Highly gifted, heavy-set character actor Fred Melamed was born in New York City, the son of Syma . His father was a television producer, having contributed to such watershed comedies as Car 54, Where Are You, and Sargeant Bilko. He received his theatrical training at the Yale School of Drama, after which he appeared with resident companies including Minneapolis' Guthrie Theater, The Kennedy Center, The Yale Repertory Theater, and as a founding member of Shakespeare & Co. In 1983, he made his Broadway debut in the Tony Award-Winning Amadeus. On television, Melamed headlines with Maria Bamford on the hit Netflix series, Lady Dynamite, from Mitch Hurwitz and Pam Brady. He recurs as errant father Charles Cole on Hulu's Golden Globe-nominated Casual, patrician chick-magnet J. Cronkite Valley Forge on New Girl, sports casting legend Glen Klose on Now We're Talking, and Sir Patrick Stewart's messed-up psychiatrist Dr. Mendelson on Starz' Blunt Talk. In the past, Melamed's major small screen roles have included Harvey Oberholt on House of Lies, Avi Mensusen on Girls, Professor Donald Holt on Married, Leonard Hillman on Childrens Hospital, Larry David's name-dropping psychiatrist Arthur Thurgood from Curb Your Enthusiasm, tough-guy jurist Alan Karpman on The Good Wife, and irascible voiceover legend Fred Melamed opposite Robin Williams on The Crazy Ones. In film, Melamed has had a long association with Woody Allen. He has appeared in 7 Allen films, including the Oscar-Winning Hannah and Her Sisters, Another Woman, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Radio Days, Husbands & Wives, Hollywood Ending, and Shadows and Fog. But it was for his portrayal of "sensitive" villain Sy Ableman, in Joel and Ethan Coen's A Serious Man, nominated for Best Picture at the 2010 Academy Awards, that Melamed became most widely known. For his performance, he won the Independent Spirit Robert Altman Award, New York Magazine listed his as among the Best Performances of The Decade, and Empire called Sy Ableman "One of The Best Coen Bros. Characters of All Time." Melamed appeared on the Best Supporting Actor Oscar ballot of several American critics, including A.O. Scott of The New York Times, Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun-Times, and Michael Phillips of The Chicago Tribune. He was named by Harry Domenico Rossi as among The 25 Greatest Screen Villains of All Time. Melamed also starred as Sam Sotto, insecure king of movie trailer voices in Lake Bell's "In a World..." , a film about a father and daughter in the voiceover world. The film won the Waldo Salt Award for Best Screenplay at Sundance. He starred opposite Elliott Gould in Fred Won't Move Out, a picture detailing the decline of a stubborn patriarch and his family, and as James Brown's record company owner Syd Nathan in Get On Up. Among Melamed's other films are Bone Tomahawk, opposite Kurt Russell and Richard Jenkins, The Dictator, with Sacha Baron Cohen and Sir Ben Kingsley, Peter Yates' Suspect, with Cher, Dennis Quaid and Liam Neeson, The Good Mother, with Diane Keaton and Jason Robards, Roland Joffe's The Mission, with Robert De Niro and Jeremy Irons, James Toback's The Pickup Artist, with Robert Downey, Jr. and Dennis Hopper, and Marshall Brickman's Lovesick, with Dudley Moore and Sir Alec Guinness. As a writer, he has produced screenplays including Girl of the Perfume River, A Jones for Gash, and most recently The Preservationist, a fictional film inspired by the case of Melamed's college friend, Edward Forbes Smiley III, a renowned cartographic expert and dealer, who admitted to having been the most brazen and prolific map thief of all time. He lives with his wife and twin sons in Los Angeles.
Graduate of Yale Drama School.
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 a.k.a. "The Phil Silvers Show" 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 Joffes 1986 The Mission, with Robert De Niro.
He was adopted. His biological mother is actor/director Nancy Zala , and, by his biological father, a psychoanalyst, he is related to renowned acting family the Adlers, including Luther Adler & Stella Adler.
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.
His character of Sy Ableman from A Serious Man was named by Empire Magazine as "One of the best Coen Bros. characters of all time".
When Ethan Coen was asked which of the many characters he has created he was proudest of, he responded, "Sy Ableman, Fred Melameds character from A Serious Man . The best movie monster ever".
In a Hollywood Reporter piece titled "The Best And The Brightest Choose The Best And The Brightest", 2010 Best Actor Oscar winner Jeff Bridges was asked to name his personal favorite performance of the year. His reply: "I got a kick out of Fred Melamed who played Sy Ableman, the guy who steals the wife in A Serious Man...".
Listed by Harry Domenico Rossi as among "The 25 Greatest Screen Villains of All Time".
Had a severe fear of flying which prevented him from setting foot on a airplane for 20 years. In 1998, he was able to overcome the phobia and fly to Japan to be the voice of the Winter Olympics for CBS.
Fred is a first cousin of the Countess Sondes, the former Phyllis Kane Schmertz (firstly the widow of Robert Schmertz, 1972-1975 principal owner of the NBA Boston Celtics). Eleven years after Robert Schmertz died, The 5th Earl Sondes of Lees Court in the County of Kent (England, UK) married the widowed Phyllis Kane Schmertz in 1986, who thereby became Countess Sondes. When The Earl Sondes died in 1996, the Dowager Countess Sondes inherited Lees Court, the seat of the Barons and Earls Sondes, when both the Earldom and Barony became extinct due to no male heirs.
(August 2011) New York, NY, USA: Appearing on Broadway in Relatively Speaking, 3 comic one-acts by Ethan Coen, Elaine May and Woody Allen.
(April 2012) East Hampton, NY, USA: Playing Vanya in the Guild Hall Production of Uncle Vanya.
The two films he agreed to do for the least amount of money in his career were both nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars - Hannah & Her Sisters and A Serious Man.
The signature voice of Boars Head Brand, Mercedes-Benz, USA Network, MCI, The Olympics, The Superbowl and CBS Sports, among others.
Has never held any job in his adult life other than being an actor, and occasionally, a writer.
The first person to have graduated from both Hampshire College and the Yale School of Drama. The second was Liev Schreiber , and the third was Lupita Nyongo.
He parodied himself as a commercial pitchman and voiceover artist in two episodes of "The Crazy Ones" .
Was presented with The 2014 Voice Award "for extraordinary talent in a body of work, and outstanding service to the voiceover community".
He has appeared in seven films directed by Woody Allen : Hannah and Her Sisters , Radio Days , Another Woman , Crimes and Misdemeanors , Shadows and Fog , Husbands and Wives and Hollywood Ending .
Well, because I have twin seven-year-old boys, I enjoy the gift giving stuff a great deal. We do both Hanukkah and Christmas, so it is a costly, though extremely pleasing proposition. .
