Petty Officer Third Class Fred Gwynne of the US Navy: Veteran of The Battle of Saipan and the Battle of Tinian.
Frederick Hubbard Gwynne was born in New York City on July 10, 1926. Fred enlisted in the US Navy and in 1944 he served as a Radioman Third Class on a submarine chaser in the Pacific Theater. A veteran of both the Battle of Saipan and the Battle of Tinian, Gwynne was honorably discharged in 1948 with the rank of Petty Officer Third Class.
According to the Veterans Administration: “After the war, Fred attended Harvard University. An aspiring painter, Gwynne drew cartoons for the “The Harvard Lampoon,” and later became president of the publication. Upon graduation in 1951, he returned to New York and worked several jobs, such as creating commercial artwork and copywriting at the J. Walter Thompson Advertising Agency.
Gwynne’s first big break came in 1961 when he was cast in the role of police officer Francis Muldoon on the comedy series “Car 54, Where Are You?” The show aired until 1963; the following year, he was cast as Herman Munster in the popular syndication favorite “The Munsters.”
A regular on Broadway – Fred was cast as Big Daddy in the 1974 Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”. His final on-screen role was that of Judge Chamberlain Haller in the 1992 film “My Cousin Vinny,” the end of an acting career that spanned 42 years.” – VA News October 13, 2022.
Petty Officer Third Class Fred Gwynne passed away on July 2, 1993 at the age of 66 years old. He lies in rest at Sandy Mount United Methodist Church Cemetery in Finksburg, Maryland. Lest We Forget.
