'Son of Frankenstein' Child Actor Donnie Dunagan Passes Away at 92

With Donnie Dunagan in April 2010.

According to Tom Weaver, Donnie Dunagan, who is famous among Monster Kids for portraying young Peter von Frankenstein in Son of Frankenstein (1939), recently passed away at the age of 92.

I had the privilege of meeting Donnie Dunagan in April 2010 at an L.A.-based convention, and, even though I've never been a huge fan of the old Universal monster movies, I was excited to meet him as a living link to a bygone era of filmmaking.

I'm very glad I did; Donnie Dunagan was a class act. The first time I encountered him, I happened to be sitting in the hotel lobby that was adjacent to the convention center. I presume he came down from his hotel room, but he suddenly appeared in the lobby and walked past me. As he did, he looked at me and politely greeted me.

I'd imagine most convention guests would avoid initiating such communication with random attendees (for a variety of reasons), but it always stuck out to me that Donnie Dunagan decided to lead with courtesy. (For what it's worth, I had a similarly positive experience with Ernie Hudson in 2006 in Fargo.) 

Donnie Dunagan during his Q&A. Photo by Brett Homenick.

I attended Dunagan's Q&A session at the convention, which I recall as being enormously entertaining. He was an excellent communicator, and, despite not being overly familiar with the movie and some of the actors in it, I was completely engaged.

The main thing I remember from his discussion was, when asked about his memories of Lionel Atwill, Dunagan simply said he was advised not to waste his time with Atwill and avoided going into the harrowing details of what happened on the set. (Given the circumstances and the venue, I can't argue with his decision.)

The only other thing I remember is that, once or twice, Dunagan made reference to a "buck sergeant" (for reasons I have long since forgotten) and then gestured in my direction. I wish I had a better memory of what he said, but it was along the lines of, "He was a buck sergeant, who looked like this young man" (and then pointed my way). Again, that's not anything near a direct quote, just a vague recollection of what he said.

At the time, I was in my late 20s with a crewcut, and I think I fit the description of what he was describing better than any of the "Monster Kids" in the room, so I gotta believe he was referring to me. I was flattered by the attention, and it always makes me smile whenever I reflect on it.

I later met Dunagan at his table where we had a fun and lengthy chat. We even discussed the merits of the duck walk in the military, which he agreed wasn't very useful. The only other thing I can recall is, by this time, my digital camera had died, so I asked if I could recharge it and bring it back for our picture. Dunagan readily agreed, and that's exactly what happened. I came back a few minutes later, and we took the picture at the top of this blog post.

Of course, Donnie Dunagan led an amazing life after walking off the Son of Frankenstein set. He's very much like the Universal Pictures version of Carl Craig. The similarities between the two gentlemen are striking, and I've always made that connection in my mind.

A life very well lived. Rest in peace, good sir.