Fredd Wayne

1924 - 2018

October 17, 1924 - August 27, 2018
Fredd's love of the theater, acting and literature began early in Akron, Ohio. In the 8th grade he wrote, directed and acted in a production of Anthony Adverse for the student body. After graduating high school he took a bus to Hollywood and was hired as a mail boy until the Army draft. When asked his pre-draft occupation, he replied "I'm under contract to Warner Bros Studio." So in WWII he was made Special Service non-com (entertainment specialist) for the 253rd Infantry Regiment of the 63rd Infantry Division. In addition to traditional military training, he ran movie projectors, wrote, produced and performed in soldier shows in Mississippi and attended courses at Fort McPherson, Georgia, and Washington & Lee University in Virginia. Fredd was also the booking agent for a successful GI orchestra led by a jazz violinist known as "Leonardo of the Stork Club." His division was sent to France where he was assigned to retrieve fallen soldiers, one of whom was his orchestra leader friend. After V-Day he was directed to put together entertainment for the troops. 45 men in his regiment turned up to create GI Carmen; destined to become the 2nd most successful show of WWII. It was scheduled to run for 3 nights, yet was so popular it ran for an 8th month tour throughout Germany, Belgium, Paris, Rome and Vienna before 250,000 GI and allied troops, as well as countless civilians. Back in New York, Fredd worked by day and attended acting classes at the American Theatre Wing after hours. His GI Carmen success landed him a leading role in Texas, Lil Darlin on Broadway. Critical success then led to more Broadway credits: Not For Children and the London production of South Pacific as Luther Billis with Mary Martin. Subsequently, that led to American productions of South Pacific with Gisele McKenzie, Vikki Carr and Jane Powell. He appeared in The Golden Age Of Television in Playhouse 90, Studio One Kraft Theatre, The Defenders, We The People, The Victor Borge Show, The Nurses and 6 Perry Mason episodes. Fredd later developed Benjamin Franklin Citizen, for which he is probably best known. His research was conducted from the Papers of Benjamin Franklin at Yale University. This one-man show took him to upstate New York & Ohio and had a long run at the Hollywood Ivar Theatre, which led to a U.S. State Department tour of Europe and subsequent colleges throughout America. He truly personified Franklin which led to several Bob Hope TV specials, IBM and GE conventions. His recording of the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin was selected as one the top recordings of 1997. His filmography is extensive and available on Wikipedia. His devoted wife Maryanne, a sister, nieces and nephews will very much miss his character...as he surely was.