Fredd Wayne

Fredd Wayne (born Frederick Searle Wiener; to working-class parents Celia (Mirman) and salesman Charles Theodore Wiener. Two days after graduating from John R. Buchtel High School he took a bus to Hollywood in hopes of working for cousin Lester Cowan who had produced My Little Chickadee and several Marx Brothers films. He recalls sitting in the lobby of Columbia Studios for three days before Cowan dismissed him with: "I got nuthin’ for you, kid." After Wayne's money and graduation watch were stolen, a neighbor who worked at Warner Brothers drove him to the studio where he was hired as a mail boy for $18 a week. Soon he was drafted into the U.S. Army.

World War II

Following basic training Wayne was made a Special Services non-com (Entertainment Specialist) for the 253rd Infantry Regiment of the 63rd Infantry Division. For the duration of his two-year hitch he ran movie projectors, wrote, produced and performed in soldier shows in Mississippi, attended courses at Fort McPherson, Georgia, and Washington and Lee University in Virginia (where he was classmates with future director Arthur Penn); Wayne also acted as booking agent of a hugely successful GI orchestra led by Ralph Cerasuolo, a sophisticated jazz violinist formerly known in New York City as "Leonardo of the Stork Club". Despite a 14-year age difference, they became close friends. Elements of the 63rd Infantry Division, including Wayne and the band, landed in Marseilles, France, on December 8, 1944, and were rushed north to support Americans locked in the Battle of the Bulge. Wayne was assigned to GRO (Graves Registration Office) to retrieve the bodies of fallen soldiers. On April 2, 1945, he discovered Cerasuolo, who had been killed by a single sniper shot to the forehead.

G.I. Carmen Shortly after VE Day, Wayne was directed to put together an entertainment for the men. In response to his notices, 45 combat veterans of his 253rd Infantry Regiment turned in rifles for grease paint to create G.I. Carmen – destined to become, with the exception of This Is the Army, the most successful G.I. show of World War II. thumb Cpl. Fredd Wayne, 253rd Infantry, in the title role of G.I. Carmen With half the cast as women in ill-fitting costumes and scraggly wigs, the show was to run for only three nights in Tauberbishofsheim, Germany but its raucous, bawdy humor, robust singing, and dancing made it a roaring success that the Army recognized at once. In addition to writing, producing and co-directing duties, Wayne had to play the title role when no other G.I. would touch it. The cast included several pre-war professionals, including Hal Edwards, who had danced in 20th Century Fox musicals, and Ray Richardson, a tenor with the Chicago Lyric Opera. Most of Ralph's band, now led by Marty Faloon, were onstage as well, among them guitarist Charlie Byrd. After raiding Stadttheater Heidelberg for colorful costumes, proper wigs, and scenery, the army sent the troupe on an extended eight-month tour throughout Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, and Austria including stops at leading theatres in Berlin, Brussels, Paris, Rome, and Vienna. The show closed in Nuremberg on January 24, 1946. GI Carmen’s cast was kept together throughout 142 performances before audiences totaling well over 250,000 G.I. and allied troops and countless civilians, including Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas in Paris and Marlene Dietrich in Berlin.

Professional career

Back in the states Fredd Wayne settled in New York with a job at J.C. Penney offices by day and acting classes at the American Theatre Wing after hours. (Lee Marvin, James Whitmore, and Martin Balsam were classmates; Eileen Heckart and Jean Stapleton were among the volunteer actresses). Roles there included Polonius in Hamlet at age 23. As an usher at Broadway's Alvin Theatre Wayne watched Ingrid Bergman star in Joan of Lorraine, and fetched tea for José Ferrer during the latter's celebrated run in Cyrano de Bergerac. (Ten years later for Universal's Revue Productions, Wayne performed the character in a TV pilot called The Sword. It never sold.) Following the Cyrano run Ferrer cast Wayne in his production of the Czech play The Insect Comedy whose performers included Ray Walston, Werner Klemperer, and Don Murray. Fredd Wayne's big Broadway break came when he went to audition for Shakespeare's As You Like It starring Katharine Hepburn but was mistakenly pulled in to read for the Johnny Mercer – Bobby Dolan musical Texas, L’il Darlin’.

