"Darn it all, we're
gonna have to cancel Operation Recolonize. So uh, just stay the
course, um... Rather than try and fix this problem, it'll just be
easier for everyone to remain in space."
- as
Shelby
Forthright, BnL CEO from
WALL·E
(2008)
Fred Willard appeared on
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno over 80 times, as both a guest and a
participant in a skit.
Fred Willard (born
September 18th, 1939) is an American actor, comedian, voice actor,
and writer, best known for his improvisational comedy and for his
roles in the Rob Reiner mockumentary film This Is Spinal Tap, and the
films of Christopher Guest. He is an alumnus of The Second City.
Willard grew up in Shaker
Heights, Ohio and one of his earliest jobs was at The Second City,
Chicago, where he shared the stage with Robert Klein and David
Steinberg. He was a founding member of the improvisational comedy
group Ace Trucking Company. They performed sketches on The Tonight
Show With Johnny Carson over 50 times and appeared regularly on This
is Tom Jones.
Willard's film debut was in
the 1967 exploitation film Teenage Mother. He also appered on TV in
an episodes of Pistols 'n' Petticoats (1966) and Get Smart (1968 -
pictured below with Don Adams).
Willard achieved wider fame
as Martin Mull's sidekick, Jerry Hubbard, on the television shows
Fernwood 2 Night, Forever Fernwood, and America 2-Night, which
parodied the nighttime talk shows of the day (pictured below).
In 1995 Willard reunited
with his Fernwood co-star playing Scott, the romantic partner of
Mull's character Leon Carp, on Roseanne. The couple married in the
episode "December Bride," and Scott became a recurring
character during the series' final two seasons.
Other TV work includes
hundreds of sketches on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, That '70s
Show, Real People, Saturday Night Live (as host), Stargate SG-1,
Everybody Hates Chris, Castle, Chuck, The Closer, Raising Hope, Trust
Us With Your Life, Hot in Cleveland, Drunk History, Married... with
Children, Maybe It's Me, The Weird Al Show, The History of White
People (again teamed with Martin Mull), and Community. He received
three Emmy nominations for his recurring role on the TV series
Everybody Loves Raymond as Robert Barone's father-in-law, Hank
MacDougall. In 2010, he received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding
Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his role on the ABC TV series
Modern Family as Phil Dunphy's father, Frank Dunphy.
Willard has made notable
apperances in a number of Christopher Guest films, such as A Mighty
Wind, Best in Show, Waiting for Guffman, This Is Spinal Tap and For
Your Consideration. For his performance in Waiting for Guffman he
received an American Comedy Award nomination and a Screen Actors
Guild nomination for Funniest Supporting Actor. He received the
Boston Film Critics Award, an American Comedy Award, a Sierra Award
and a tribute from AFI for his portrayal as Buck Laughlin in Best in
Show. He also appeared in American Wedding, and as KVWN news director
Ed Harken in Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Anchorman 2: The
Legend Continues, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, Harold &
Kumar Go to White Castle, WALL-E and the film Roxanne starring Steve
Martin. He played Tom Osbourne in the 1987 Academy Award–winning
short film, Ray's Male Heterosexual Dance Hall.
Willard has also done voice
work for Family Guy, King of the Hill, Dexter's Laboratory (with
Martin Mull), Tom Goes to the Mayor, The Simpsons, Kim Possible, The
Boondocks, Chicken Little, Transformers Animated and Planes: Fire
& Rescue amoung others. In 2007 he played Dad in the Academy
Award nominated, animated film Monster House.
