Fred Gwynne

Birth Name: Frederick Hubbard Gwynne

Date of Birth: July 10, 1926

Place of Birth: New York City, New York, U.S.

Date of Death: July 2, 1993

Place of Death: Taneytown, Maryland, U.S.

Ethnicity: Northern Irish, English, some German, likely distant Welsh

Fred Gwynne was an American actor, artist, and author.

He is known for his roles on The Munsters and in the films Pet Sematary (1989) and My Cousin Vinny (1992), among others. In the decades after his death, Fred’s physical appearance and manner in Pet Sematary have repeatedly been used as a recurring character on the animated show South Park.

Fred was the son of Dorothy (Ficken), who was born in New York, and Frederick Walker Gwynne, who was born in Kennebunkport, Maine, and was a partner in the securities firm Gwynne Brothers. Fred was married to Deborah Flater, until his death. He had five children with his former wife, socialite Jean “Foxy” Reynard. Jean’s grandfather was politician William Jay Gaynor, who was Mayor of New York City, from 1910 to 1913.

Fred was raised in Tuxedo Park, New York, as well as South Carolina, Florida, and Colorado.

Fred’s paternal grandfather was The Rev. Walker A. Gwynne (the son of Richard Gwynne and Ann/Anne Walker). The Rev. Walker was born in Camus, near Strabane, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, and was an Anglican priest.

Fred’s paternal grandmother was Helen Bowers Lee (the daughter of Frederick/Frederic Albert Lee and Ann/Anne Cromelin/Crommelin Bowers). Helen was born in New York, and had deep Colonial American ancestry. Frederick was the son of The Rev. Chauncey Lee and Olive Harrison. Ann was the daughter of John Myer Bowers, a Federalist party politician, who was a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York, from June 21, 1813 to December 20, 1813; and of Margaret Matilda Stewart Wilson.

Fred’s maternal grandfather was Henry Edwards Ficken (the son of Martin Ficken and Emily Coles/Cole). Henry was born in London, England, and was an architect. Martin was born in Hanover, Germany. Emily was born in Brixton, Surrey, the daughter of James Coles and Rebeca.

Fred’s maternal grandmother was Josephine/Josephina Preston Hubbard (the daughter of Samuel Hubbard and Eliza T. Small). Josephine was born in New York.

Sources: Genealogies of Fred Gwynne – https://web.archive.org
https://www.geni.com
https://www.wikitree.com
https://www.findagrave.com

Marriage record of Fred’s parents – https://www.familysearch.org