- He got his start performing in a comedy duo with Vic Greco and spent a year at Chicago's famed Second City. He was also a founding member of the improvisational comedy group Ace Trucking Company.
- Has one daughter Hope (b. 1969) and one grandson (b. 1998).
- As of late 2006, he has appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992) over 80 times, as both a guest and a participant in a skit.
- Good friends with Jennifer Coolidge. They worked together in six movies: Best in Show (2000), A Mighty Wind (2003), American Wedding (2003), Date Movie (2006), For Your Consideration (2006), and Epic Movie (2007).
- He was the spokesman for La Quinta Inns and Suites.
- He has appeared in two films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: This Is Spinal Tap (1984) and WALL·E (2008).
- Hosted the 1st Annual Carney Awards in 2015.
- He is interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills, California.
- Fred was the son of Ruth Beatrice (Weinman) and Frederick Charles "Fred" Willard, who worked in a bank. He was of German, Scottish, English, and distant French, descent. The surname Willard was spelled Vieillard generations back.
- Was fired by PBS after he was arrested for alleged lewd conduct at an adult movie theater. (July 19, 2012)
- He was from the same area in Ohio as Paul Newman.
- He was a lifelong Democrat.
- Fellow members of Ace Trucking Company included Bill Saluga and Patti Deutsch, among others.
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