Skip to main content
Go to accessibility notice
Home / Entertainment, Music & Posters / 2008 October Signature Music & Entertainment Memorabilia Auction Auction #696 / Lot #49055
    LOT #49055  | 
    Sold for: Sign-in or Join (free & quick)

    Dwight Frye Early Portrait Inscribed and Signed to His Wife....

    Click the image to load the highest resolution version.
    • Movie/TV Memorabilia:Autographs and Signed Items, Dwight Frye Early Portrait Inscribed and Signed to His Wife....
    • Movie/TV Memorabilia:Autographs and Signed Items, Dwight Frye Early Portrait Inscribed and Signed to His Wife....
    Movie/TV Memorabilia:Autographs and Signed Items, Dwight Frye Early Portrait Inscribed and Signed to His Wife.... Movie/TV Memorabilia:Autographs and Signed Items, Dwight Frye Early Portrait Inscribed and Signed to His Wife.... View More >
    Sold for: Sign-in or Join (free & quick)
    Make Offer: Make Offer to Owner
    $5,049 or more

    This item's owner is actively responding to offers, usually within 3 days. Most owners in this category are still actively buying, and therefore interested only in offers where they can net (after our 10% fee) an amount sufficiently above today's market value. Owners in this category seldom counter-offer, and will usually simply reject offers placed at current auction values or lower.

    View Recent Offers on Sold Items in this category
    Claim Item:
    Track Item Share this lot

    Sell One of These Currency Converter

    Description

    Dwight Frye Early Portrait Inscribed and Signed to His Wife. For horror fans who have indelible memories of Dwight Frye giggling as the lunatic Renfield in Dracula and scuttling as the hunchbacked Fritz in Frankenstein, this very rare 8" x 11.75" sepia portrait might be a surprise. It presents Frye, circa 1925, when he was a dapper, versatile Broadway star, hailed as "a future Barrymore." At the time, Frye was in love with a New York dancer named Laurette Bullivant, and he writes to her on the portrait, "Laurette/You by any other name would be as sweet/Dwight." Frye and Laurette would marry in 1928 and soon head to Hollywood, where Dracula, Frankenstein, The Vampire Bat, Bride of Frankenstein, and similar credits would tragically reduce Frye from "future Barrymore" of the stage to almost freak status in the movies. Laurette was his widow when Frye died in 1943 at the age of 44, the cruelly-humbled actor never expecting that his horror films would eventually win him posthumous cult status. The reverse includes the handwritten notation "Property of Dwight Frye/Bucksport, Maine" -- this being Dwight David Frye, the only child of Dwight and Laurette, who died in 2003. A striking portrait, a charming inscription and a moving testimony to Dwight Frye's promise before horror films provided him an unexpected fate -- and posterity. In Fine condition with two small tears on the right border and minor age toning. Accompanied by a COA from PSA/DNA.

    Auction Info

    Auction Dates
    October, 2008
    4th-6th Saturday-Monday
    Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 2
    Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
    Page Views: 3,233

    Buyer's Premium per Lot:
    19.5% of the successful bid (minimum $9) per lot.

    Shipping, Taxes, Terms and Bidding
    Calculate Standard Domestic Shipping Sales Tax information

    Important information concerning Sales Tax and Resale Certificates. Learn More

    Terms and Conditions  |  Bidding Guidelines and Bid Increments |  Glossary of Terms

    Viewing at %
    Please enter a value between % and 100% and press your "Enter" key. Close
    Fit to screen View Full Size Brightness
    Sold for: Sign-in or Join (free & quick)
    Sold for: Sign-in or Join (free & quick)
    Track Item
    Coming soon:

    Jewelry & Timepieces
    Opens about 01/22/2021

    Luxury Accessories
    Opens about 01/18/2021

    Fine Art
    Opens about 01/20/2021

    Decorative Art
    Opens about 01/21/2021

    US Coins
    Opens about 01/29/2021

    Fine Art
    Opens about 01/27/2021

    Currency
    Opens about 01/25/2021

    Fine Art
    Opens about 02/03/2021

    Photography
    Opens about 02/03/2021

    Fine Art
    Opens about 02/05/2021

    Historical
    Opens about 02/08/2021

    Sports Collectibles
    Opens about 02/05/2021

    World & Ancient Coins
    Opens about 02/01/2021

    Currency
    Opens about 02/01/2021

    Fine Art
    Opens about 02/10/2021

    Fine Art
    Opens about 02/11/2021

    Jewelry & Timepieces
    Opens about 02/19/2021

    US Coins
    Opens about 02/08/2021

    Fine Art
    Opens about 02/18/2021

    Decorative Art
    Opens about 02/18/2021

    Western & Texas Art
    Opens about 02/19/2021

    Comics & Comic Art
    Opens about 02/19/2021

    US Coins
    Opens about 02/12/2021

    Heritage membership

    Join Now - It's Free

    VIEW BENEFITS
    1. Past Auction Values (prices, photos, full descriptions, etc.)
    2. Bid online
    3. Free Collector newsletter
    4. Want List with instant e-mail notifications
    5. Reduced auction commissions when you resell your
      winnings 
    Consign now
    • Cash Advances
    • More Bidders
    • Trusted Experts
    • Over 200,000 Satisfied Consignors Since 1976
    Consign to the 2021 June 6 Arms & Armor, Civil War & Militaria Signature Auction - Dallas.

    Learn about consigning with us

    Just received the catalog. Incredible! Never seen such a catalog and have been collecting since 1974. Congratulations!
    Philipp K.,
    Marina Del Ray, CA
    View More Testimonials

    HA.com receives more traffic than any other auction house website. (Source: Similarweb.com)

    Video tutorial

    Getting the most out of search