Fred Gwynne

Are you mocking me in that outfit?

He was a Harvard grad too.

Love how he towers over Bob Hoskins in The Cotton Club and Joe Pesci in My Cousin Vinny

Two what?

Two yoots.

Handsome?

***********

Fred Gwynne walks into a bar.

The bartender asks, "Fred, why the long face?"

Would be criminal if he didn’t have a horse cock

He was a rotten parent.

Call me crazy but I thought he was adorably sexy in Car 54 when I was watching as a gayling in the early 1960s.

I liked him in Pet Sematary

Gwynne and Bob Hoskins were the best part of The Cotton Club. Too bad they didn’t get the chance to make a buddy film.

Handsome? .. I think you mean homely.

Great character actor that died too soon.

In my opinion he delivered one of the funniest comic performances in television history as Herman Munster. Still hilarious to this day.

Herman Munster seemed like a big queen 👸 to me - The Munsters was my favorite show.

He was Michael Douglas' boss in Fatal Attraction

I used to see him at Friendly’s with his daughter when I was a kid. I only knew him as Herman Munster then, and wouldn’t have recognized him if my dad hadn’t told me who he was.

Which Friendly's, r17?

Saw him on Broadway in the mid-70s as Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof opposite the magnificent Elizabeth Ashley and Keir Dullea. He was quite good despite an awful wig (I guess he really wasn't quite old enough in retrospect).

R18, Mt. Kisco, NY. Late 70s/early 80s.

How is that name pronounced???

Is it like “whiny” with a G in front?

[Quote] Keir Dullea

Love him!!!

Praise Keir!

Weren't his family patrician?

R22 Keir Dullea was so attractive back in the day

He was a Harvard graduate.

"The Munsters" wasn't quite as good as "The Addams Family" overall, in part because the Monsters thought they were much like everyone else (the funny running gag was that they thought Marilyn's boyfriends always ran away because they thought Marilyn was hideous compared to themselves--even Marilyn thought so), while the Addamses knew they were natural aristocrats When people ran away from their house, the Addamses just thought it was because the people running away were strange.

But "The Munsters" had the better theme song by season 2 (when they brought in the arrangement with the heavy bass), andi t had two superb lead performers in Fred Gwynne and Yvonne De Carlo. They were both very appealing, and had great chemistry together.

I remember being surprised that he didn't receive a Best Supporting Actor nomination for "My Cousin Vinny" (1992). He was one of the highlights and it's a genuine scene-stealing role. Plus, the film was a box-office hit and very popular on home video (sales/rentals).

Also, he was dying and passed away four months after the 1993 Oscar ceremony, where his co-star Marisa Tomei shockingly won. Not that she wasn't deserving, but it was a major upset..

Anyway, the nominees that year were:

- Jaye Davidson in "The Crying Game"

- Gene Hackman in "Unforgiven" (((WINNER)))

- Jack Nicholson in "A Few Good Men"

- Al Pacino in "Glengarry Glenn Ross"

- David Paymer in "Mr. Saturday Night"

I think he could've taken Paymer's place, because "MSN" was a huge flop -- or Pacino's, because "GGR" also bombed and he was slated to win Best Actor for "Scent of a Woman" after six nominations and zero wins.

R27 Or in 1985 for The Cotton Club. The film was nominated for Best Art Direction.

The nominees were:

Haing S. Ngor – The Killing Fields as Dith Pran (WINNER)

Adolph Caesar – A Soldier's Story as Sgt. Waters

John Malkovich – Places in the Heart as Mr. Will

Pat Morita – The Karate Kid as Kesuke Miyagi

Ralph Richardson (posthumous nomination) – Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes as 6th Earl of Greystoke

Not sure who he would replace, but he could have been nominated for that performance.

Herman was just plain lovable.

r26, actually, my memory was Munsters being much funnier than Addams Family. The later was certainly more eagerly anticipated because of the familiar title and already iconic characters from the cartoons but the former in production was far zanier and loveable. But I was just a pre-teen gayling then so what did I know?

THE ADDAMS FAMILY (September 18, 1964 ~ April 8, 1966) and THE MUNSTERS (September 24, 1964 ~ May 12, 1966) opened within a week of each other and were canceled one month apart.

His is still the best Big Daddy in Cat On A Hot Tin Roof I've yet to see. Brilliant portrayal.