<P> During World War II, Fred Gwynne served in the United States Navy, as a radioman on a submarine chaser . He later studied art under the G.I. Bill before attending Harvard, where he was affiliated with Adams House, graduating in 1951 . He was a member of the Fly Club, sang with the a cappella group the Harvard Krokodiloes, was a cartoonist for the Harvard Lampoon (eventually becoming its president), and acted in the Hasty Pudding Theatricals shows . </P> <P> Gwynne joined the Brattle Theatre Repertory Company after his 1951 graduation, then moved to New York City . To support himself, Gwynne worked as a copywriter for J. Walter Thompson, resigning in 1952 upon being cast in his first Broadway role, a gangster in a comedy called Mrs. McThing, which starred Helen Hayes . </P> <P> In 1954 he made his first cinematic appearance playing - in an uncredited role - the laconic character "Slim" in the Oscar - winning film On the Waterfront opposite Marlon Brando and Lee J. Cobb . Shortly afterwards Phil Silvers sought him out for his television show because he had been impressed by Gwynne's comedic work in Mrs. McThing . As a result, in 1955, Gwynne made a memorable appearance on The Phil Silvers Show, in the episode "The Eating Contest" as the character Corporal Ed Honnergar, whose depressive eating binges are exploited by Sgt . Bilko (Phil Silvers), who seeks prize money by entering Honnergar in an eating contest . Gwynne's second appearance on The Phil Silvers Show (in the episode "Its For The Birds" in 1956 in which Bilko persuades bird expert Honnergar to go on The $64,000 Question) and many other shows led writer - producer Nat Hiken to cast him in the sitcom Car 54, Where Are You? as Patrolman Francis Muldoon, opposite Joe E. Ross . During the two - season run of the program he met longtime friend and later co-star, Al Lewis . Gwynne was 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) tall, an attribute that contributed to his being cast as Herman Munster, a goofy parody of Frankenstein's monster, in the sitcom The Munsters . For his role he had to wear 40 or 50 lbs of padding, makeup, and 4 - inch asphalt - spreader boots . His face was painted a bright violet because it captured the most light on the black - and - white film . Gwynne was known for his sense of humor and retained fond recollections of Herman, saying in later life, "...I might as well tell you the truth . I love old Herman Munster . Much as I try not to, I can't stop liking that fellow ." After his iconic role in The Munsters, he found himself typecast, unable to gain new character roles for over two years . In 1969, he was cast as Jonathan Brewster in a television production of Arsenic and Old Lace . (The Brewster character had originally been played by Boris Karloff in the Broadway theater production of the play; Karloff had also famously played the movies' Frankenstein character that Gwynne's Herman Munster character would later be based on .) </P> <P> A talented vocalist, Gwynne sang in a Hallmark Hall of Fame made - for - television production, The Littlest Angel (1969), and went on to perform in a variety of roles on stage and screen . In 1974, drawing upon his own Southern roots, he appeared in the role of Big Daddy Pollitt in the Broadway revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with Elizabeth Ashley, Keir Dullea and Kate Reid . In 1975 he played the Stage Manager in Our Town at the American Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford, Connecticut . He returned to Broadway in 1976 as Colonel J.C. Kinkaid in two parts of A Texas Trilogy . In 1984, he tried out for the part of Henry on the show Punky Brewster . He is said to have withdrawn from the audition in frustration when the auditioner identified him as Herman Munster rather than by his real name . The role of Henry subsequently went to George Gaynes . In 1987, Fred Gwynne starred in a short - lived TV series Jake's M.O. where he played an investigative reporter . </P>

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