His G.I. Carmen musical skills helped land a leading role. Critical success led to more Broadway credits such as Not For Children by Elmer Rice and following Ray Walston as Luther Billis opposite Mary Martin in the original London production of South Pacific. Wayne's success in London – including a concurrent extended engagement at The Berkeley Cabaret – was followed by a role opposite Gene Kelly in MGM's Crest of the Wave, filmed in England and the Channel Islands. It also led to American productions of South Pacific playing Billis opposite Gisele MacKenzie in Dallas, Vikki Carr in Kansas City, and Jane Powell in St. Paul, Minnesota. Returning to New York Wayne co-starred opposite Ralph Bellamy in Oh Men!, Oh Women! and became embroiled in the Golden Age of Television, when dramas and comedies were not videotaped or filmed but miscues were part of the tension and grandeur of performing live before millions of people. Wayne appeared in such shows as Playhouse 90, Studio One, Pulitzer Prize Playhouse, The Defenders, Kraft Theatre, Danger, We the People, Robert Montgomery Presents, The Victor Borge Show, and The Nurses. He also made six guest appearances on Perry Mason, all shot in Hollywood, including the role of murder victim Jack Hardisty in the 1958 episode, "The Case of the Buried Clock". Wayne appeared in S1 E21 "The Annie MacGregor Story" on "Wagon Train" 1958. He played Barney, the agent for Barbara Nichols' showgirl character Liz Powell in S2 E17 "Twenty Two" on The Twilight Zone 1961, as depicted in the photo above.

Benjamin Franklin, Citizen Out of these creative years Fredd Wayne developed the role for which he's probably best known. The idea came to him while flying to New York from Los Angeles in 1964; he went straight to the New York Public Library from JFK to begin research and was directed to the Editor of The Papers of Benjamin Franklin at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. After six weeks of study and appearances as Franklin on the Tonight Show and Today Show, he began breaking in his one-man show Benjamin Franklin, Citizen in upstate New York and Ohio. By the time he reached Los Angeles the production was running smoothly and Wayne was hired to play Franklin in a two-part episode of Bewitched on ABC-TV. Wayne's Benjamin Franklin, Citizen also had a long run in Hollywood's Ivar Theatre which led to a well-received U.S. State Department tour of Europe and subsequent college tours throughout America during the Bicentennial era and beyond. His work as Franklin on Bob Hope's America is 200 Years Old...And There's Still Hope! recorded on May 4, 1976, led to appearances in multiple roles on four subsequent Bob Hope Television Specials including an appearance as Brandon Tartikoff opposite Brandon Tartikoff. Fredd Wayne has also appeared frequently as Franklin at IBM, GE, and other industrial conventions. His recording of The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (Audio Partners) was selected as one of the top audiotapes of 1997.

Writings As a writer Fredd Wayne's articles have appeared in The New York Times, Playboy, The Los Angeles Times, Performing Arts, Westways, The Arizona Republic, and numerous other publications. Wayne has titled his upcoming fictionalized memoir "Blinky's Great Adventure".

Death Wayne died at an assisted-living facility in Santa Monica on August 27, 2018, aged 93.

Selected stage credits

Year Production Role Notes 1945 G.I. Carmen Carmen 142 performances in Germany, Belgium, France, Italy and Austria, June 9, 1945 - January 24, 1946, produced by the U.S. Army 1947 Hamlet Polonius American Theatre Wing 1948 The Insect Comedy José Ferrer, director 1949 Texas, Li'l Darlin'''

A Taste for the Forbidden'' Drama-Logue Award for performance, L.A.A.T. Half-Stage

