Playing clueless characters is comic actor's mainstay

[Brian Damage]

ENCINO, Calif. --Fred Willard, who tends to go off on tangents, had finally gotten around to making his point, which was about a certain quality shared by many of his best-known characters, from the oblivious sidekick on "Fernwood 2-Night" to the scene-stealing announcer in the film "Best in Show" to his current gig as a dunderheaded sportscaster on the Fox sitcom "Back to You," which returns this week from its strike-related layoff.

"I like to play the guy that has no self-awareness," he said, sitting in the living room of his modest home in the San Fernando Valley, "kind of the likable buffoon who will stick his foot in his mouth and say the wrong thing."

A shout came from the kitchen: "Kind of like you in real life." It was Mary Willard, his wife of 38 years.

"This is my interview, dear," Willard shouted back before acknowledging that, yes, he can be a little politically incorrect. But he's trying to get over it, which he illustrated by mentioning how much it throws him off to hear a woman announcing the starting lineups at San Francisco Giant baseball games. "Leave it to San Francisco to have a woman announcer -- 'And now, batting leadoff with a brand new haircut and standing a lovely 6-foot-2' -- no, I mean, what was my point?"

Willard, 68, made his first network television appearance, as part of the Willard and Greco comedy team, on "The Ed Sullivan Show" in 1964, and in the decades since he has become the king of the deadpan cameo, the guy who makes a one-shot appearance as an office manager or furniture salesman and ends up stealing the scene. He was all over television in the 1970s, '80s and '90s as a member of the Ace Trucking Company and Second City improvisational comedy groups, not to mention popping up in episodes of "Love American Style" or "Murphy Brown." Casting directors knew who he was, but audiences did not.

That changed in 2000 with his outrageous performance as a blissfully ill-informed dog show television announcer in "Best in Show," a film directed by Christopher Guest in which all dialogue was improvised. Willard, who had studied tapes of Joe Garagiola announcing the Westminster Kennel Club show, trotted out every inappropriate dog joke and announcing cliche he could muster, drawing rave reviews and reinvigorating his career.

"It's sad to think, when you look at how beautiful these dogs are," he said in one of the film's most memorable ad-libs, "that in some countries these dogs are eaten."

Steven Levitan, the co-creator of "Back to You," called Willard "a guy you just can't get mad at."

"He's just a lovable uncle, even if he's saying the most deeply inappropriate thing," said Levitan, who with his writing partner, Christopher Lloyd, wrote the character of Marsh McGinley, an ex-jock sportscaster, specifically for Willard. (The show offers new episodes on Tuesday and Wednesday nights this week.)

"When I got to the 'Best in Show' set the day before I filmed," said Willard, who performed his entire role in one five-hour session, "I asked Chris Guest, 'Are there a lot of Shih Tzu jokes?' He said no. And I said, 'Well, there will be tomorrow."'

The attention from "Best in Show" led to a prominent part in "Anchorman" with Will Ferrell, a recurring role on the sitcom "Everybody Loves Raymond" (for which he received three Emmy nominations) and continuing sketch appearances on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno." It also brought a cachet, buoyed by the YouTube and Nick at Night reruns of his old "Fernwood 2-Night" appearances, unlike anything Willard experienced in the first 30 years of his career. He suddenly became cool.

"'Fernwood 2-Night' didn't help me too much when it was first on" in the 1970s, he said. "But when it was replayed on TVLand, the guys who are producers now were in college." Which is why Willard frequently turns up in offbeat independent films and cutting-edge shows like "The Boondocks" and "Tim and Eric Awesome Show" (which Cartoon Network includes in Adult Swim, its block of adult comedy). It's also why, when he attended Rodney Dangerfield's funeral several years ago, he found himself surrounded by comics like Chris Rock and Adam Sandler. He didn't notice. But Mary Willard did.

"I've never crossed over to be a big star," Willard said, not complaining. "I'd like to be in a big $100 million movie, though. 'Cause I was in an 'Austin Powers,' I think I had two lines, and every once in a while I get a check, a really nice check, for that movie. I got some nice checks from 'Anchorman' too. Every time I get one, I show Mary and say, 'We love Will Ferrell, don't we?' Which I do. He was the greatest guy to work with. I hope he hasn't changed."

http://www.bnd.com/entertainment/story/273045.html

[Janice]

Originally Posted by Brian Damage

"I like to play the guy that has no self-awareness," he said, sitting in the living room of his modest home in the San Fernando Valley, "kind of the likable buffoon who will stick his foot in his mouth and say the wrong thing."

A shout came from the kitchen: "Kind of like you in real life." It was Mary Willard, his wife of 38 years.

"This is my interview, dear," Willard shouted back before acknowledging that, yes, he can be a little politically incorrect.

This part of the interview kills me, as do the Will Ferrell remarks. Fred Willard is hilarious, both on and off the screen. I always thought so. If anyone is a fan, do yourself a favor and rent, Best In Show. No pun, but Willard steals the show, lol.

[Ireneparalegal]

Fred Willard has always come across as someone who can easily laugh at himself. He seems like he is someone you can easily find yourself comfortable with. He is down to earth. I remember some article I read sometime back when he was on ROSEANNE and he just seemed nothing like the Hollywood type of celeb that we constantly read abt.

Gotta love his wife for that great one-liner she threw out there. That is what I would have done.

[catlover79]

Fred Willard is such a funny guy - love his bits on Jay Leno as "Willard J. Fredericks". He also did a funny guest spot on The Bob Newhart Show in its third season. He and Bob Newhart did commentary on that episode in the DVD set.