Fred Gwynne

Frederick Hubbard Gwynne (July 10, 1926 – July 2, 1993) was an American actor, artist, and author, who is widely known for his roles in the 1960s television sitcoms Car 54, Where Are You? (as Francis Muldoon) and The Munsters (as Herman Munster), as well as his later film roles in The Cotton Club, Pet Sematary (1989), and My Cousin Vinny (1992).

Early life

Gwynne was born on July 10, 1926, in New York City, the son of Frederick Walker Gwynne, a partner in the securities firm Gwynne Brothers, and his wife Dorothy Goddard (née Ficken) Gwynne, who, before her marriage, was a successful illustrator, known for the "first cereal mascot", the "Sunny Jim" advertising character for the breakfast cereal, Force, for the advertising agent Earnest Elmo Calkins. He had at least two siblings, Dorothy Gwynne and Bowers Gwynne, both of whom died young. His paternal grandfather, Walker Gwynne, was an Anglican priest, born c. 1846 in Camus, County Tyrone, Ireland, who married American Helen Lea Bowers. His maternal grandfather, H. Edwards Ficken, was a British immigrant who married the American Josephine (or Josephina) Preston Hubbard. Although Gwynne partially grew up in Tuxedo Park, New York,

Following his father's death, his mother sent him to boarding school at Groton School, where he graduated in 1944 and may have set the school record for disciplinary black marks. He was president of the drama club and made his first stage appearance in a school production of Henry V. Forty years later, he used his drawing skills to pen the school's official campus map.

After the war, Gwynne attended art school at the Phoenix School of Design (now affiliated with the Pratt Institute) in New York, with "the dream of doing Saturday Evening Post covers." and acted for the Hasty Pudding Theatricals. He was affiliated with Adams House.

In the 1940s, Gwynne was a summertime swimming instructor at the Duxbury Yacht Club pool in Duxbury, Massachusetts.

Career Gwynne joined the Brattle Theatre Repertory Company after his 1951 graduation, then moved to New York City. To support himself, Gwynne worked as a copywriter for the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency, resigning in 1952 upon being cast in his first Broadway role, a gangster in a comedy called Mrs. McThing starring Helen Hayes. Gwynne preferred theater to film and television, and maintained that if the United States had a national theater mounting year-round productions, he would rather work there.

From 1975 to 1982, Gwynne appeared in 83 episodes in different roles on the popular radio drama series, the CBS Radio Mystery Theater, produced and directed by Himan Brown. He returned to Broadway in 1976 as Colonel J.C. Kinkaid in two parts of A Texas Trilogy. In 1984, Gwynne auditioned for the part of Henry on the sitcom Punky Brewster, then withdrew in frustration when a director identified him as Herman Munster rather than by his real name.

Gwynne's performance as Jud Crandall in Pet Sematary was based on author Stephen King, who is only an inch shorter than the actor, and uses a similarly thick Maine dialect. The character's likeness and accent, as played by Gwynne, have been used in a number of episodes of the animated show South Park, beginning in 2001 and as recently as 2019. Gwynne also had roles in the movies Simon, On the Waterfront, So Fine, Disorganized Crime, The Cotton Club, Captains Courageous, The Secret of My Success, Water, Ironweed, Fatal Attraction, and The Boy Who Could Fly. Despite his misgiving about having been typecast, he agreed to reprise the role of Herman Munster for the 1981 TV reunion movie The Munsters' Revenge. Gwynne performed the role of Judge Chamberlain Haller in his final film, the 1992 comedy My Cousin Vinny.

As painter and illustrator In addition to his acting career, Gwynne sang professionally, painted, and wrote and illustrated children's books, including Best in Show (later titled It's Easy to See Why), A Chocolate Moose for Dinner, The King Who Rained, Pondlarker, The Battle of the Frogs and Mice, and A Little Pigeon Toad. Many of these efforts were based on children's frequent misperceptions of things they hear from adults, such as the "chocolate moose for dinner", illustrated as a moose seated at the dinner table. The other books on this theme were The King Who Rained, A Little Pigeon Toad (in which a child's mother thus describes her father), and The Sixteen Hand Horse. a granddaughter of New York City mayor William Jay Gaynor. Before divorcing in 1980, the couple had five children.

