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Quick Facts
- NAME: Fred Gwynne
- OCCUPATION: Film Actor, Theater Actor, Television Actor
- BIRTH DATE: July 10, 1926
- DEATH DATE: July 02, 1993
- EDUCATION: New York Phoenix School of Design, Harvard University
- PLACE OF BIRTH: New York City, New York
Best Known For
Fred Gwynne was an actor known for his roles as Herman Munster on the sitcom The Munsters and as the crusty judge in the film My Cousin Vinny.
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Play NowFred Gwynne. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 02:45, May 24, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/fred-gwynne-9542215.
Fred Gwynne. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/fred-gwynne-9542215 [Accessed 24 May 2013].
"Fred Gwynne." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 24 2013, 02:45 http://www.biography.com/people/fred-gwynne-9542215.
"Fred Gwynne," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/fred-gwynne-9542215 [accessed May 24, 2013].
"Fred Gwynne," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/fred-gwynne-9542215 (accessed May 24, 2013).
Fred Gwynne [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 24] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/fred-gwynne-9542215.
Fred Gwynne, http://www.biography.com/people/fred-gwynne-9542215 (last visited May 24, 2013).
Fred Gwynne. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/fred-gwynne-9542215. Accessed May 24, 2013.
In 1963, tragedy struck when his youngest son, Dylan, drowned in the family pool, leaving Fred brokenhearted and depressed. While he was still trying to cope with the emotional devastation of his son's death, NBC canceled Car 54.
Big Breaj
However, Gwynne was not out of work for long. In 1964, he was cast in the CBS television series, The Munsters. Portraying Herman Munster, the towering actor (who was required to wear five-inch platform boots) transformed the traditional Frankenstein monster into a lovable and hysterically funny character that was popular with both adults and children. Jack Gould of The New York Times wrote that "there is not the slightest question that Mr. Gwynne, superbly made up as Frankenstein, is the whole show." However, by 1966, The Munsters was losing a ratings war with the popular series, Batman. Universal Pictures fought back with a feature-length color film, Munster, Go Home, which bombed at the box office. The series was then taken off the air, to little protest.After The Munsters
After the demise of The Munsters, Gwynne's career came to a screeching halt. TV and movie producers were afraid to hire him, believing audiences would only see the fumbling Herman Munster, which left Gwynne frustrated and bitter. However, he continued to find success with children's books, which now included such classics as God's First World, A Chocolate Moose for Dinner, and A Little Pigeon Toad. He appeared in a string of failed television pilots and a few TV movies, including The Littlest Angel and Arsenic and Old Lace.
Gwynne returned to the stage and won critical acclaim as Big Daddy in the Broadway revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with Elizabeth Ashley. Other successful stage roles included Claudis in Hamlet and the stage manager in Our Town. In 1976, he won an Obie Award for his performance in the off-Broadway play, Grand Magic.
Gwynne also made a comeback to the big screen with a small role in Bernardo Bertolucci's haunting drama, Luna, starring Jill Clayburgh. He eventually began to make appearances in such A-list films as Ironweed with Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson, Fatal Attraction with Glenn Close and Michael Douglas, and The Cotton Club starring Richard Gere. In 1981, he returned to the role that he had fought so hard to leave behind--Herman Munster in the TV movie, Munster's Revenge.
Gwynne continued to appear in supporting roles, the highlight being his turn as the comic foil for Joe Pesci and Marisa Tomei in 1992's My Cousin Vinny. After forty years of working non-stop, Gwynne decided to put his film career on the back burner. He and his wife, Deborah, purchased a farm in rural Maryland and the actor only accepted work as a voice-over artist in radio and television commercials.
Just one year into his tranquil, new life, Gwynne was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He died on July 2, 1993, at the age of 66.
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