- Born
- Died
- Michael Vale, the character actor best known for his role as Fred the Baker in television commercials for Dunkin' Donuts, was born in Brooklyn, New York on June 28, 1922. He studied acting at New York City's Dramatic Workshop and made his movie debut in a bit part in director Fred Zinnemann's cinematic adaptation of Michael V. Gazzo's A Hatful of Rain (1957). He made his Broadway debut in the play "The Egg" in January 1962 in support of star Michael Constantine. The play flopped, lasting a total of only eight performances. He followed it up with two more Broadway flops in 1964 before making good with "The Impossible Years," which debuted on October 13, 1965 and did not close until May 27, 1967 after a total of 670 performances. He appeared in four more plays on Broadway in the next decade, but the only hit was Neil Simon's "California Suite," for which he was a standby.
While Vale never made much of an impression in movies, he appeared in over 1,300 TV commercials. The Dunkin' Donuts ads featuring his character Fred, whose signature line was "Time to make the doughnuts," ran for 15 years from 1982 until 1997, when Vale retired.
Michael Vale died on December 24, 2005 in New York City of complications from diabetes. He was 83 years old.
- IMDb mini biography by: Jon C. Hopwood
- SpouseNancy Vale(? - December 24, 2005) (his death)
- A veteran of the Broadway stage, film and television, Vale appeared in more than 1,300 TV commercials and was best known for his "Fred the Baker," character in a Dunkin'Donuts ad campaign lasted 15 years until he retired in 1997.
- The long-time commercial mascot of both Dunkin' Donuts (as Fred the Baker) and Breakstone's Sour Cream (as Sam Breakstone).
- Studied acting at the Dramatic Workshop in New York City with classmates Tony Curtis, Ben Gazzara and Rod Steiger.
- He also played the role of a baker in commercial for Breakstone Sour cream for many years. Much like the Doughnut character where he would say "Time to make the dough-nut" they had him stirring and stirring the sour cream to thicken it in this as campaign which ran for several years in the tri-state area (NY, CT and NJ)
- He was a veteran of Broadway stage, film and television who also appeared in more than 1,300 TV commercials.
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