Fred Willard was an actor, a comedian, an improv genius and a gentle soul. The performer, who died May 15 of natural causes at the age of 86, was beloved in the creative community because he offered the rarest commodity in showbiz.
“He was a guarantee,” says Phil Rosenthal, creator and showrunner of “Everybody Loves Raymond,” which featured Willard in a recurring role in its later seasons.
“With Fred Willard, when his face popped up in a show or a movie, you suddenly got a little jolt of ‘This is going to be funny,’” Rosenthal says. “There are way more famous comedians who can carry movies, but you can’t always guarantee that they’re going to be funny. Fred was a guarantee.”
Willard was known for playing dimwitted characters and straitlaced, average guys who would say and do unexpectedly outrageous things.
A graduate of Virginia Military Institute and an Army veteran,...
“He was a guarantee,” says Phil Rosenthal, creator and showrunner of “Everybody Loves Raymond,” which featured Willard in a recurring role in its later seasons.
“With Fred Willard, when his face popped up in a show or a movie, you suddenly got a little jolt of ‘This is going to be funny,’” Rosenthal says. “There are way more famous comedians who can carry movies, but you can’t always guarantee that they’re going to be funny. Fred was a guarantee.”
Willard was known for playing dimwitted characters and straitlaced, average guys who would say and do unexpectedly outrageous things.
A graduate of Virginia Military Institute and an Army veteran,...
- 5/20/2020
- by Pat Saperstein
- Variety Film + TV
Fred Willard, the comic actor known for his genial but dunderheaded characters, has died. He was 86.
Willard died Friday night at his home in Los Angeles of natural causes. Willard’s daughter, Hope Mulbarger, said the actor died “very peacefully.”
“He kept moving, working and making us happy until the very end. We loved him so very much,” Mulbarger said. Willard has a role in the upcoming Netflix comedy series “Space Force” opposite Steve Carell.
Willard was married for 50 years to Mary Willard, a playwright and collaborator with her husband. She died in 2018 at the age of 71.
After getting his start in improv comedy with Second City, Fred Willard was an astonishingly ubiquitous presence especially on TV but also in movies for decades, almost always in small but memorable roles.
The New York Times said in 2008: “He has become the king of the deadpan cameo, the guy who makes...
Willard died Friday night at his home in Los Angeles of natural causes. Willard’s daughter, Hope Mulbarger, said the actor died “very peacefully.”
“He kept moving, working and making us happy until the very end. We loved him so very much,” Mulbarger said. Willard has a role in the upcoming Netflix comedy series “Space Force” opposite Steve Carell.
Willard was married for 50 years to Mary Willard, a playwright and collaborator with her husband. She died in 2018 at the age of 71.
After getting his start in improv comedy with Second City, Fred Willard was an astonishingly ubiquitous presence especially on TV but also in movies for decades, almost always in small but memorable roles.
The New York Times said in 2008: “He has become the king of the deadpan cameo, the guy who makes...
- 5/16/2020
- by Carmel Dagan
- Variety Film + TV
Mary Willard, playwright, TV writer and wife of four-time Emmy nominee Fred Willard, has died at the age of 71.
Willard died on July 13, but news of her death was recently made public.
Champion is the one word that comes to mind when remembering Mary Willard and she wasn’t just Fred Willard’s best cheerleader, but she also mentored and nurtured a number of creative comedic writers and actors through the Willards’ Los Angeles-based comedy sketch group The Mohos over the last two-plus decades (which anecdotally I was a part of some years ago).
‘Let’s put on a show’ was an unofficial mantra, and within less than two-weeks time, the troupe would pull wigs out of the closet and brush up pages for performances at the Io West and The Bang Theater and even as far as the Inland Empire. Those trying out sketches at Mohos had the opportunity...
Willard died on July 13, but news of her death was recently made public.
Champion is the one word that comes to mind when remembering Mary Willard and she wasn’t just Fred Willard’s best cheerleader, but she also mentored and nurtured a number of creative comedic writers and actors through the Willards’ Los Angeles-based comedy sketch group The Mohos over the last two-plus decades (which anecdotally I was a part of some years ago).
‘Let’s put on a show’ was an unofficial mantra, and within less than two-weeks time, the troupe would pull wigs out of the closet and brush up pages for performances at the Io West and The Bang Theater and even as far as the Inland Empire. Those trying out sketches at Mohos had the opportunity...
- 9/6/2018
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
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