Harry Waters, Jr.
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Harry Tunney Waters Jr. (born April 13, 1953) is an American actor, singer, and
theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...
, best known for his portrayal of Marvin Berry in ''
Back to the Future ''Back to the Future'' is a 1985 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale. It stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, and Thomas F. Wilson. Set in 1985 ...
'' (1985) and ''
Back to the Future Part II ''Back to the Future Part II'' is a 1989 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay by Bob Gale; both wrote the story. It is a sequel to the 1985 film ''Back to the Future'' and the second installment in the Back ...
'' (1989). His renditions of " Night Train" and "
Earth Angel "Earth Angel", occasionally referred to as "Earth Angel (Will You Be Mine)", is a song by American doo-wop group the Penguins. Produced by Dootsie Williams, it was released as their debut single in October 1954 on Dootone Records. The Penguins ...
" are two of the ten tracks on the
gold record Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...
winning soundtrack album '' Back to the Future: Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack''. 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 Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...
and growing up in
Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
,
Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
, 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 The Mark Taper Forum is a 739-seat thrust stage at the Los Angeles Music Center designed by Welton Becket and Associates on the Bunker Hill section of downtown Los Angeles. Named for real estate developer Mark Taper, the Forum, the neighborin ...
,
Berkeley Repertory Theatre Berkeley Repertory Theatre is a Regional theater in the United States, regional theater company located in Berkeley, California. It runs seven productions each season from its two stages in Downtown Berkeley, California, Downtown Berkeley. Histor ...
, TheatreWorks, and the
San Jose Repertory Theatre The San Jose Repertory Theatre ( San Jose Rep) was the first resident professional theatre company in San Jose, California. It was founded in 1980 by James P. Reber. In 2008, after the demise of the American Musical Theatre of San Jose, the San J ...
. 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 Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and de ...
) in ''
Back to the Future ''Back to the Future'' is a 1985 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale. It stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, and Thomas F. Wilson. Set in 1985 ...
'', a role reprised in ''
Back to the Future Part II ''Back to the Future Part II'' is a 1989 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay by Bob Gale; both wrote the story. It is a sequel to the 1985 film ''Back to the Future'' and the second installment in the Back ...
'' in 1989. In 1991, he created the role of Belize in the first production of ''
Angels in America ''Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes'' is a 1991 American two-part Play (theatre), play by American playwright Tony Kushner. The two parts of the play, ''Millennium Approaches'' and ''Perestroika'', may be presented separate ...
''. He was a cast member of the 1992 Disney show ''
Adventures in Wonderland Adventures in Wonderland may refer to: * ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'', 1865 English children's novel by Lewis Carroll * ''Adventures in Wonderland'' (1992 TV series), 1992–1995 American live-action/puppet musical television series based ...
'' portraying Tweedle Dee, based on the
Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet, mathematician, photographer and reluctant Anglicanism, Anglican deacon. His most notable works are ''Alice ...
novels ''
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...
'' and ''Through the Looking Glass''. He has worked in collaboration with novelist/playwright
Jewelle Gomez Jewelle Lydia Gomez (born September 11, 1948) is an American author, poet, critic and playwright. She lived in New York City for 22 years, working in public television, theater, as well as philanthropy, before relocating to the West Coast. Her ...
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 Macalester College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1874, Macalester is exclusively an undergraduate institution with an enrollment of 2,142 students in the fall of 2023. The college ha ...
. As he approaches retirement, he was appointed as the Associate Dean of the Kofi Annan Institute for Global Citizenship. Waters is an Honorary Member of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's most Prestigious Academic Honor Society.


Filmography


References


External links

*
Selected Works of Harry Waters Jr.
bepress.com
Filmography
bfi.org.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Waters, Harry Jr. African-American male actors Living people American male film actors American male television actors Princeton University alumni Macalester College faculty 1953 births 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people