Dwight Schrute Quick Stats
- Name: Dwight Kurt Schrute III
- Occupation: Sales, Dunder-Mifflin
- Marital Status: Unmarried - Currently in a secret relationship with co-worker Angela
- Family: Mose (cousin)
Dwight Schrute Bio
Dwight is trained in the art of surveillance and is a former Lackawanna County volunteer sheriff's deputy; however, it was implied in a deleted scene from "Drug Testing" that he was never an official sheriff's deputy. He maintains a volunteer position as a security official at Dunder-Mifflin. He is also a purple belt in karate, and calls himself a senpai, which means "senior student" (but should not be used when referring to oneself). Dwight fancies himself a survivalist, based on his dog-eat-dog views on health care and his belief that a hero is "someone who kills people that wish him harm." Dwight, when put in a position of authority (which he relishes to the extreme whenever given a task from Michael), often uses it to punish his co-workers, especially Jim Halpert. He also once told the women of the office that they no longer could use the restroom.
Dwight is a pop culture and sci-fi buff who has expressed fanship of Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Smallville, The Apprentice and Lost, as well as an apparent obsession with Battlestar Galactica. His all-time favorite film, out of the "over 240" he has seen, is The Crow. Dwight also hints at being afraid of androids taking over the world. Also, he has been seen wearing a World Anime Expo 2002 t-shirt, suggesting that he attended this (fictitious) anime convention. Dwight seems to have an admiration for TV and movie villains, such as Lex Luthor and Anakin Skywalker. Dwight claims to be able to raise and lower his cholesterol at will. When asked why he would want to raise his cholesterol, he responds, "So I can lower it." He also claims to have a perfect immune system, though he has suffered some ailments and maladies in subsequent episodes. Dwight also watches The Apprentice and says that he never misses it.
Dwight, as shown in the episode "Diwali," has a great understanding of the Hindu religion, including the origin of the Diwali (The Festival of Lights). His love and knowledge of Indian culture includes owning a kurta. In "Diversity Day", Dwight expresses that he is sexually attracted to whites and Indians. Before he began secretly dating Angela, he had a crush on Kelly, his Indian coworker.
He listens to Froggy 101, a Scranton country-western station, and participated in a Rock 107 call-in contest to try to win a Jethro Tull box set. Dwight served as DJ for the eighth annual Dundie awards and his music tastes include Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire," R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts", Mötley Crüe's "Wildside" and "Kickstart My Heart", and Life of Agony's "River Runs Red."
Dwight loves Count Chocula cereal. He is also a fan of Birkenstock sandals. In the episode "E-mail Surveillance", he states that he always keeps an extra pair in his car "for special occasions." Dwight's sporting streak tends toward paint ball, karate, and laser tag (he is part of a laser tag team called "The Gandalfs"). He also has a "crossbow range" in his house. Dwight also mentions that he has a bo staff, and hints that he will bring it in after he is awarded the position of being the official security supervisor of the Scranton branch. Dwight is interested in muscle cars and drives a maroon 1987 Pontiac Trans Am he restored, and prior to that, he owned a 1978 Nissan 280Z. He also has interest in the quality of auto parts- particularly shock absorbers. He knows how to make traditional corn husk dolls, cuts his own hair, and always wears a Casio calculator watch.
Dwight is musically talented as well. He has been known to jam on the guitar, and he is seen regularly playing the recorder. His repertoire includes "Greensleeves," "Mambo No. 5," "On the Wings of Love," and "The Longest Time" by "William Joel." He plays guitar for Michael Scott on two occasions. The first being "Teach Your Children," for the children in “Take Your Daughter To Work Day” in which he actually plays Michael’s guitar that temp Ryan Howard retrieved along with the copy of Michael’s childhood television appearance. The second instance is in the episode “Diwali”, as Dwight plays guitar while Michael sings his Adam Sandler inspired tune--“The Diwaili Song.”
