Harry Waters Jr.

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Harry Tunney Waters Jr. (born April 13, 1953) is an American actor, singer, theatre director, and college professor. He was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and grew up in Denver, Colorado. Waters studied at Princeton University and earned an MFA in Directing from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Waters has acted on stage in New York and across the United States, working at venues like the Mark Taper Forum, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, TheatreWorks, and the San Jose Repertory Theatre. He was a member of the Frank Silvera Writers Workshop in Harlem, which supports African American playwrights and actors.

He is best known for playing Marvin Berry, Chuck Berry’s fictional cousin, in Back to the Future (1985) and its sequel Back to the Future Part II (1989). He created the role of Belize in the first production of Angels in America (1991). On television, he appeared in shows including Laverne & Shirley, Cagney & Lacey, Trapper John, M.D., 227, and Adventures in Wonderland, where he played Tweedle Dee. He contributed to the Back to the Future soundtrack with performances of “Night Train” and “Earth Angel,” which helped the soundtrack achieve gold status.

Waters has collaborated with novelist Jewelle Gomez on Waiting for Giovanni, a play about James Baldwin produced for the 2011–12 San Francisco season. He has taught acting and script development and directed numerous productions nationwide. He is a tenured professor in the Theatre Department at Macalester College and has served as Associate Dean of the Kofi Annan Institute for Global Citizenship. He is an honorary member of Phi Beta Kappa.

Filmography highlights include Hotline (1982) as Rick Hernandez; Laverne & Shirley (1983) as Lamar; Cagney & Lacey (1983) as Jimmy; Trapper John, M.D. (1984–85) as Landis; Back to the Future (1985) as Marvin Berry; Adventures in Wonderland (1992–1994) as Tweedle Dee; Back to the Future Part II (1989) as Marvin Berry; Big Bully (1996) as Alan; Boys Life 2 (1997) as Tony’s Date; Expedition: Back to the Future (2021) as Marvin Berry.