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1954 Crest of the Wave Seaman N. Sam 'Shorty' Kaminsky (USN) Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer British Studios, with Gene Kelly 1956 The Man Is Armed Egan Republic Pictures The Girl He Left Behind Sgt. Sheridan Warner Bros., with Tab Hunter and Natalie Wood 1958 Torpedo Run Orville 'Goldy' Goldstein Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) 1961 Twenty Plus Two Harris Toomey Allied Artists Pictures 1962 The Spiral Road Van Bloor Universal International Pictures, with Rock Hudson and Gena Rowlands 1964 Seven Days in May Henry Whitney Uncredited, with Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster Sex and the Single Girl Frank Uncredited, with Tony Curtis and Natalie Wood 1966 Chamber of Horrors Charlie Benton Uncredited, with Patrick O'Neal, Wilfrid Hyde-White and Suzy Parker 1974 Hangup Felder Warner Bros. 1981 American Pop voiced 7 roles Uncredited, Bakshi Productions, animated motion picture 1987 Dutch Treat the Judge 1989 A More Perfect Union: America Becomes a Nation Benjamin Franklin 1999 Man on the Moon Bland Doctor (final film role)

Television Year Title Role Notes 1949 We the People The Philco Television Playhouse Season 1, Episode 28: What Makes Sammy Run?, with José Ferrer Kraft Theatre performed in productions in 3 separate seasons: 1949, 1954 & 1955 1950 Musical Comedy Time Sir Evelyn Oakley Season 1, Episode 1: Anything Goes 1951 The Victor Borge Show Pulitzer Prize Playhouse Detour, with Dorothy Gish Corb The Thousand Yard Look, with Richard Kiley The Wisdom Tooth, with Howard Freeman Schlitz Playhouse Season 1, Episode 4: Still Life, with Margaret Sullavan 1952 Lux Video Theatre Bert Oliver Season 2, Episode 23: For Goodness Sake Celanese Theatre Season 1, Episode 13: Saturday's Children, with Mickey Rooney 1953 The Ford Television Theatre Season 1, Episode 39: The People Versus Johnston Studio One The Agent Season 6, Episode 11: Confessions of a Nervous Man 1954 Armstrong Circle Theatre Season 4, Episode 6: Evening Star Kraft Theatre March Hare Season 7, Episode 36: Alice in Wonderland, with Art Carney Robert Montgomery Presents Season 6, Episode 2: A Dream of Summer, with Jackie Cooper Omnibus Master Adam Fumie Season 3, Episode 2: The Man Who Married a Dumb Wife, with Alistair Cooke Armstrong Circle Theatre Season 5, Episode 16: Ring Twice for Christmas 1955 Kraft Theatre Season 8, Episode 29: Now, Where Was I?, with Robert Webber Armstrong Circle Theatre Season 6, Episode 1: The Strange War of Sergeant Krezner, with Richard Kiley 1956 Matinee Theatre Season 1, Episode 52: The Century Plant, with Constance Ford Front Row Center Bill Tyler Season 2, Episode 6: The Teacher and Hector Hodge Dr. Humphries Season 2, Episode 4: The Ainsley Case Lux Video Theatre George Season 6, Episode 23: Here Comes the Groom Star Stage Season 1, Episode 32: Being Nice to Emily Medic Sydney Phillips Season 2, Episode 26: The Good Samaritan Lux Video Theatre Pat Season 6, Episode 41: A Marriage Day Matinee Theatre Season 2, Episode 20: The Alumni Reunion Wire Service O'Brien Season 1, Episode 3: Hideout The Joseph Cotten Show aka On Trial Asst. District Attorney Season 1, Episode 4: Twice in Peril Gunsmoke Sam Kertcher Season 2, Episode 5: Young Man with a Gun G.E. True Theater Hugh Season 5, Episode 9: The Charlatan Schlitz Playhouse Pollack Season 6, Episode 11: Washington Incident The Millionaire Harry Denison Season 3, Episode 15: The Mildred Kester Story The Danny Thomas Show aka Make Room for Daddy Rod Fowler Season 4, Episode 14: Liz's Boyfriend 1957 Dr. Hudson's Secret Journal Episode: Brenthurst Story Lux Video Theatre