Fred Melamed

Trivia

• Son of producer Louis Melamed. Father was right-hand-man to television pioneer Nat Hiken and producer of many early shows, including Car 54, Where Are You?, Sgt. Bilko and others.
• Has twin sons with autism. Active, with wife Leslee, as an advocate for families with whose lives are affected by Autism Spectrum Disorder.
• Is a prominent voice actor. Has dubbed several other actors' entire performances, including villain Don Cabeza, in Roland Joffe's 1986 The Mission, with Robert De Niro.
• Was adopted. Biological mother is actor/director Nancy Zala. Related, by his biological father, a psychoanalyst, to renowned acting family the Adlers, including Luther & Stella Adler.
• Has appeared in a total of nine Woody Allen/Marshall Brickman films. Believed to be more appearances than any other actor besides Mia Farrow.
• Immediately after drama school, became an actor in Minneapolis' famed Guthrie Theatre Company.
• Appeared on Broadway in Amadeus.
• Was an original member of Western Massachusetts' Shakespeare & Co.
• Was an instructor at legendary performing arts camp, Stagedoor Manor.
• While still in high school, played lead guitar on record of hit song Puppet On A String, performed by Miami vocalist Sharon Facente.

Quotes

• "I'm one of relatively few stage-trained actors who doesn't much like acting on stage. It feels kind of like riding the Cyclone at Coney Island, which I did when I was eight. When it was all over, I was glad I had done it, but most of the time when it was actually happening, I was just kind of hanging on for dear life."
• "I have a secret aspiration to be considered for a part where it doesn't matter what you look like to play it. Most of the time when I receive a script, it says something like 'Rosenberg is the fat, slovenly Mayor, who doesn't want the kids to use the Skateboard Park', or 'Stein is a pompous, rotund attorney, imposing to all.' It would be so freeing to get a script where my character is simply described as 'A Man'."