Fred Gwynne
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Frederick Hubbard Gwynne (July 10, 1926 – July 2, 1993) was a 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) tall American actor, best known for starring in the television sitcoms Car 54, Where Are You? and The Munsters. For his role as Herman Munster he had to wear 40 or 50 lb (20 kg) of padding, makeup and elevator shoes. Earlier he was in the cast of The Phil Silvers Show as a man of enormous appetite that Sgt. Bilko entered in a pie-eating contest—then found out he could only consume mass quantities when depressed.
Gwynne attended the prestigious Groton School and went on to graduate from Harvard University in 1951. He was a cartoonist for the Harvard Lampoon and became its president; he acted in the Hasty Pudding Club, and joined the Brattle Theatre Repertory Company after graduation. His first Broadway role was as a gangster in a 1952 comedy, "Mrs. McThing," which starred Helen Hayes.[1]
After the Phil Silvers Show, he starred in the sitcom Car 54, Where Are You? as Patrolman Francis Muldoon, opposite Joe E. Ross, who played his partner, Gunther Toody.
In addition to his acting career, Gwynne sang professionally, painted, and wrote and illustrated children's books, including A Chocolate Moose for Dinner, The King Who Rained, Best In Show, Pondlarker, and A Little Pigeon Toad. He also lent his voice talents to commercials and radio shows such as CBS Radio Mystery Theater.
After his experience in The Munsters, he was unfortunate to be typecast as Herman Munster, the tall, goofy parody of Frankenstein's monster, and experienced difficulty with being cast in other projects. However, Gwynne was known for his good spirits and sense of humor, and retained fond recollections of Herman. Gwynne eventually proved himself as a fine dramatic actor on stage. In 1974, he played the role of "Big Daddy" in the Broadway revival of Cat On A Hot Tin Roof. Another role was as the Stage Manager in Our Town.
His performance as Jud Crandall in Pet Sematary was based on author Stephen King himself, who is also quite tall — only an inch shorter than the actor — and uses a similarly thick Maine dialect. Gwynne also had roles in the movies On the Waterfront, Disorganized Crime, The Cotton Club, The Secret of My Success, Water, Ironweed and Fatal Attraction.
Gwynne's last film performance was as the judge in the 1992 film comedy, My Cousin Vinny in which he used a credible Southern accent.
Gwynne died of pancreatic cancer in Taneytown, Maryland, eight days before his 67th birthday.
[edit] Trivia
- In 1984, he tried out for the part of Henry on the show Punky Brewster. He withdrew when the auditioner identified him as "Herman Munster" rather than by his real name. The role of Henry subsequently went to George Gaynes.
- Gwynne's character of Jud Crandall from Pet Sematary has had recurring parody appearances in the South Park episodes "Butters' Very Own Episode", "Asspen", and "Marjorine."
- While filming The Munsters, his face was painted a bright violet because it captured the most light on the black-and-white film. Of the face-paint, he said, "I didn't mind it all that much, although it kind of made me look like a purple Indian."\
- In My Cousin Vinny, Vinny sees a Yale Law School Diploma on the wall behind Judge Haller (Fred Gwynne)
[edit] References
- ^ Lambert, Bruce (1993): Fred Gwynne, Popular Actor, Is Dead at 66. Th New York Times, July 3, 1993, p. 8: Reference for Harvard Lampoon, Hasty Pudding, Brattle Theatre, "Mrs. McThing."
