Biography

Fred Willard radiated a unique charm that established him as one of the industry's most gifted comic actors, first coming to prominence as ambitious but dimwitted sidekick Jerry Hubbard to Martin Mull's smarmy talk-show host Barth Gimble in the devastating satirical series Fernwood Tonight (1977). A master of sketch comedy, he was most heralded for his quick wit and improvisational expertise. His 50 appearances in sketches on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992) were indicative of his ability to transform any character into a unique comic portrayal. Fred starred in an oft sold-out one-man show, "Fred Willard: Alone At Last!" (actually with a cast of 12) that received two Los Angeles Artistic Director Awards, for Best Comedy and Best Production. He was also an alumnus of The Second City and headed a sketch comedy workshop, The MoHo Group.
- IMDb mini biography by: A. Nonymous

Talkative and Shallow Yet Confident Characters

(2012, on landing WALL-E) It was amazing; they called me, and it was like they were trying to woo me to convince me to do it. They said, "We'd like to bring you up to San Francisco and have you tour Pixar," and I said, "Gee, my grandson is a huge fan of all the Pixar movies." So they said, "Bring your whole family up." They flew us up, they took me to their offices, and it was like they thought I had to be won over. I was thrilled to be up there. They took my grandson on a trip to see how they make the films, and then I went there twice to film this stuff. It was a very easy day, but they hadn't even finished the film then, and they wouldn't tell me anything about it. I couldn't be told the plot, and they asked me to do no publicity for it until like a week or two before the film. So that was a very strange experience. But it was wonderful, I just loved working with them. Pixar is like a cartoon itself: The writers can design their own offices-it's like a fun factory. And [the film] won an Academy Award. It was the only time I went to the Academy Awards, and I was sitting way back, behind the people who did Slumdog Millionaire. Every time they won-and they won every category-the guys in front of me would stand up, with their arms up cheering. I wanted to say, "We get it-you're winning every Academy Award." I was like in the right-field bleachers. Finally, they got to Best Animated Film, and I thought this could go any way. When they said Wall-E, I was thrilled. Because Pixar are such great people, and I thought it was such a wonderful message, that movie, for kids, without hitting them over the head about making the Earth a safe place and all. Maybe when they grow up, and they're 30 years old, subliminally they'll remember that message, and think twice about throwing trash or cigarette butts away.