Aged 86, the mighty Fred Willard, scene stealer in Christopher Guest’s folk mockumentary A Mighty Wind, has died. He also pulled focus, in a very good way, in Guest’s Best In Show, the dog show, um, mockumentary, as the TV commentator with nary a clue about canines. Oh, and of course he was in This Is Spinal Tap, in the airbase scene.
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Gatz says
He was great, wasn’t he? I didn’t realise he was quite that old. He was acting to the end with a reprisal of his role as Phil’s father in the last series of Modern Family.
Barry Blue says
I’ll have to check that out. I think of him as (just about) part of the Hollywood tradition of actors like Don Knotts and Phil Silvers, whose small screen and stand-up licks transferred to the movies, with show-stealing cameos. This all went awry in movies like It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World, which was cameos and little else, but in Guest’s series of classics it worked a treat.
Black Celebration says
Brilliant in Best in Show and many other things. I also didn’t realise he was in his 80s.
Freddy Steady says
One of my favourite scenes in Spinal Tap… the at ease weekend.