[3] The 1940 census lists an Albert Meister "age 16" living on Douglass (today's Strauss) Street in Brooklyn, New York.[10]. He appeared in a movie for the first time in 1954: an uncredited appearance in the Academy Award Best Picture winner On the Waterfront. He attended the Groton School. In 1952, Gwynne married socialite Jean "Foxy" Reynard,[13] a granddaughter of New York City mayor William Jay Gaynor. Todays #VeteranOfTheDay is Army Veteran Jorge Otero-Barreto, the Puerto Rican Rambo.. Lewis's first well-known television role was as Officer Leo Schnauser on the sitcom Car 54, Where Are You? As a left-wing activist, he hosted a politically oriented radio program on WBAI (whose theme song was King Curtis ' "Foot Pattin'") and ran as Green Party candidate for governor of New York in 1998. He was then headed to New York City. The Taming Of Lucille, Car 54 Where Are You? The Secret of My Success. A talented vocalist, Gwynne sang in a Hallmark Hall of Fame television production The Littlest Angel (1969), and went on to perform in a variety of roles on stage and screen. Corrections? Dylan - a son born in 1960. He didnt want to go back there. So, when he enrolled in a drama class, his teacher told him that he couldn't be an actor because he was too tall. as Patrolman Francis Muldoon. At the time of his demise, he was 66 years old. In 1978, he told a New York Times reporter that he always dreamed of being a portrait painter. Fred Gwynne (1926-1993) - Find a Grave Memorial Murder in Black and White. Gwynne then found success as a stage actor in regional state productions across the United States while maintaining a low Hollywood profile. Change Your Partner, [on his most famous role, 1979]: Funny thing, yesterday morning I found Frederick Hubbard Gwynne (July 10, 1926 - July 2, 1993) was an American actor, artist, and author widely known for his roles in the 1960s television sitcoms Car 54, Where Are You? For Fred Gwynne, 'The Munsters' Brought Tragic Memories For Him The couple lived in New York with their five children. Al Lewis was 6-foot-2, and hes staring up at Fred, because now hes so much taller. Fred Gwynne died on July 2, 1993, in Taneytown, Maryland, after a battle with cancer of the pancreas. ". This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Perhaps one of the reasons the books did not achieve wider popularity initially was the fact that their format was geared to a very young audience, but the concept was more appealing to older children and adults, achieving critical success and eventually becoming regular bestsellers for their publisher. "Shakespeare Imaginatively Staged at City Center". He also won an Obie award for best actor for his work in the Off-Broadway playGrand Magic(1979). Fred Gwynne later married his second wife Deborah Flater and they remained married until he died in 1993. Additionally, Kieron suffered a severe brain injury that left him mentally disabled at just the age of 1. ", Fred Gwynne appearing in the ABC tv movie 'Captains Courageous' in 1977. Gwynne enlisted in the Navy during World War II, serving as a radioman . "I was working for Universal under what they called a minimum residual deal," he explained. After the war, he attended Harvard University. "That means I got paid for the first years of reruns, but that's all." He also went on to become an illuminator. 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On the left is Fred Gwynne and on the right is Joe E. Ross. An aspiring painter, Gwynne drew cartoons for the schools notorious humor magazine, The Harvard Lampoon, and later became president of the publication. I love old Herman Munster. keep his personal and professional lives separate. Meet Madyn Gwynne Fred always had his feet on the ground. But even then, he needed some help to bring Herman to life; he wore heavy makeup to play the character, including elevator shoes that added four inches to his already imposing height, 50 pounds of padding and a wig. He is sorely missed by Baby Boomers who grew up delighted by his "Officer Francis Muldoon" and "Herman Munster" and were gratified by his late-career renaissance on film. Things were not so smooth in his life from an early age, and he faced many difficulties. Universal could reach into its vaults for some otherwise copyrighted characters, including the aristocratic Dracula as the inspiration behind Grandpa, played by Al Lewis. Gwynne was married twice, first to Jean "Foxy" Reynard (1951 to 1980), with whom he had four children, and then to Deborah Gwynne (1988 to his death in 1993). He was just eight days shy of turning 67 years old. In a previous interview, he revealed: "I think the size of my voice goes back to the fact that my father was deaf and hated wearing a hearing aid.