Fred Willard

Fred Willard (born September 18, 1939) is an American comedian known for his improvisational flair, never-ending smile, and a unique charm that has made some regard him as one of his generation's most gifted comic character actors.

A master of sketch comedy, Fred is most heralded for his quick wit and improvisational expertise. His fifty appearances in sketches on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno are indicative of his ability to transform any character into a unique comic portrayal.

Fred recently completed a sold-out run of his one man show, Fred Willard: Alone At Last! (with a cast of twelve) and received two Los Angeles Artistic Director Awards, for Best Comedy and Best Production.

He is an alumnus of The Second City and currently heads a sketch comedy workshop, The MoHo Group. He got his start performing in a comedy duo and was a founding member of the improvisational comedy group Ace Trucking Company. Fellow members of Ace included Bill Saluga, Patty Deutch among others. He achieved wider fame as Martin Mull's impossibly dense sidekick, Jerry Hubbard, on the television shows Fernwood 2Night, Forever Fernwood and America 2-Night that parodied the night-time talk shows of the day.

His most recent notable work has been in Christopher Guest films, such as A Mighty Wind, where he played Mike LaFontaine who was known for the catch-phrase "Wha' happened?" from the fictitious 1960s U.S. television show of the same name, and Best in Show, in which he portrayed Buck Laughlin, a dog show announcer who offered up an unending stream of bad jokes and pointless comments.

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