Editing Fred Gwynne (section)

==Early life==
[[File:Dorothy Ficken in 1917 (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|Dorothy Ficken, Gwynne's mother, in 1917]]
Gwynne was born on July 10, 1926, in New York City, the son of Frederick Walker Gwynne, a partner in the securities firm Gwynne Brothers, and his wife Dorothy Ficken Gwynne, who, before her marriage, was a successful artist known for her "Sunny Jim" comic character. He had at least two siblings, Dorothy Gwynne and Bowers Gwynne, both of whom died young. His paternal grandfather, Walker Gwynne, was an [[Anglicanism|Anglican]] priest, born c. 1846 in Camus, [[County Tyrone]], Ireland, who married American Helen Lea Bowers. His maternal grandfather, [[H. Edwards Ficken]], was a British immigrant who married the American Josephine (or Josephina) Preston Hubbard.<ref>{{Citation |title=Census of Population and Housing, 1970 [United States]: Master Enumeration District (MED) Lists |date=June 28, 1984 |doi=10.3886/icpsr08109.v2}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Elias |first1=Carlos |last2=Kirlys |first2=Rokas |last3=Topyan |first3=Kudret |date=August 1, 2017 |title=Return Predictability in Santiago Stock Exchange: an Empirical Analysis using Portfolio Method |journal=Journal of Advances in Economics and Finance |volume=2 |issue=3 |doi=10.22606/jaef.2017.23005 |issn=2519-5980 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Although Gwynne partially grew up in [[Tuxedo Park, New York]],<ref name=":0" /> he spent most of his childhood in [[South Carolina]], [[Florida]], and [[Colorado]] because his father traveled extensively.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hill |first1=Stephen |title=Veteran of the Day: U.S. Navy Veteran Fred Gwynne |url=https://www.aerotechnews.com/blog/2024/01/16/veteran-of-the-day-u-s-navy-veteran-fred-gwynne-2/ |website=aerotechnews.com |date=January 15, 2024}}</ref>

Following his father's death, his mother sent him to boarding school at [[Groton School]], where he graduated in 1944 and may have set the school record for disciplinary black marks.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Peabody Press: January 2023 |url=https://www.groton.org/list-detail-2?pk=212826 |access-date=2024-10-21 |website=Groton School |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite news |last=Berkvist |first=Robert |date=1978-05-07 |title=He Could Be the King of Curmudgeons |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/05/07/archives/he-could-be-the-king-of-curmudgeons-fred-gwynneking-of-curmudgeons.html |access-date=2024-10-21 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> He was president of the drama club and made his first stage appearance in a school production of ''[[Henry V (play)|Henry V]]''.<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Fred Gwynne |url=https://masterworksbroadway.com/artist/fred-gwynne/ |access-date=2024-10-21 |website=The Official Masterworks Broadway Site |language=en-US}}</ref> Forty years later, he used his drawing skills to pen the school's official campus map.<ref name=":2" />

Having attended high school during [[World War II]], Gwynne joined the United States Navy after graduation, serving as a radioman on [[submarine chaser]] USS ''Manville'' (PC-581).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gwynne, Frederick Hubbard, RM3 {{!}} TWS |url=https://navy.togetherweserved.com/usn/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApps?cmd=ShadowBoxProfile&type=Person&ID=290747 |access-date=2023-04-02 |website=navy.togetherweserved.com}}</ref><ref name="AO">{{cite web |last1=Wright |first1=Andy |title=The Man Behind Herman Munster Wrote Some Puntastic Children's Books |url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/fred-gwynne-childrens-books |website=Atlas Obscura-Stories |publisher=Atlas Obscura |access-date=June 28, 2017 |date=June 16, 2017}}</ref>

After the war, Gwynne attended art school at the [[Phoenix Art Institute|Phoenix School of Design]] (now affiliated with the [[Pratt Institute]]) in New York,<ref name=":1">{{cite news |last1=Ginsberg |first1=Alexander B. |date=June 4, 2001 |title=Pursued By A Monstrous Image Of His Own Creation |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2001/6/4/pursued-by-a-monstrous-image-of/ |work=The Harvard Crimson}}</ref> with "the dream of doing ''[[The Saturday Evening Post|Saturday Evening Post]]'' covers."<ref name=":3" /> He found that the work was not right for him, and transferred to [[Harvard College]] in 1948, graduating in 1951. He was a member of the [[Fly Club]], served as president of the ''[[The Harvard Lampoon|Harvard Lampoon]]'' (and as an in-house cartoonist), sang with the [[Harvard Krokodiloes]] [[a cappella]] group,<ref>[http://www.kroks.com/alumni/alumsbyera/Gwynne "Tribute to Fred Gwynne"] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080501190252/http://www.kroks.com/alumni/alumsbyera/Gwynne |date=May 1, 2008 }}. Harvard Krokodiloes website.</ref> and acted for the [[Hasty Pudding Theatricals]].<ref name=":0">{{cite news |title=Cartoonist Fred Gwynne Is Elected Lampoon President |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1949/12/17/cartoonist-fred-gwynne-is-elected-lampoon/ |work=The Harvard Crimson |date=December 17, 1949}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Notable Alumni |url=https://www.hastypudding.org/alumni/ |website=hastypudding.org}}</ref> He was affiliated with [[Adams House (Harvard University)|Adams House]].<ref name=":1" /> During his tenure as ''Lampoon'' president, the Middlesex County District Attorney once attempted to ban the publication of the ''Lampoon''<nowiki/>'s parody magazine for obscenity. In response, Gwynne joked that "This just proves what we already knew – moral standards in New England are higher than elsewhere in the country."<ref>{{Cite web |title=DA, Chief Plot Further Probe of 'Poon Parody {{!}} News {{!}} The Harvard Crimson |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1950/11/2/da-chief-plot-further-probe-of/ |access-date=2024-10-22 |website=www.thecrimson.com}}</ref>

In the 1940s, Gwynne was a summertime swimming instructor at the [[Duxbury Yacht Club]] pool in [[Duxbury, Massachusetts]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mittell |first=David A. |title=The Duxbury Yacht Club Story |publisher=Colonial Lithograph |year=1995 |location=Attleboro, Massachusetts |page=100}}</ref>