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Fred Gwynne

Highest Rated: 99% On the Waterfront (1954)

Lowest Rated: 0% Water (1985)

Birthday: Jul 10, 1926

Birthday:

Birthplace: New York, New York, USA

A gentle and dapper giant, this 6'5" distinctive character player of stage, film and TV was best known for his portrayal of comic bumblers on two 1960s sitcoms, "Car 54, Where Are You?" (NBC, 1961-63) and "The Munsters" (CBS, 1964-66). In the former, a broad slapstick police comedy, Gwynne portrayed the quietly hapless Officer Muldoon. "The Munsters," a freaky family comedy, exploited his resemblance to Boris Karloff by casting him as Herman Munster--a Frankenstein's Monster look-alike who was a devoted family man. Tall, greenish, and gruesome, Herman invariably frightened the neighbors but his sunny disposition made him quick to bellow with laughter. Gwynne reprised his signature character for a feature film "Munster, Go Home" (1966) and has haunted syndicated reruns ever since. He returned 15 years later for a TV-movie "reunion," "The Munsters' Revenge" (NBC, 1981). Gwynne was especially convincing as quirky or somewhat melancholy authority figures, and he was well utilized in a number of films, including "On the Waterfront" as longshoreman Slim (1954); Bernardo Bertolucci's "Luna" (1979) in a cameo as Jill Clayburgh's ill-fated husband; "The Cotton Club" (1984) as a sympathetic underworld figure; "The Boy Who Could Fly" (1986), as the alcoholic uncle of the title character; "Pet Sematary" (1989) as a country gentleman; a bit part in Woody Allen's "Shadows and Fog" (1992); and a delicious final supporting role as a no-nonsense Southern judge in "My Cousin Vinny" (1992). Gwynne also had a significant career on the New York stage, appearing in various plays including "Irma La Douce," "Texas Trilogy," "Arsenic and Old Lace," "Twelfth Night" and "The Winter's Tale." Gwynne worked as an advertising copywriter in the late 50s while pursuing acting. In the 1980s, he made a good deal of his income doing voice-overs for TV commercials. A children's book author and illustrator, Gwynne succumbed to pancreatic cancer at age 66.

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Highest rated movies

99% 95% On the Waterfront Watchlist
85% 87% My Cousin Vinny
Watchlist
74% 57% The Cotton Club
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74% 72% Fatal Attraction Watchlist
67% 31% So Fine
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62% 69% The Boy Who Could Fly
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60% 69% Simon
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60% 59% Ironweed
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58% 60% Pet Sematary Watchlist
54% 55% Shadows and Fog
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Filmography

Movies

Credit
54% 55% Shadows and Fog Hacker's Follower (Character) $2.4M 1992
85% 87% My Cousin Vinny Judge Chamberlain Haller (Character) $50.9M 1992
No Score Yet No Score Yet Murder in Black and White Brannigan (Character) - 1990
58% 60% Pet Sematary Jud Crandall (Character) - 1989
50% 58% Disorganized Crime Max Green (Character) $7.4M 1989
No Score Yet No Score Yet Murder by the Book Victor Greville (Character) - 1987
49% 58% The Secret of My Success Donald Davenport (Character) $65.3M 1987
60% 59% Ironweed Oscar Reo (Character) $6.9M 1987
74% 72% Fatal Attraction Arthur (Character) $154.0M 1987
No Score Yet 56% The Christmas Star Waters (Character) - 1986
62% 69% The Boy Who Could Fly Uncle Hugo (Character) $6.3M 1986
No Score Yet 38% Vanishing Act Father Macklin (Character) - 1986
No Score Yet 27% Off Beat The Commissioner (Character) $4.1M 1986
0% 70% Water Franklin Spender (Character) - 1985
74% 57% The Cotton Club Frenchy Demange (Character) - 1984
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Mysterious Stranger Balthasar Hoffman (Character) - 1982
67% 31% So Fine Chairman Lincoln (Character) - 1981
No Score Yet 71% The Munsters' Revenge Herman Munster (Character) - 1981
60% 69% Simon Maj. Gen. Korey (Character) - 1980
46% 69% Luna Douglas Winter (Character) - 1979
No Score Yet No Score Yet Sanctuary of Fear Judge Potter (Character) - 1979
No Score Yet No Score Yet Captains Courageous Long Jack (Character) - 1977
No Score Yet No Score Yet Harvey Cab Driver (Character) - 1972
No Score Yet 56% The Littlest Angel Patience the Guardian Angel (Character) - 1969
No Score Yet 68% Munster, Go Home Herman Munster (Character) - 1966
99% 95% On the Waterfront Slim (Character) - 1954

TV

Credit
No Score Yet No Score Yet What's My Line? Guest 1974
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Danny Kaye Show Guest 1965-1967
83% 92% The Munsters Herman Munster (Character) 1964-1966
No Score Yet No Score Yet I've Got a Secret Guest 1965
No Score Yet No Score Yet Car 54, Where Are You? Officer Francis Muldoon (Character) 1961-1963
No Score Yet No Score Yet Studio One Little Dude (Character) 1956