Inspector Season 7, Episode 20: The Undesirable G.E. True Theater Clyde Season 5, Episode 21: The Town with a Past, with James Stewart Schlitz Playhouse Cyrano de Bergerac Season 6, Episode 36: The Sword Code 3 Sgt. Bill Hollis Season 1, Episode 12: Oil Well Incident Season 1, Episode 14: Suspect Number One Season 1, Episode 17: The Trap Lt. Bill Hollis Season 1, Episode 28: The Man with Many Faces Telephone Time Hicks Season 3, Episode 7: Under Seventeen Alcoa Theatre Lt. Brackett Season 1, Episode 4: On Edge Maverick Carl Jimson Season 1, Episode 7: Relic of Fort Tejon 1958 Richard Diamond, Private Detective Tom Tanner Season 2, Episode 4: Double Jeopardy Perry Mason Ernie Tanner Season 1, Episode 19: The Case of the Haunted Husband Maverick Kingsley Season 1, Episode 18: Diamond in the Rough M Squad Eddie Rocco Season 1, Episode 20: Dolly's Bar Perry Mason Jack Hardisty Season 2, Episode 6: The Case of the Buried Clock 1959 The Grand Jury Jordan Season 1, Episode 31: Baby for Sale Deadline Gilgo Episode: Massacre State Trooper Frank Nagel Season 3, Episode 20: While Jerome Burned 21 Beacon Street Season 1, Episode 6: The Execution Tightrope Danny Season 1, Episode 1: Getaway Day Bourbon Street Beat Lt. Fontaine Season 1, Episode 1: The Taste of Ashes Whirlybirds Season 3, Episode 31: Man, You Kill Me The Untouchables Joe Carroll Season 1, Episode 4: The George 'Bugs' Moran Story Sugarfoot 'Bull' Borgland Season 3, Episode 5: The Canary Kid, Inc. 1960 The Loretta Young Show Ed Crawley Season 7, Episode 14: The Grenade Goodyear Theatre Season 3, Episode 8: Omaha Beach - Plus 15 The Alaskans Burton Season 1, Episode 14: The Trial of Reno McKee Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond Lt. Barnes Season 2, Episode 23: Vanishing Point Perry Mason William Gowrie Season 3, Episode 18: The Case of the Singing Skirt The Man from Blackhawk Garrison Season 1, Episode 33: Trial by Combat Hawaiian Eye Edward Demming Season 1, Episode 29: Typhoon Markham Commissioner Fred Clayton Season 1, Episode 48: The Silken Cord The Untouchables Surfside 6 Allan Abbott Season 1, Episode 1: Country Gentleman The Ann Sothern Show Chuck Dunphy Season 3, Episode 4: The Pinch-Hitter 77 Sunset Strip Mike Ransome Season 3, Episode 7: The Laurel Canyon Caper 1961 Have Gun – Will Travel Ben Season 4, Episode 17: A Quiet Night in Town: Part 1 Season 4, Episode 18: A Quiet Night in Town: Part 2 The Twilight Zone Barney Season 2, Episode 17: Twenty Two Perry Mason Roger Phillips Season 4, Episode 17: The Case of the Wintry Wife Bachelor Father Bart Anderson Season 4, Episode 32: Hilda Rides Again Miami Undercover Joe Danzig Season 1, Episode 29: Room 9 The Real McCoys Mr. Perry Season 4, Episode 37: How to Win Friends The Twilight Zone Paul Malloy Season 3, Episode 2: The Arrival Dr. Kildare Salesman Season 1, Episode 4: Winter Harvest Hawaiian Eye Tony Ward Season 3, Episode 11: Two for the Money 1962 Bachelor Father Don Lambert Season 5, Episode 18: How Howard Won His C Alcoa Premiere Ted Morley Season 1, Episode 14: Mr. Easy, with Fred Astaire Cain's Hundred Marty Season 1, Episode 27: A Creature Lurks in Ambush Perry Mason The Doctors and the Nurses Dr. Mason Season 1, Episode 8: A Strange and Distant Place The Defenders District Attorney Season 2, Episode 15: Death Takes the Stand 1963 Rawhide Calhoun Season 5, Episode 22: Incident of the Pale Rider Perry Mason The Bill Dana Show Cliff Season 1, Episode 9: The Poker Game 1964 Grindl Season 1, Episode 16: Grindl, Private Eye Perry Mason An Hour with Robert Goulet himself TV special (CBS) 1965 Hogan's Heroes Sgt. Kristman Season 1, Episode 16: Anchors Aweigh, Men of Stalag 13 1966 My