In 1988, Gwynne married his second wife, Deborah Flater. They remained married until his death in 1993. He is buried in an unmarked grave at Sandy Mount United Methodist Church Cemetery in Finksburg, Maryland.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 1954 On the Waterfront Mladen "Slim" Sekulovich Uncredited 1966 Munster, Go Home! Herman Munster 1979 La Luna Douglas Winter 1980 Simon Major General Korey 1981 So Fine Chairman Lincoln 1984 The Cotton Club George "Big Frenchy" DeMange 1985 Water Spender 1986 Off Beat Police Commissioner The Boy Who Could Fly Uncle Hugo The Christmas Star Officer Waters 1987 The Secret of My Success Donald Davenport Fatal Attraction Arthur Hurst Ironweed Oscar Reo Jake's M.O. Jake Tekulve 1989 Disorganized Crime Max Green Pet Sematary Jud Crandall 1991 Shadows and Fog Hacker's Follower 1992 My Cousin Vinny Judge Chamberlain Haller Final film role

Television Year Title Role Notes 1952 The Repertory Theatre Performer Episode: "A Man's Game" 1953 You Are There Davy Crockett 2 episodes 1955–1956 The Phil Silvers Show Corporal Ed Honnegan 1956 Studio One in Hollywood Little Dude Episode: "The Landady's Daughter" 1957 The Kaiser Aluminum Hour "Egghead" Episode: "A Man's Game" Suspicion Hughie Episode: "Hand in Glove" Kraft Theatre Performer 2 episodes 1958 The Steve Allen Show Comedian Episode: #3.23 The Investigator Performer Episode: #1.07 DuPont Show of the Month E.J. Loffgrin 2 episodes 1961 The Play of the Week Performer Episode: "The Old Foolishness" 1961–1963 Car 54, Where Are You? Officer Francis Mulldoon 60 episodes 1962 The DuPont Show of the Week William Magee Episode: "Seven Keys to Baldgate" 1963 The United States Steel Hour Willie Botsford Episode: "Don't Shake the Family Tree" 1964 Brenner Francis X. Fish Episode: "Charlie Paradise: The Tragic Flute" My Son, the Witch Doctor Performer TV film 1964–1966 The Munsters Herman Munster Main role; 70 episodes 1965 The Red Skelton Show Episode: "Ta-Ra-Ra-Bum-Today" 1966 The Danny Kaye Show Episode: "Fred Gwynne" New York Television Theatre The Professor Episode: "The Lesson" 1967 NET Playhouse Officer Avonzino Episode: "Infancy and Childhood" 1968 Mad Mad Scientist Warren Springer TV film 1969 Arsenic and Old Lace Jonathan Brewster Anderson and Company Marshall Anderson The Littlest Angel Guardian Angel 1971 Dames at Sea Hennesey Great Performances Pike Episode: "Paradise Lost" The Police Sergeant TV film 1972 Harvey Cab Driver Norman Corwin Presents Performer Episode: "Aunt Dorothy's Playroom" 1976 Bound for Freedom Waldruss TV film Captains and the Kings Performer Miniseries 1977 Captains Courageous Jack "Long Jack" TV film 1979 Sanctuary of Fear Judge Potter 1980 A Day with Conrad Green Conrad Green 1981 The Munsters' Revenge Herman Munster 1982–1987 American Playhouse Charles Dickens 2 episodes 1982 The Mysterious Stranger Balthasar Hoffman TV film 1985 Kane & Abel Davis LeRoy 2 episodes 1986 Vanishing Act Father Macklin TV film 1987 Murder by the Book Victor Greville 1990 Murder in Black and White Brannigan Earthday Birthday Fred The Moose Voice, TV film 1992 Lincoln Edwin Stanton

Theatre Year Title Role Notes 1952–1953 Mrs. McThing Stinker 1953 Love's Labour's Lost Dull The Frogs of Spring Luther Raubel 1960–1961 Irma La Douce Polyte-Le-Mou 1963–1964 Here's Love Marvin Shellhammer 1972 The Lincoln Mask Abraham Lincoln 1974–1975 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Big Daddy 1975 Our Town Stage Manager 1976 A Texas Trilogy: The Last Meeting of the Knights of the White Magnolia Colonel J.C. Kinkaid A Texas Trilogy: The Oldest Living Graduate 1978 Angel W. O. Gant Players Jock Riley 1982–1983 Whodunnit Inspector Bowden