Fred Gwynne

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? (as Francis Muldoon) and The Munsters (as Herman Munster), as well as his later film roles in The Cotton Club, Pet Sematary, and My Cousin Vinny. Early life Gwynne was born on July 10, 1926, in New York City, the son of Frederick Walker Gwynne, a partner in the securities firm Gwynne Brothers, and his wife Dorothy Ficken Gwynne, who, before her marriage, was a successful artist known for her "Sunny Jim" comic character. His paternal grandfather Walker Gwynne was an Anglican priest, born in Camus, County Tyrone, Ireland, around 1846, who married American Helen Lea Bowers. His maternal grandfather H. Edwards Ficken was an emigrant from London, who married American Josephine or Josephina Preston Hubbard. He had at least two siblings, Dorothy Gwynne and Bowers Gwynne, who both died young. Although Gwynne grew up in Tuxedo Park, New York, he spent most of his childhood in South Carolina, Florida, and Colorado because his father traveled extensively. He attended the Groton School.