Dwight has a collection of bobblehead dolls at his desk including a personalized one that Angela gives him for Valentine's Day. He also has former Philadelphia Phillies catcher Mike Lieberthal and former Phillies firstbaseman and current Baseball Tonight co-host John Kruk.
Dwight was recently forced to quit by Michael, under the influence of Andy. Andy pulled off a scheme to turn Michael against Dwight. Michael was led to believe that Dwight had been going to Corporate to get a new job. In reality, Dwight had gone to New York to hand in a paper for Angela. With the choice of exposing his relationship or being fired, Dwight quit his job.
In the next episode, viewers discovered that Dwight was working at a local Staples store as a sales assosciate. That is, until Michael found out the 'truth' about why Dwight traveled to New York and how he had saved Angela from getting in trouble just another detached coworker (Therefore Dwight's relationship with her was not comprised). Once Michael found this out, he traveled to Staples to give Dwight his job back. Dwight is now working at Dunder-Mifflin once again.
Inexplicably, Dwight hero worships his boss, viewing him as model for success, and often jumps in on Michael's ill-conceived schemes, including an old-fashioned raid of Accounting by Sales. He even went so far as to give Michael his own urine to ensure he would pass a mandatory drug test (although he did it with extreme reluctance). He craves authority, and is thrilled when asked to handle any task, such as choosing a health plan and being appointed as an honorary security guard for the office building. He has also been known to assume authority even when it is not handed to him. He lists Michael as his emergency contact and injured himself with a concussion when crashing his car in trying to rescue Michael. Dwight sometimes feels threatened by Ryan, to whom Michael often assigns tasks, and he continues his resentment towards Ryan throughout the second season. In "Initiation", Dwight attempts to take Ryan under his wing, since he does not want to constantly be at odds with him like he was with Jim. After a failed initiation attempt, Dwight takes Ryan on his first sales call with negative results. Ryan however, retaliates at the company he tried to sell with by throwing eggs at the company with Dwight quick to follow. The two end up going out for beers afterwards. In the third season, Dwight continues to compete with Andy Bernard for Michael's approval, often arguing over who holds a higher position in the office. Dwight states that his favorite moment in Dunder-Mifflin history would be his first day when Michael hazed him with the fire extinguisher.
Though not nearly as sexist and bigoted as Michael, Dwight is in no denial about his views. Dwight has also expressed homophobic views, but is unable to recognize homosexuality in others. He is also not above backstabbing which he demonstrates occasionally such as stealing an important sales commission from Jim or trying to sideswipe Michael by meeting with Jan Levinson and discussing how he is more fit to be the manager of the Scranton branch than Michael. However, Dwight is revealed to be the culprit behind both incidents to the victims. As a result of trying to steal Michael's job, Dwight is forced to do his boss' laundry for one year, even after he is forgiven. As far as his personal interactions with people in or outside of work, Dwight is leery of new people and never shakes hands with people unless told otherwise, even if they take the initiative first.
Dwight is in a secret relationship with Angela, the head of Accounting, which is unknown to most of their coworkers, with the exceptions of Pam and Ryan. Pam becomes aware of their "relationship" by both Dwight's and Angela's actions toward one another, which include: Angela buying Dwight a candy bar, Angela buying Dwight his very own Dwight bobblehead, and Dwight giving Angela a key to his house. Ryan finds out after listening in on a conversation in which Dwight and Angela talk about a meeting later to "discuss finances." Angela tells Dwight not to expect any "cookie," an obvious sexual innuendo. Dwight and Angela are seen snuggling in the backyard of Jim Halpert's condo during a party. The pair discuss the rearing of children during the episode "Take Your Daughter to Work Day." Dwight also tries to attack Oscar when he pushes Angela out of his way after she makes a snide remark about his homosexuality.
Dwight firmly believes that the only thing that separates humans from animals is rules. Dwight's rigid adherence to rules irritates others at times, such as his immediate need to noisily shred documents and credit cards. He is frequently the victim of practical jokes by coworkers Jim Halpert and Pam Beesly (see Jim's pranks). As a result of this, Dwight and Jim have an ongoing feud that reaches a head in "Conflict Resolution", when Dwight threatens to quit unless Jim is transferred. Professionally, Dwight wins the 2005 Salesman of the Year Award, though this is likely due, at least in part, to his stealing Jim's largest client.
