Fred Willard, comedy legend from 'Best in Show' and 'A Mighty Wind,' is dead at 86
Legendary actor, writer, and comedian Fred Willard died on Friday at the age of 86.
He may be best known to 2020 audiences for his role on Modern Family, where he played Phil's dad Frank. But Willard has a long history in Hollywood, including a lengthy and creatively productive relationship with mockumentary master Christopher Guest.
Willard's career started in the New York City comedy scene of the 1950s, where he first made a name for himself as one half of a comedy duo alongside Vic Grecco. He later performed with Second City in Chicago and co-founded the improv comedy troupe, Ace Trucking Company, which logged numerous appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.
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Willard's profile had only grown by the end of the '70s, when a role on the comedy series Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman landed him a starring role (alongside Martin Mull) on the spin-off Fernwood 2 Night, and a couple others that followed.
All of which is to say that Willard was already a well-known name among comedy lovers by the time he made his first big splash in the Rob Reiner-directed mockumentary This is Spinal Tap, which was co-written by Guest. He then went on to appear in Guest's greatest subsequent hits, including the dog show farce Best in Show; the folk music riff on Spinal Tap, A Mighty Wind; and the homespun local theater send-up, Waiting for Guffman (among others).
Willard's film and TV credits in general capture an unimaginably wide cross-section of entertainment from the past 60 years. He had roles in the first Austin Powers, Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle, and Anchorman. He lent his voice to WALL-E. On TV, his credits include appearances on The Bob Newhart Show, Laverne & Shirley, Married... With Children, Family Matters, Roseanne, Murphy Brown, Mad About You, The Simpsons, and Modern Family (among many others).
Willard kept on working right up to the end. He will next appear in a recurring role on Netflix's upcoming series Space Force, from Steve Carell and Greg Daniels (of The Office and Parks and Recreation fame).
A large community of friends, fans, and colleagues stepped up swiftly to pay tribute to Willard on social media in the hours after his death, attributed to natural causes, was confirmed.
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Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
