Harry Waters Jr.
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
Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States
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). 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.

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.

Filmography

Production Type Year Role Notes
Hotline TV movie 1982 Rick Hernandez
Laverne & Shirley TV Series 1983 Lamar Season 8 Episode 16 Short on Time
Cagney & Lacey TV Series 1983 Jimmy Season 2 Episode 18 Chop Shop
Trapper John, M.D. TV Series 1984-1985 Landis Dark Side of the Loon S6 Ep9
Love Thy Neighbor S6 Ep14
Back to the Future Movie 1985 Marvin Berry
Matt Houston TV Series 1985 Guard Season 3 Episode 16 The Honeymoon Murders
News at Eleven TV movie 1986 Stage Manager
What a Country! TV sitcom 1986-1987 Robert Muboto
227 TV series 1986-1989 Policeman / Perrier / Richard Play It Again, Stan S4 Ep11
Redecorating Blues S1 Ep18
What's Happening Now!! TV sitcom 1988 Jerry Happy Face S3 Ep17
Back to the Future Part II Movie 1989 Marvin Berry
Amen TV series 1989 Director The Psychic: Part 2 S3 Ep15
Faith Movie 1990 Lester
Death Warrant Movie 1990 Jersey
Adventures in Wonderland TV series 1992-1994 Tweedledee
Big Bully Movie 1996 Alan
Boys Life 2 Movie 1997 Tony's Date (segment "Nunzio's Second Cousin")
Expedition: Back to the Future TV series 2021 Marvin Berry

References

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