This tall, dark-haired, straight-laced comic actor has oft come across as dimwitted or dense, but he has been smart enough to sustain almost continuous work for four decades. Prolific in both film and television, Fred Willard is best recalled as Jerry Hubbard, sidekick to Martin Mull, on the syndicated talk show send-ups "Fernwood 2-Night" (1977-78) and "America 2-Night" (1978). Other notable stints include his work as one of the hosts of NBC's "Real People" in the early 80s, and, more recently, his role as Mull's gay lover on ABC's "Roseanne" (from 1995 to 1997).
A military school graduate, Willard began performing in comedy clubs after two years in the service. In 1962, he teamed in an act with comic Vic Grillo and two years later the pair made their TV debut on "The Ed Sullivan Show" (CBS) before performing regularly on Steve Allen's syndicated talk show. Willard left Grillo and NYC for a year to work with Chicago's Second City, and, when he returned to The Big Apple, it was to appear Off-Broadway in "The Return of Second City in '20,000 Frozen Grenadiers'" (1966). He also appeared in the straight comedy "Little Murders" (1969), with Linda Lavin, Vincent Gardenia and Christopher Guest, then emigrated to Hollywood where he worked with both The Committee and the Ace Trucking Company. Willard was a regular on the short-lived sketch comedy series "The Burns and Schreiber Comedy Hour" (ABC, 1973), and then played ambitious and vain D.A. Bud Nugent on the sitcom "Sirota's Court" (NBC, 1976-77).
After becoming established as a viable TV host due to his amusing stint on NBC's "Real People" (1979; 1981-83), Willard co-hosted the syndicated series about trends, "What's Hot, What's Not" (1985), alongside Melanie Chartoff. He played a bartender, the only live-action performer, on the puppet show "D.C. Follies" (syndicated, 1987-88). and may also be remembered as Alan Thicke's sidekick on the short-lived disastrous late-night talk show "Thicke of the Night" (1983-84) or for his work alongside Alan Funt hosting the revived "Candid Camera" (CBS, 1990). Guest work on TV series kept Willard perennially busy, bringing his unique, stolid-looking, spacey-acting humor to roles on such favorites as "The Love Boat" (ABC, 1996), "The Golden Girls" (NBC, 1991), "Married... With Children" (Fox, 1992), "Friends" (NBC, 1996), "King of the Hill" (Fox, 2001) and "That '70s Show" (Fox, 2003) as well as recurring stints on "Family Matters" (ABC 1994-95), "Sister, Sister" (The WB, 1996), "Mad About You" (NBC, 1998-99), "Ladies Man" (CBS, 1999-2000) and "Ally McBeal" (Fox, 2001). He received an Emmy nomination for his role as former co-star Martin Mull's gay lover on the hit sit-com "Roseanne" (ABC, 1995-1996), and was especially effective playing against his wacky type in his recurring role as the polite, religious, socially conservative Hank McDougal, Brad Garrett's father-in-law on "Everybody Loves Raymond" (CBS, 2003- ), opposite fellow '70s sit-com stalwart Georgia Engel as his wife. He also made over 50 appearances on Jay Leno's "The Tonight Show."
Willard has appeared in numerous films, usually in smaller comedy roles. He was a gas station attendant in his first "The Model Shop" (1969), a stooge of capitalism in "Fun With Dick and Jane" (1977), a presidential assistant in "First Family" (1980), and Lt. Hookstratten in "This Is Spinal Tap" (1984). In "Moving Violations" (1985), Willard played a garage owner in driving school whose description of a tune-up is mistaken by Wendy Jo Sperber as a description of a physical examination. He was the town mayor in "Roxanne" (1987), and a sleazy insurance agent in "High Strung" (1991). A memorable, mostly improvised turn as Ron Albertson, half of the husband and wife (Catherine O'Hara) travel agent duo who has never left the small town of Blaine, Missouri, in Christopher Guest's scathingly funny small town showbiz mockumentary "Waiting For Guffman" (1997) marked an auspicious return to the big screen, where Willard would further prove himself with subsequent parts in "Permanent Midnight" (1998) and "Idle Hands" (1999).
In 2000, the actor successfully reteamed with Guest, playing a babbling announcer for a prestigious dog show event in the actor-director's riotous "Best in Show". Willard's scene-stealing portrayal of the wacky commentator won the actor notice and critical accolades, not only for his performance but for the inane and unexpected statements that he extracted from his own imagination. In a more traditional set up, he would go on to play real-life legendary sports commentator Howard Cosell in the fact-based, battle of the sexes TV-movie "When Billie Beat Bobby" (ABC, 2001). In between films, Willard attempted regular roles on series televison, including a stint as the father on the short-lived family sit-com "Maybe It's Me" (2001-2002), the WB series about a teenaged girl who feels out of place in her eccentric family; as a semi-regular on Julia Louis-Dreyfus' avant garde sit-com "Watching Ellie" (NBC, 2002-2003); and in Norm Macdonald's short-lived sit-com "A Minute With Stan Hooper" (ABC, 2003). He snared one of his best recurring roles when he appeared opposite Georgia Engel as Robert's (Brad Garrett) straight-laced in-laws Hank and Pat McDougal on the hit sit-com "Everybody Loves Raymond" beginning in 2003.
Willard returned in 2003 for another Christopher Guest film, this time getting slightly less screen time as the perfectly unctuous sit-com star-turned-folk-group-manager Mike LaFontaine, a fast-talking shmoozer with a fondness for recycling his TV catch phrases. He also added to the merriment of the "American Pie" sequel "American Wedding" (2003) with an amusing turn as the uptight father of secretly perverted band geek Michelle (Alyson Hannigan). His next major big screen role was opposite Will Ferrell in the comedy "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgandy" (2004), refining his "idiot broadcaster" routine to comic perfection.