Fred Willard, the comic actor who became known for his hysterically straight-faced appearances in the films of Christopher Guest, as well as for a sweet run on TV’s “Modern Family” as the father of Ty Burrell’s character, has died of natural causes at 86.
Willard’s representative confirmed his passing to Rolling Stone after Jamie Lee Curtis — Guest’s wife — had tweeted of his death, “How lucky that we all got to enjoy Fred Willard’s gifts. He is with his missed Mary now. Thanks for the deep belly laughs Mr. Willard.”
Willard’s wife Mary had died in 2018.
Over the course of his 50-plus years in entertainment, he made huge impressions in Guest’s mockumentaries “This Is Spinal Tap” (1984), “Waiting for Guffman” (1996), “Best in Show” (2000), “A Mighty Wind” (2003), “For Your Consideration” (2006), and “Mascots” (2016), as well as in both “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” (2004) and “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” (2013).
He was Frank Dunphy on 14 episodes of “Modern Family” from 2009-2020, and will be seen on 10 episodes of the Netflix parody “Space Force,” which streams from May 29.