Fred Willard first made an impression on the national consciousness in 1977, when he played the role of Jerry Hubbard, sidekick to Martin Mull's Barth Gimble on a fictional talk show called "Fernwood 2Night," which was spun off Norman Lear's soap-opera spoof, "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman." Since then, Willard has appeared in scores of movies and television series, but in this writer's opinion, his most inspired work has come in Christopher Guest's comic masterpieces, "Waiting for Guffman" (1997) and "Best in Show" (2000; both movies are available on DVD). Most recently, Willard has appeared in "The Year That Trembled" (a dramatic look at four young men faced with the draft lottery in 1970) and Harry Shearer's "Teddy Bears' Picnic".
Currently, TV Land is running an episode of "Fernwood 2Night" every Friday and Saturday night as part of a two-hour Kitschen block, hosted by Willard and Mull.
The interview below was conducted July 7 through July 9 via e-mail.
Neyer: For people who haven't seen the movie -- and they know who they are -- I need to set up this question ... In Waiting for Guffman, you and Catherine O'Hara play a couple who have won parts in a small-town production of an original musical. But as opening night approaches, producer/choreographer Corky St. Claire has quit, leaving the future of the production in serious doubt.
So you and O'Hara are distraught. And while she takes solace in silence and (presumably) alcohol, your character falls back on great sports comebacks. In the finished film, you hearken back to your days with the Blaine High football team. But in one of the extra scenes on the DVD, you play the role of Bill Mazeroski in Game 7 of the 1960 World Series.
What's impressive to me is your obvious knowledge of fairly obscure elements of baseball history. Everybody knows about Mazeroski, of course, but you reference Sam Breadon, Hal Smith, Ralph Terry, Mazeroski's homer in Game 1, and Ken Keltner (in a later thing on DiMaggio's hitting streak).
[And in case anyone's wondering, I should point out that when Christopher Guest directs a movie, very few of the lines are scripted. Willard and the other actors improvise nearly everything.]
So my question (yes, finally) is, how did your interest in baseball history develop, and how far does it go?
Willard: Cleveland is my hometown, and the Indians have a narrow but rich history. I first became interested in "great moments" when I read about the famous Feller-to-Boudreau pickoff play in the 1948 World series. (On his deathbed, Phil Masi admitted he was out.)
Also, the Indians' previous World Series appearance (against the Dodgers in 1920) featured an unassisted triple play. Today you can still walk onto the diamond that remains from League Park, and stand where Bill Wamby made the putouts. You can also stand at home plate where DiMaggio got the final hit in his streak, which ended the next day in the larger Municipal Stadium. (But I don't have to tell you that.)
I have also always had a fascination with the St. Louis teams; the Cardinals for their Gashouse Gang and classic uniform logos, and of course the Browns for just being the Browns and for Pete Gray. You can also still stand on the site of the '44 World Series (between the Cardinals and Browns), although the parks department has seen fit to plant over the old diamond.
All America is familiar with the Yankee-Dodger-Giant trivia, but so many other teams had great moments. A friend of mine who shares my interest in old parks and obscure moments once phoned me while I was eating breakfast and said, "Listen." He scraped his phone on something and said, "Did you hear that? I just tapped what's left of the wall at Forbes field where Mazeroski's home run went over." Now that's a great moment.
Neyer: One of my favorite baseball memories is visiting the site of Forbes Field a few years ago. I think every fan of baseball history should make that pilgrimage at least once.
Do you know any actors who know as much baseball history as you do?
Willard: I think Dabney Coleman is quite baseball savvy. So is Christopher Guest, although I once pitched an idea to Chris that featured Ted Williams, and he said, "Fred, you remember Ted Williams and I remember Ted Williams, but young people today don't know him." He may be right and that saddens me.
Also, did you know that Babe Ruth's orphanage, St. Mary's, still stands outside of Baltimore, and although it's under another name, you can walk on the spot where the Babe first played and stand where he was photographed wearing that catchers mitt on the wrong hand?
Neyer: I had no idea about St. Mary's, and I'm disappointed with myself because I was in Baltimore a couple of years ago and had enough time for a side trip to see the Babe's old stomping grounds. Oh well, maybe next time ...
Best in Show generally received positive notices from people who show their dogs, which might have been somewhat surprising given the nature of the film. On the other hand, Joe Garagiola -- who, as the long-time non-expert commentator for the Westminster Dog Show, might be considered your real-life counterpart -- didn't seem to get the joke. Specifically, he said, "I didn't think it was funny. To compare what he said to what I say is apples and oranges."
This, from a man whose first book was titled, "Baseball is a Funny Game." Anyway, I can't help but wonder, did you spend much time listening to Garagiola "call" a dog show?
Willard: Chris Guest sent me a tape of the previous Westminster Dog Show and said, "You'll notice Joe Garagiola has made no effort to learn anything about dogs." It was easy to pick up his rhythms and phrasing and his blue-collar "Hey, I'm just sittin' in here" attitude. And of course I was familiar with his baseball broadcasting. They also pointed out to me that at the end of the broadcast, which was aimed at people sitting at home in front of their TV's, he signed off by saying, "Good night and drive carefully."
But I know what he was going for. He was speaking for the regular guy who might not be that familiar with the whole "Prize dog" scene. And make no mistake, Joe played big-league ball, and for that I have the highest respect.
Neyer:Have you run into Garagiola since the movie came out?
Willard: No. However, I was in Miami promoting the film for a day and someone asked me if I'd been out to a certain TV show. I said I hadn't and they said, "I just wondered, because Joe's son is one of the hosts." Have I mentioned how much I admire his big-league credentials?
Neyer: This one's really been bugging me ... you delivered some of the most memorable lines in the movie, and given the improvisational nature of the work, there must have been some great nuggets left on the cutting-room floor. Why didn't any of your "lost" lines make it onto the DVD?
Willard: I don't know why my lines that were cut from the film didn't make it onto the DVD. I have offered to go into the editing room with Christopher and work shoulder to shoulder with him to fit all my lines in. I think he thinks I'm kidding. I'm only trying to help.
My favorite is when I'm interviewing the old man in the wheelchair, whom I have not been told is non-communicative. The scene was shot at four in the morning and it ended up as a monologue directed at his pretty nurse. It included a lot of medical jokes, including observations on rectal thermometers, me asking her if she knew I had once returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown, and me asking how much her patient weighed because I thought I could dead-lift him and his wheelchair over my head. The fact that she was pretty and non-speaking made it a comic actor's dream.
Neyer: How could Guest have left that off the DVD? Oh well, maybe someday when they release the Deluxe Super-Platinum version ...
Fred, before I ask one last question, I'd like to thank you for taking the time for this interview and also for your wonderful work over the years. Way back in the 1970s when I was just a boy, my mom was a fan of both Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and Fernwood 2Night, and I can still remember thinking that you were the funniest man on television. Well, you or Bob Newhart. Or Bob Denver (hey, I was only 11).
In closing, then ... When you were growing up, who was your favorite Indian, and why?
Willard: Jeff Heath. He always seemed to be involved in some sort of controversy: arguments, fights, etc. As a little kid, I was fascinated by his rebellious attitude. This was in the days of conformity and little publicity about baseball personalities. Then, one day in the paper, there was a picture of Jeff Heath ... shirt off, flexing his muscles with a bat. The caption read, "A Mighty man is He(ath)." I thought that he must be some kind of Superman.
Ironically, he was traded to the Boston Braves in 1948, the year they played the Indians in the World Series. And near the end of the season, in an unimportant game, he slid into home and broke his ankle, and could not play in the Series.