely death from a heart attack came just days before he was supposed to begin filming a prominent "straight" role, as UsefulNotes/WoodrowWilson's Secretary of War in ''{{Film/Wilson}}''. Whether or not that film could have [[WhatCouldHaveBeen finally launched him into stardom]] is up for debate.

In any event, over the years he's gained a small cult following for his horror roles, and even inspired an Music/AliceCooper [[SanitySlippageSong song]]: "The Ballad of Dwight Fry". [''sic''].


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!!Films with TV Tropes pages:
* ''Film/ExitSmiling'' (1926) as Balcony Heckler ({{uncredited|role}})
* ''Film/{{Dracula|1931}}'' (1931) as Renfield
* ''Film/{{The Maltese Falcon|1931}}'' (1931) as Wilmer Cook
* ''Film/{{Frankenstein|1931}}'' (1931) as Fritz
* ''Film/TheVampireBat'' (1933) as Herman Gleib
* ''Film/{{The Invisible Man|1933}}'' as Reporter (uncredited)
* ''Film/BrideOfFrankenstein'' (1935) as Karl
* ''Film/AdventureInSahara'' (1938) as Gravet - "The Jackal"
* ''Film/{{The Man in the Iron Mask|1939}}'' (1939) as Foquet's Valet (uncredited)
* ''[[Film/DrKildare The People vs. Dr. Kildare]]'' (1941) as Jury Foreman (uncredited)
* ''Film/DontTalk'' (1942) as Ziggy (uncredited)
* ''Film/TheGhostOfFrankenstein'' (1942) as Villager (uncredited)
* ''Film/FrankensteinMeetsTheWolfMan'' (1943) as Rudi
* ''Film/HangmenAlsoDie'' (1943) as Hostage (uncredited)

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