Fred Gwynne
Gwynne in Car 54, Where Are You?, 1961
Born	Frederick Hubbard Gwynne (1926-07-10)July 10, 1926 New York City, New York, U.S.
Died	July 2, 1993(1993-07-02) (aged 66) Taneytown, Maryland, U.S.
Resting place	Sandy Mount United Methodist Church Cemetery, Finksburg, Maryland
Alma mater	Harvard University
Occupations	Actor artist writer
Years active	1951–1993
Height	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Spouses	Jean Reynard ​ ​ (m. 1952; div. 1980)​ Deborah Flater ​ (m. 1988)​
Children	5

Frederick Hubbard Gwynne (July 10, 1926 – July 2, 1993) was an American actor, artist, and author 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, and My Cousin Vinny.

Early life

Dorothy Ficken, Gwynne's mother, in 1917

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 Ficken Gwynne, who, before her marriage, was a successful artist known for her "Sunny Jim" comic character. His paternal grandfather Walker Gwynne was an Anglican priest, born in Camus, County Tyrone, Ireland, around 1846, who married American Helen Lea Bowers. His maternal grandfather H. Edwards Ficken was an emigrant from London, who married American Josephine or Josephina Preston Hubbard.^[1][2]

He had at least two siblings, Dorothy Gwynne and Bowers Gwynne, who both died young. Although Gwynne grew up in Tuxedo Park, New York,^[3] he spent most of his childhood in South Carolina, Florida, and Colorado because his father traveled extensively. He attended Groton School.

During World War II, Gwynne served in the United States Navy as a radioman on submarine chaser USS Manville (PC-581).^[4][5] In the 1940s, Gwynne was a summertime swimming instructor at the Duxbury Yacht Club pool in Duxbury, Massachusetts.^[6] He later studied art under the G.I. Bill before attending Harvard, where he was affiliated with Adams House, graduating in 1951. He was a member of the Fly Club, sang with the a cappella group the Harvard Krokodiloes,^[7] was a cartoonist for the Harvard Lampoon (eventually becoming its president), and acted for the Hasty Pudding Theatricals.

Career

Gwynne joined the Brattle Theatre Repertory Company after his 1951 graduation,^[8] then moved to New York City. To support himself, Gwynne worked as a copywriter for J. Walter Thompson, resigning in 1952 upon being cast in his first Broadway role, a gangster in a comedy called Mrs. McThing starring Helen Hayes.^[8]

Another early role was a New York City Drama Company production at City Center of Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost in 1953, in the role of Dull, a constable.^[9]

In 1954, he made his first cinematic appearance playing – in an uncredited role – the laconic character Slim in the Oscar-winning film On the Waterfront. Shortly afterwards, Phil Silvers sought him for his television show because he had been impressed by Gwynne's comedic work in Mrs. McThing. As a result, Gwynne made a memorable appearance on The Phil Silvers Show in the episode "The Eating Contest" as the character Corporal Ed Honnergar, whose depressive eating binges are exploited in an eating contest.

Gwynne's second appearance on The Phil Silvers Show (in the episode "It's for the Birds") and appearances on many other shows led writer-producer Nat Hiken to cast him in the sitcom Car 54, Where Are You? as Patrolman Francis Muldoon.

Gwynne was 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) tall, an attribute that contributed to his being cast as Herman Munster, a goofy parody of Frankenstein's monster, in the sitcom The Munsters. For his role, he had to wear 40 or 50 lbs of padding, makeup, and 5-inch asphalt-spreader boots. His face was painted a bright violet because it captured the most light on the black-and-white film. Gwynne was known for his sense of humor and retained fond recollections of Herman,^[5] saying in later life, "I might as well tell you the truth. I love old Herman Munster. Much as I try not to, I can't stop liking that fellow."^[8]

Gwynne (right) as Herman Munster, sharing a toast with Al Lewis (Grandpa) while Beverley Owen (Marilyn) looks on

After his iconic role in The Munsters, Gwynne found himself typecast, unable to gain new film roles for over two years. In 1969, he was cast as Jonathan Brewster in a television production of Arsenic and Old Lace. The Brewster character was originally played by Boris Karloff, who also played Frankenstein's monster on which Gwynne's Herman Munster character was based, in the Broadway production of the play. Gwynne then found success as a stage actor in regional state productions across the United States while maintaining a low Hollywood profile.

A talented vocalist, Gwynne sang in a Hallmark Hall of Fame television production The Littlest Angel (1969), and went on to perform in a variety of roles on stage and screen. In 1974, drawing upon his own Southern roots, he appeared in the role of Big Daddy Pollitt in the Broadway revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with Elizabeth Ashley, Keir Dullea and Kate Reid. In 1975, he played the Stage Manager in Our Town at the American Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford, Connecticut.^[10]

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.^[10] The role of Henry went to George Gaynes. In 1987, Gwynne starred in the short-lived TV series Jake's M.O., where he played an investigative reporter.

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.^[11] 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.^[12]

Personal life

In 1952, Gwynne married socialite Jean "Foxy" Reynard,^[13] a granddaughter of New York City mayor William Jay Gaynor.^[14] Before divorcing in 1980, the couple had five children: son Kieron (1953–1998); daughter Gaynor (b. 1954); Evan (son, b. 1956); son Dylan (1962–1963, drowning);^[15][16] and daughter Madyn (b. 1965).

In 1988, Gwynne married his second wife, Deborah Flater. They remained married until his death in 1993.^[15]

Death

Gwynne died of complications from pancreatic cancer,^[15] in the cigar room at his home in Taneytown, Maryland, on July 2, 1993, eight days short of his 67th birthday.^[17] He is buried in an unmarked grave at Sandy Mount United Methodist Church Cemetery in Finksburg, Maryland.^[18]

Filmography

Theatre

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fred Gwynne.

• Fred Gwynne at IMDb
• Fred Gwynne at the Internet Broadway Database
• Fred Gwynne at the Internet Off-Broadway Database