Fred Melamed was born on May 13, 1956 in New York City, New York, United States, is Actor, Producer, Writer. Highly gifted, heavy-set character actor Fred Melamed was born in New York City, the son of Syma (Krichefsky), an actress, and Louis Melamed. 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.
Fred Melamed is a member of Actor
Does Fred Melamed Dead or Alive?
As per our current Database, Fred Melamed is still alive (as per Wikipedia, Last update: May 10, 2020).
🎂 Fred Melamed - Age, Bio, Faces and Birthday
Currently, Fred Melamed is 68 years, 6 months and 8 days old. Fred Melamed will celebrate 69rd birthday on a Tuesday 13th of May 2025. Below we countdown to Fred Melamed upcoming birthday.
Popular As |
Fred Melamed |
Occupation |
Actor |
Age |
68 years old |
Zodiac Sign |
Gemini |
Born |
May 13, 1956 ( New York City, New York, United States) |
Birthday |
May 13 |
Town/City |
New York City, New York, United States |
Nationality |
United States |
🌙 Zodiac
Fred Melamed’s zodiac sign is Gemini. According to astrologers, Gemini is expressive and quick-witted, it represents two different personalities in one and you will never be sure which one you will face. They are sociable, communicative and ready for fun, with a tendency to suddenly get serious, thoughtful and restless. They are fascinated with the world itself, extremely curious, with a constant feeling that there is not enough time to experience everything they want to see.
🌙 Chinese Zodiac Signs
Fred Melamed was born in the Year of the Monkey. Those born under the Chinese Zodiac sign of the Monkey thrive on having fun. They’re energetic, upbeat, and good at listening but lack self-control. They like being active and stimulated and enjoy pleasing self before pleasing others. They’re heart-breakers, not good at long-term relationships, morals are weak. Compatible with Rat or Dragon.
Biography/Timeline
2009
Melamed's voice became a familiar presence on television, serving as the sound of the Olympics, Mercedes Benz, CBS Sports, USA Network, the Super Bowl, and numerous commercials and television programs. He became known within the industry as a voice actor, appearing in the Grand Theft Auto series, and dubbing several actors' entire performances in films. But it was for his portrayal of "sensitive" villain Sy Ableman, in Joel and Ethan Coen's 2009 film, A Serious Man, which was nominated for Best Picture at the 2010 Academy Awards, that he became most widely known. About that character, Film Confessional said, "Sy Ableman is as great a contemporary movie villain as The Joker, Hans Landa, or Anton Chigurh.... The character Fred Melamed contrives is the year's most brilliant force of destruction."
2011
On Broadway in 2011, after a long hiatus from the theatre, Melamed originated the roles of The Father in Ethan Coen's Talking Cure, and Thomas Moran in Elaine May's George Is Dead, two of the one-act plays that comprised Relatively Speaking. Subsequently, Melamed took on the role of Vanya in the Guild Hall production of Uncle Vanya, about which The New York Times said he gave "... an excellent ... multi-layered performance ... Mr. Melamed easily inhabits the comic, awkward lover, but also brings out Vanya's vast loneliness ...".
2012
Melamed's slate of upcoming films includes the Sundance film Lemon, a collaboration with Brett Gelman and Janicza Bravo, Brawl in Cell Block 99 opposite Vince Vaughn, Sean McGinly's Silver Lake, which he stars in with Martin Starr, and Dragged Across Concrete. Melamed recently starred as Sam in Lake Bell's In a World..., winner of the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the Sundance Film Festival, opposite Kurt Russell and Richard Jenkins in Bone Tomahawk, and re-teamed with the Coen brothers and co-stars George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, and Ralph Fiennes in Hail, Caesar!. He starred previously in Get On Up, a bio-pic about the life of James Brown, and opposite Elliott Gould, as auteur/director Bob Wilson, in Fred Won't Move Out, a film about the decline of a stubborn patriarch and his family. Other recent films include The Dictator (2012), with Sacha Baron Cohen and Sir Ben Kingsley, where Melamed appears in a cameo as the Director of the dictator's Nuclear Weapons Program, and Some Kind of Beautiful, where Melamed plays a villain, opposite Pierce Brosnan and Jessica Alba. Melamed has also voiced cult-leader Cris Formage in the Grand Theft Auto video game series.
2017
On television, Melamed stars with Maria Bamford in the Netflix comedy Lady Dynamite, on FX's Emmy Award-winning Fargo, Hulu's Golden Globe Award-nominated Casual, the Fox comedy New Girl, and Verizon Go90's Sports send-up Now We're Talking. He is a present or past recurring guest star on USA Network's Benched, Showtime's House of Lies, HBO's Girls, Childrens Hospital, Blunt Talk, FX's Married, and Trial & Error. In previous seasons, he played Larry David's smug Psychiatrist, Dr. Arthur Thurgood, on Curb Your Enthusiasm, tough-guy jurist Judge Alan Karpman on The Good Wife, and played himself in the CBS situation comedy The Crazy Ones with Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar. In 2017, he appeared as a special guest star in the acclaimed Fargo episode "The Law of Non-Contradiction". He also appeared in 2 episodes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine as author, DC Parlov.
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