Most casual TV fans never heard of "FREDD WAYNE."
Take a look at the photo above, and you'll probably say, "Oh, that guy. Yeah. He played the heartless agent opposite Barbara Nichols in that spooky "Room 22" episode of "The Twilight Zone." So?
And he had a second career playing Ben Franklin, not only on an episode of "Bewitched" but via a one-man stage show.
He was one of those versatile character actors so versatile...that he went unnoticed.
He died in Santa Monica in assisted living (well, you can only assist in helping someone live...) at the age of 93. Born Fredd Weiner (October 17, 1924 – August 27, 2018) his acting career actually took off when he was in World War 2. Before that, he'd worked in the mail room at Warner Bros. But when he joined "Special Services," he did everything from run the movie projector to put together amateur shows to entertain the troops.
Bob Hope couldn't be everywhere, so it was important for morale that talented GI's get together and offer some entertainment. Fredd ended up writing a show called "G.I. Carmen," and when he couldn't find anyone to dress in drag for the lead, he took the assignment himself.
"Special Services" revues, like the Bob Hope shows, made the circuit wherever the troops needed a break, so Fredd's odd show toured through Italy, to France (where Gertrude Stein and her pal Alice B. Toklas glommed his ddrag), and Germany, where a curious Marlene Dietrich was in the audience.
This credit didn't mean too much when Fredd got back home. His hopes of Broadway work got him...the job as an usher at a theater. Fortunately, his gofer work, including running errands for the stars, led Jose Ferrer to give him a break. Fredd got a small role in "The Insect Comedy," which the savvy Ferrer stocked with other promising newcomers, including future TV sitcom icons Werner Klemperer and Ray Walston.
A variety of musicals and plays followed, and since most TV dramas were filmed in New York at the time, between Broadway work he turned up on powerhouse programs including The Defenders, Playhouse 90, Lux Video Theatre, Armstrong Circle Theatre, Schlitz Playhouse, Omnibus and Studio One.
Fredd didn't seem to connect in the film world, but he was a reliable guy for all the classic TV shows of the day, including M Squad, Maverick, Bourbon Street Beat, Sugarfoot, The Untouchables, 77 Sunset Strip, Bachelor Father, The Real McCoys, The Defenders, Bewitched, and several Perry Mason episodes.
His Ben Franklin one-man show kept him busy, playing not only theaters around the country, but adaptations for "industrials," in front of conventioneers at a variety of conventions. He still had time for one or two appearances on TV in the late 70's and 80's, adding Lou Grant, Cagney and Lacey, Quincy, Trapper John, Rockford Files and St. Elsewhere to his resume.
Fredd was in the cast of several Bob Hope specials, and re-united with Bob in 1976 for a "made-for-vinyl" album called "America is 200 Years Old...And There's Still Hope." He played...Ben Franklin.
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