Three Sons Dr. Killebrew Season 6, Episode 30: The Wrong Robbie Hawk Detective Season 1, Episode 1: Do Not Mutilate or Spindle Bewitched Benjamin Franklin Season 3, Episode 13: My Friend Ben Season 3, Episode 14: Samantha for the Defense 1967 The Monroes Winton Season 1, Episode 18: To Break a Colt 1969 Daniel Boone Benjamin Franklin Season 6, Episode 5: The Printing Press Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color Jim Durden Season 16, Episode 8: Secrets of the Pirates' Inn: Part 1 Season 16, Episode 9: Secrets of the Pirates' Inn: Part 2 1970 The Return of the Smothers Brothers himself TV special (NBC) Bracken's World Ned Singer Season 2, Episode 7: Hey, Gringo... Hey, Ponco Nanny and the Professor Mr. Jackwith Season 2, Episode 10: The Visitor 1971 The Young Lawyers Kimber Season 1, Episode 24: I've Got a Problem Room 222 Season 2, Episode 26: A Sort of Loving Ironside Arthur Green Season 5, Episode 14: Class of '57 1972 Cade's County Mark Walters Season 1, Episode 21: Jessie 1973 Banacek Stein Season 1, Episode 8: The Two Million Clams of Cap'n Jack A Picture of Us George Washington TV movie won Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Children's Programming Nightside TV movie with John Cassavetes and Alexis Smith 1974 The Phantom of Hollywood Clyde TV movie with Jack Cassidy and Jackie Coogan 1975 Judgement: The Court Martial of Lieutenant William Calley TV movie with Richard Basehart and Harrison Ford 1976 Law and Order Sgt. Haran TV movie with Darren McGavin and Keir Dullea 1978 The Rockford Files Curtis Meyer Season 4, Episode 15: The Gang at Don's Drive-In Rhoda The New Adventures of Wonder Woman J.J. MacConnell Season 3, Episode 7: Time Bomb 1980 The Dream Merchants Mr. Humber TV movie with Mark Harmon, Vincent Gardenia and Morgan Fairchild Trapper John, M.D. Pathologist Season 2, Episode 4: Call Me Irresponsible 1981 Bob Hope's 30th Anniversary Special Strike Force Season 1, Episode 6: Night Nurse 1982 The Day the Bubble Burst TV movie with Richard Crenna (NBC) Quincy M.E. Michael Gurelnik Season 7, Episode 15: Clear the Air Lou Grant Charles Bolsa Season 5, Episode 18: Law Bob Hope Special One Day at a Time Ralph Season 8, Episode 4: Catcher in the Mud Voyagers! Ben Franklin Season 1, Episode 3: Bully and Billy 1985 Bob Hope Special Hal Linden, Donna Mills, Morgan Fairchild and George Burns It's a Living State Department Man Season 3, Episode 7: From Russia with Love Bob Hope Special as NBC President Brandon Tartikoff with Lynda Carter, Danny Thomas, Brandon Tartikoff and Milton Berle 1986 Simon & Simon Benjamin Franklin Season 5, Episode 24: The Apple Doesn't Fall Far from the Tree St. Elsewhere Pat McGroyn Season 5, Episode 7: Up and Down 1987 Cagney & Lacey 1988 Matlock Warren Coates Season 2, Episode 13: The Reunion Cagney & Lacey Factory Manager Season 7, Episode 12: Shadow of a Doubt 1989 Small Wonder Mr. Willis Season 4, Episode 21: The Tattletale 1992 Cheers Dr. Bramwell Season 10, Episode 20: Smotherly Love The Trials of Rosie O'Neill Season 2, Episode 13: Heartbreak Hotel 1994 Cagney & Lacey: The Return Gerald Fradin TV movie (CBS) 1998 Encore! Encore! Leland Season 1, Episode 6: The Dairy with Nathan Lane, Joan Plowright and Glenne Headly

Audio recordings Year Program Role Notes 1976 America is 200 Years Old...And There's Still Hope! Benjamin Franklin Bob Hope comedy album (LP) Benjamin Franklin, Citizen Benjamin Franklin audiotape of Wayne's one-man show 1997 The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin audiotape recognized by Publishers Weekly as one of the best of 1997 2003 The Grapes of Wrath (play) audio CD produced and distributed by L.A. Theatre Works