Harry Waters Jr.

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Harry Waters Jr.
Harry Waters, Jr. with a Marvin Berry doll 1 (cropped).jpg
Harry Waters Jr. in 2015, wearing the Marvin Berry costume and holding a doll of the character
Born
Harry Tunney Waters Jr.

(1953-04-13) April 13, 1953 (age 72)
Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.
Citizenship
  • United States
EducationPrinceton University, University of Wisconsin
Occupations
  • Actor
  • singer
  • director
  • teacher

Harry Tunney Waters Jr. (born April 13, 1953) is an American actor, singer, and theatre director, best known for his portrayal of Marvin Berry in Back to the Future (1985) and Back to the Future Part II (1989). His renditions of "Night Train" and "Earth Angel" are two of the ten tracks on the gold record winning soundtrack album Back to the Future: Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack . [1] [2] He created the role of Belize in the first production of Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes in 1991.

Contents

Career

Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma and growing up in Denver, Colorado, Waters attended Princeton University and received his MFA in Directing from the University of Wisconsin- Madison. He worked as an actor in New York City on and off Broadway for more than a decade as well as at theaters around the country. Venues include the Mark Taper Forum, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, TheatreWorks, and the San Jose Repertory Theatre. [3]

He was a member of the Frank Silvera Writers Workshop in Harlem, which has developed the work of new, African American playwrights, directors, designers, and actors since 1973.

In 1985, he was cast as Marvin Berry (a fictional cousin of Chuck Berry) in Back to the Future , a role reprised in Back to the Future Part II in 1989. [4]

In 1991, he created the role of Belize in the first production of Angels in America . [3]

He was a cast member of the 1992 Disney show Adventures in Wonderland portraying Tweedle Dee, based on the Lewis Carroll novels Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. [4]

He has worked in collaboration with novelist/playwright Jewelle Gomez on a play about James Baldwin, titled Waiting for Giovanni which was produced for the 2011-12 (San Francisco) New Conservatory Theater season. The project's development was sponsored by Intersection for the Arts.

Waters has taught acting, script development and has directed numerous productions around the country. He is currently a tenured professor in the Theatre Department at Macalester College. [5] As he approaches retirement, he was appointed as the Associate Dean of the Kofi Annan Institute for Global Citizenship. [6] Waters is an Honorary Member of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's most Prestigious Academic Honor Society.[ citation needed ]

Filmography

ProductionTypeYearRoleNotes
Hotline TV movie1982Rick Hernandez
Laverne & Shirley TV Series1983LamarSeason 8 Episode 16 Short on Time
Cagney & Lacey TV Series1983JimmySeason 2 Episode 18 Chop Shop
Trapper John, M.D. TV Series1984-1985LandisDark Side of the Loon S6 Ep9
Love Thy Neighbor S6 Ep14
Back to the Future Movie1985Marvin Berry
Matt Houston TV Series1985GuardSeason 3 Episode 16 The Honeymoon Murders
News at Eleven TV movie1986Stage Manager
What a Country! TV sitcom1986-1987Robert Muboto
227 TV series1986-1989Policeman / Perrier / RichardPlay It Again, Stan S4 Ep11
Redecorating Blues S1 Ep18
The $25,000 PyramidTV series1987HimselfCelebrity Contestant in episodes that aired August 10, 1987 to August 14, 1987 & November 9, 1987 to November 13, 1987
What's Happening Now!! TV sitcom1988JerryHappy Face S3 Ep17
Back to the Future Part II Movie1989Marvin Berry
Amen TV series1989DirectorThe Psychic: Part 2 S3 Ep15
FaithMovie1990Lester
Death Warrant Movie1990Jersey
Adventures in Wonderland TV series1992-1994Tweedle Dee
Big Bully Movie1996Alan
Boys Life 2 Movie1997Tony's Date(segment "Nunzio's Second Cousin")
Expedition: Back to the FutureTV series2021Marvin Berry

References

  1. ↑ "Harry Waters Jr. | Discography | Discogs". Discogs . Archived from the original on 2021-06-05. Retrieved 2021-06-05.
  2. ↑ "Gold & Platinum". Recording Industry Association of America . Archived from the original on 2022-07-17. Retrieved 2022-07-17.
  3. 1 2 "Playwrights' center". Archived from the original on 2022-07-27. Retrieved 2022-07-27.
  4. 1 2 "Where Are They Now? The Cast Of Back To The Future". Screen Rant. 2016-05-21. Archived from the original on 2016-11-24. Retrieved 2016-11-24.
  5. ↑ "Harry Waters Jr. - Macalester College". Archived from the original on 2022-07-17. Retrieved 2022-07-17.
  6. ↑ "Kofi Annan Institute for Global Citizenship Staff". Archived from the original on 2021-07-30. Retrieved 2021-07-30.
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