As a result of the Scranton-Stamford merger, Dwight is in an ongoing battle with new salesman Andy Bernard in trying to gain Michael's respect as his right-hand man. The two have begun bickering over the meanings of their job titles which has caused them to insult one another frequently. Andy even proceeds to become friendly with Angela when he shows her a picture of a cat on his computer desktop, although it is unknown if Andy is aware of Angela's relationship with Dwight.
In the episode "Traveling Salesmen", because Angela didn't submit a report to New York on time, Dwight takes the report directly there one morning, arriving back at Scranton late. Andy, having learned of Dwight's alleged plot with Jan to usurp Michael, told Michael of Dwight's trip, suggesting that Dwight sought to continue attempts to depose Michael. Michael asked Dwight to reveal his whereabouts that morning. Dwight, in an effort to keep his relationship with Angela concealed, refused to tell and instead resigned from his post, delivering a cynical farewell address.
In the most recent episode, "The Return", Angela ends up telling Michael the real reason behind Dwight's absence, which leads Michael Scott to go apologize to Dwight, who had been working at Staples, offering Dwight his job back.
Dwight was originally a twin, but he "resorbed" his twin while still in his mother's womb (this occurrence is called chimerism). He is glad for this, for he believes that it granted him extra strength. In a deleted scene from "The Convict" he claims to have been born weighing 13lbs 5oz, rendering his mother incapable of walking for three months. Little is revealed about Dwight's parents except that his father—also named Dwight Schrute—battled high blood pressure and obesity all his life, but often went hunting with his son. In the season 2 DVD bloopers it is reveled that Dwight's father would take him and his brothers to a swimming hole on hot summer days as a child until 10:00 AM, then they would work the beet fields until well after midnight. Dwight lives on his family's 40-acre farm, where he grows beets with his cousin Mose, which they sell to local stores and restaurants. Mose and Dwight hold annual Halloween bonfires, and teenagers have been known to use the farm for sex. According to Dwight, the Schrute family "produces thirsty babies". Dwight's maternal grandfather, whose surname was Manheim (according to Dwight's blog on NBC.com), fought in World War II and ended up in an Allied prison camp, which indicates that his grandfather was a German soldier. In the episode "Take Your Daughter to Work Day" Michael refers to Dwight's grandmother as a "Nazi war criminal". His paternal great-grandfather, Dweide Schrude, was Amish. According to one of Dwight's blogs on NBC.com's "Schrute-Space," he had an uncle named Gunther, a goat farmer, who fled the Allied invasion of Germany and married a Finnish woman with whom he had 17 children. He also had an Uncle Grit who revealed that the Schrute family has an on-going hatred of Harry S. Truman because they were staunch supporters of Thomas Dewey.
There is a subtle plot line developing centered around Dwight's grandfather. In the episode of the same name, Dwight arrived at Casino Night wearing the tuxedo in which his grandfather was buried (Dwight's grandfather was reburied in a barrel). A coffin is seen in the barn on the Schrute family farm.
Dwight Schrute Trivia
- Rainn Wilson based Dwight's hairstyle on his own style he had when he was sixteen.
- Wilson initially auditioned for the role of Michael Scott (he called his audition a "bad Ricky Gervais impression"), but producers were more impressed with his audition as Dwight and thus hired him for that role.
- When the bobblehead doll introduced in the Valentine's Day episode was made available for purchase on the NBC web site, it sold out its initial run of 5000 units.
- In WWII, Dwight's maternal grandfather, Manheim, killed 20 men, then spent the rest of the war in an Allied prison camp. ("The Fight")
- Dwight has repeatedly expressed his love for laser tag. On his blog, he tells fans that his team is named 'the Gandalfs'. He also says beginning in '02, his team went on a four-year championship run.
- His paternal grandfather's name is Dwide Shrude (Amish)