Fred Willard
Biography
Fred Willard was an American actor and comedian who built a career in improvisational comedy before becoming a familiar face in film and television. Born in Cleveland and raised in Shaker Heights, Ohio, he began on stage in New York and was a founding member of the improv group Ace Trucking Company. He gained wider fame on the talk-show parodies Fernwood 2 Night and America 2-Night, hosted Saturday Night Live in 1978, and was an original cast member of Real People. Willard was best known for Christopher Guest's mockumentaries, including Waiting for Guffman (1996), Best in Show (2000), and For Your Consideration (2006). His other films included American Wedding (2003), Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004), its sequel Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013), and WALL-E (2008). On television, he earned Emmy nominations for Everybody Loves Raymond and Modern Family.
86years old at death
- Born Cleveland
- Died Los Angeles
- Star sign: VirgoThe sign runs August 23 to September 22
- Frederic Charles Willard (birth name)
Movie Career
- Films
- 45
- Career span
- 40 years1976 to 2016
Genres
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Behind the camera
Fred Willard helped found the improvisational comedy group Ace Trucking Company. The group performed sketches on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson over 50 times.
Early training
Willard's early performing work included a job at The Second City in Chicago, where Robert Klein and David Steinberg were among the performers who shared that stage with him.
A role that slipped away
Willard and Vic Grecco, who performed as Willard & Grecco, were offered parts in Get Smart and The Carol Burnett Show, but poor management caused those offers to fall through.
Beyond film
Willard finished a sold-out run of Fred Willard: Alone At Last!, billed as a one-man show though twelve cast members appeared. He won Los Angeles Artistic Director Awards for Best Comedy and Best Production.
A first
Willard took the role of Shelby Forthright, who headed the Buy 'n' Large Corporation, in WALL-E (2008), the animated film that featured Pixar's first live-action speaking segments.
Fred Willard movies on Netflix
Best known for
The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.
Most often with
Adam McKay directed three of these films, Christopher Guest three and Jesse Dylan two. Two actors appear in five of them each. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
Catherine O'Hara's page
Jennifer Coolidge's page
Michael McKean's page
Paul Rudd's page
Eugene Levy's page
Chris Parnell's page
Adam McKayDirector, 3 films, 2004 to 2013
All films by Adam McKay
All films by Christopher Guest
Jesse DylanDirector, 2 films, 2001 to 2003
All films by Jesse Dylan
Also four films together2 more actors
- Christopher GuestFor Your Consideration (2006), Best in Show (2000), Waiting for Guffman (1996) and A Spinal Tap Reunion: The 25th Anniversary London Sell-Out (1992)
- Harry ShearerFor Your Consideration (2006), Chicken Little (2005), A Spinal Tap Reunion: The 25th Anniversary London Sell-Out (1992) and Cracking Up (1977)
When several people share the same number of films, the ones with the most films on Netflix are in the chart.
Box office
What Fred Willard's films earned in cinemas worldwide.
Combined worldwide box office
$2.1 billion
26 of the 45 films have a worldwide figure.
Of the 45 films: 26 worldwide figure; 4 us gross only; 10 never in cinemas; 5 figure not found.
- 26Worldwide figure
- 4US gross only
- 10Never in cinemas
- 5Figure not found
Top grosser
Highest grossing
The eight biggest films earned 81% of the total. The bars are drawn to scale.
- 1$521M24.5% of the total
- 2$314M14.8% of the total
- 3$231M10.9% of the total
- 4$174M8.2% of the total
- 5$151M7.1% of the total
- 6$140M6.6% of the total
- 7$95M4.4% of the total
- 8$91M4.3% of the total
$411 millionfrom the other 18 films with a worldwide figure, 19% of the total
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.