- Born
- Died
- Birth nameDwight Hunter Marfield
- Dwight Hunter Marfield, a New York based theatre, film & TV actor was best known for his character acting, comedic talent and artwork. Additionally he was known for his musical abilities, pantomime and dance skills and appeared in Lotte Goslar's show "For Humans Only" in Southern California, and at the Jacobs Pillow Dance Festival in Lee, Massachusetts.
On screen, he can be seen as Dr. Greenbow in the Alfred Hitchcock film "The Trouble With Harry," as the soapbox orator in "Studs Lonigan" and as Ellsworth in "One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest." He also appeared on television, twice on the Garry Moore Show, as himself, playing the Ukulele, The Jackie Gleason Show, and as Mark Twain on the Bell Telephone spectacular "Sounds Of America". As a stage actor, he played nearly 200 parts both on and off Broadway stages and had worked with Robert Alda and Nancy Walker. He performed on Broadway in the following productions: "The Day Before Spring (1965},""Galileo," "The Ponder Heart," "Lesson,""The Flower Drum Song," and the Pulitzer Prize play "Look Homeward Angel." His great love was theatre, in addition to directing and choreographing projects. He performed in summer stock plays, and had a long running association with the NY-based La Mama Experimental Theatre Club (The Dumb Dancer), The World's Fair Enough (1964}, various projects (1971-1978} and the Actors Playhouse.
In 1978, fans and critics hailed his talents for his one-man play, a production entitled "Dwight Night" that he wrote, acted, directed and produced. Other stage appearances include: "Hot L Baltimore," "Blind Alley," " Take My Advice," " Stardust," "The Playboy Of The Newark," " The Private Life Of The Master Race," " Private Lives, " "Horace," "Bittersweet," & "70-Girls-70." His comedic talent prompted critic Kenneth Tynan to write in Bandwagon (London, England), "(he) convinced me, within ten minutes, that I was in the presence of one of a half-dozen great comedians of my lifetime."
Dwight Hunter Marfield died in New York of heart failure as a result of complications from his battle with cancer. He is survived by his sister, family and friends.
- IMDb mini biography by: Anna Marco
- As a musician, he played Ukulele on stage and he worked and played with blues man, Leadbelly. Dwight recorded a charming collection of comedic, spoken word and whistling songs, a compilation entitled "The Opalescent Handyman", of which only a few copies are known to exist in private collection.
- Longtime friend, actress Gianna Petrone, muse and drama coach to actor Marlon Brando, holds a large private collection of Mr. Marfield's artwork, music and letters.
- An accomplished painter, his oil and watercolor paintings were exhibited in various galleries and museums. He had three solo exhibitions on 57th Street (NY}, one at The Dayton Art Institute, and one at the Princeton University Museum. His artwork toured for 2 years in a traveling show of The Museum of Modern Art. His art was on exhibit at The Whitney Museum, The Brooklyn Museum, The Fogg Museum, The Chicago Art Institute, The London Gallery (London, England}, and The Severin-Mars Gallery (Paris, France}. Other NY exhibitions include the West Village Show of Antic Art (1964}, Young In Art (1964} and The Ramon Lopez Gallery (1962} in California. He painted the large Pontchartrain Hotel mural in New Orleans (1948}, and executed several portraits on commission. He signed his works with his initials DHM.
- A gifted artist and intellect, Dwight H. Marfield is an alumnus of Harvard College (Cambridge, MA). Per the 1940 Alumni Directory, he received his Bachelor of Arts in 1929 from Harvard College and his Master of Arts in 1931 from the Harvard Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.
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