31 Days of Halloween #19

There are a lot of great actors in the classic horror genre.  Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney (both Jr. and Sr.), John Carradine, Claude Rains, Lionel Atwill, George Zucco....and perhaps my favorite: Dwight Frye.

Day 19: Dwight Frye

Without a doubt, Dwight Frye is one of my all-time favorite actors.  You might know him best as Renfield from the original Bela Lugosi Dracula, or perhaps even as Fritz, the hunchback from the original Boris Karloff Frankenstein.  There is something about Dwight that always sends shivers down my spine.  And yet, at the same time, he creates a very sympathetic character (especially in Renfield; not so much in Fritz).  He's truly a wonderful actor.  If you want to read a bit about his life, I highly recommend this wonderful book.

And now for some free stuff!  I'm going to start things off with perhaps the most famous Dwight Frye song out there: "The Ballad of Dwight Fry" by Alice Cooper.  Yes, I know I left the "e" off in "Frye", but that's how its spelled in the song.

While you're listening to that, why not check out a few of these interesting biographies of Dwight?  They can be found here and here.

Also, here is a wonderful remix song about Renfield from Dracula, called "Now, Now, Renfield".  The link will take you to a page where you can download the song.  And if you wanted a video of the song instead, I'm including that below.

Want more?  Check out some of Dwight's films.  In addition to Frankenstein and Dracula, you can find him in The Invisible Man, Bride of Frankenstein, The Vampire Bat, and Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man--just to name a few!