Famous Like Me > Actor > G > Fred Gwynne
Profile of Fred Gwynne
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Name: |
Fred Gwynne |
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Also Know As: |
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Date of Birth: |
10th July 1926 |
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Place of Birth: |
New York, New York, USA |
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Profession: |
Actor |
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From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia Frederick Hubbard Gwynne (July 10, 1926 – July 2, 1993) was a 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 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, and reportedly once sweated off ten pounds (4.5 kg) in a day of filming. 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.
After his experience in The Munsters, he was 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 Manger 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 used a similar a thick Maine dialect.
Gwynne's last film performance was as the judge in the 1992 movie comedy, My Cousin Vinny in which he used a credible Southern accent.
Gwynne graduated from Harvard University in 1951. In addition to his acting career, Gwynne sang professionally, painted, and wrote and illustrated children's books, including A Chocolate Moose for Dinner.
He died of pancreatic cancer in Taneytown, Maryland, at the age of 66 (eight days before his 67th birthday).
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