Fred Willard Biography
Born: September 18, 1939
Born in the Midwest and educated in the military, actor Fred Willard has proven his talent for improvisational comedy on the stage, television, and the big screen. His characters are frequently grinning idiots or exaggerated stereotypes, but Willard's skillful timing has always added a unique spin. An alumni of Second City in Chicago, he's worked with many of the biggest-named comedians of his time. His early TV credits include a regular stint on The Burns and Schreiber Comedy Hour, a supporting part on the sitcom Sirota's_Court, and the role of Jerry Hubbard, sidekick of TV talk-show host Barth Gimble (Martin_Mull) in the satirical Fernwood 2Night. He went on to appear in subsequent incarnations of Fernwood and continued to work with Mull and his gang for the next few decades. In the early '80s, he hosted the actuality series Real People and co-hosted the talk show Thicke of the Night. Some of his small, yet memorable, performances in feature comedies included President Fogerty in National Lampoon Goes to the Movies; the garage owner in Moving_Violations who's mistaken for a doctor; the air force officer in This_Is_Spinal_Tap; and Mayor Deebs in Roxanne.
Doing a lot of guest work on television, he was also involved in Martin_Mull's The History of White People in America series and was the only human actor amid a cast of puppets on the strange show D.C. Follies. In the '90s, he worked frequently in the various projects of fellow satirists Harry_Shearer, Christopher_Guest, and the like. He was travel agent Ron Albertson in Waiting for Guffman, TV announcer Buck Laughlin in Best in Show, and manager Mike LaFontaine in A_Mighty_Wind. He also appeared in Eugene_Levy's Sodbusters, Permanent_Midnight with Ben_Stiller, and showed up in Austin_Powers:_The_Spy_Who_Shagged_Me. On television, he picked up a regular spots on The_Tonight_Show_With_Jay_Leno, Roseanne (as Martin_Mull's lover), and Mad_About_You, along with voice-over work on numerous cartoons. He also received an Emmy nomination for his role as Hank McDougal on Everybody_Loves_Raymond. Since 2000, he has shown up in quite a few mainstream commercial films, including The_Wedding_Planner, How_High, and American_Wedding; but he also played Howard_Cosell in the TV movie When_Billie_Beat_Bobby. Projects for 2004 include Anchor Man: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle.
In 2004, however, he returned to his roots in outlandish comedies with Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. He also joined up with his Mighty Wind and Waiting for Guffman castmates again in 2006 with For Your Consideration, a satire of Hollywood self importance injected with Willard's trademark clever silliness. The next year he appeared in the spoof Epic Movie, as well as the romantic comedy I Could Never Be Your Woman. Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
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