Fred Melamed
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Fred Melamed (born 13 May 1956) is an American actor and writer. He was born and raised in New York City, in a show business family. His mother was actress Syma Melamed, and father, Lou, was right hand man to television pioneer Nat Hiken, and producer of many early shows, including The Nat King ...
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Fred Melamed Biography
Fred Melamed (born 13 May 1956) is an American actor and writer. He was born and raised in New York City, in a show business family. His mother was actress Syma Melamed, and father, Lou, was right hand man to television pioneer Nat Hiken, and producer of many early shows, including The Nat King Cole Show, Let’s Pretend, Sgt. Bilko, and Car 54 Where Are You? Melamed was adopted, and as an adult became acquainted with his biological parents, Actor/Director Nancy Zala(Round Numbers), and British psychoanalyst, Stanley Silverstone, who was related to noted theatrical family, the Adlers, including Luther and Stella Adler.Fred received his theatrical training at Hampshire College and the Yale School of Drama. At Yale, he was a Samuel F. B. Morse College Graduate Fellow. He was also a nominee for the Irene Ryan Award, a prize conferred upon the most promising young actors in the United States. While still at Yale, he was an instructor at the well-known performing arts camp, Stagedoor Manor. After his training, he appeared on stage with several resident theatre companies, including The Guthrie Theater, The Kennedy Center For The Performing Arts, The Yale Repertory Theater, and on Broadway in the Tony Award-Winning Amadeus. At the same time, he became established as a voice actor, and began to do film work.
At about the same time, Fred began his long association with Woody Allen. He has appeared in a total of 9 Woody Allen/Marshall Brickman films. Fred’s collaborations with Allen have included the Oscar-Winning Hannah and Her Sisters, Another Woman, Crimes and Misdemeanors, Radio Days, Husbands & Wives, Hollywood Ending, and Shadows and Fog. His filmography also includes 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, The Spy Who Dumped Me, Lying and Stealing, The Vigil, Shiva Baby, Rumble.
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."
For his performance in A Serious Man, Melamed won The Independent Spirit Robert Altman Award. New York Magazine listed Melamed's work as among the Best Performances of 2009, and Empire called Sy Ableman "One of The Best Coen Bros. Characters of All Time". Several leading American critics, including A.O. Scott of The New York Times, Michael Philips of The Chicago Tribune and Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun-Times said his performance was worthy of Academy Award nomination.
Melamed starred in Sacha Baron Cohen’s The Dictator, as Elliott Gould’s son, the independent feature, Fred, as Brian Cox’s friend, agent, and possibly, lover, in Passing Harold Blumenthal, and as an old-school bookie opposite Parker Posey in BirdBrained.
TV fans will recognize him as Larry David’s name-dropping psychiatrist, Arthur Thurgood, from Curb Your Enthusiasm, and tough-guy jurist, Alan Karpman, on The Good Wife. Other tv credits include The Morning Show, Superstore, Adventure Time, Lady Dynamite, Brooklyn-99, New Girl, The Detour, Benched, Girls, House of Lies, Blunt Talk, Wanda Vision, Casual, F is for Family.
In fall of 2011, Melamed made a return to Broadway in Relatively Speaking, a trio of one-acts by Ethan Coen, Elaine May and Woody Allen, but his run was short, leaving the company after five weeks of rehearsal and two weeks of previews. He cited conflicts with film projects that he wanted to pursue as the reason.
As a writer, he has produced screenplays including Girl of the Perfume River, A Jones for Gash, The Asshat Project, 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. Melamed has said publicly that he intends to direct this film himself, and will not sell it under any circumstances.
He lives with his wife and twin sons on the East End of Long Island. Both of the Melamed children were born with autism, and Melamed and his wife have been involved in advocacy for persons living with Autism Spectrum Disorder and their families.
Fred Melamed News

by Stephi Wild - Sep 13, 2021
Songwriting duo Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez have won their first Emmy Award for the song 'Agatha All Along' from WandaVision.

by A.A. Cristi - Oct 26, 2020
Austin's oldest film festival, The All Genders, Lifestyles, and Identities Film Festival (aGLIFF) announces community screenings and events for the remainder of 2020.

by Chloe Rabinowitz - Mar 6, 2020
THE PACK @ The Pico returned on March 3 with staged readings of short new comedies by Drama Desk Award Winner and Emmy® nominee Eugene Pack.

by Stephi Wild - Dec 20, 2019
SF Sketchfest announces more additions to the lineup for the 19th annual San Francisco Comedy Festival happening January 9-26. A vital part of the Bay Area entertainment scene year after year, SF Sketchfest features something for everyone with more than 250 shows over 18 days in 20 venues with more than 900 performers including major comedy stars and the best up-and-coming comedians from around the world. SF Sketchfest features non-stop entertainment including sketch, stand-up, alternative comedy, music, improv, films, tributes, live podcasts, storytelling, family shows, workshops, panels and more. Tickets for all new shows and all previously announced shows are on sale now at sfsketchfest.com.

by Stage Tube - Dec 19, 2019
Netflix has released a new trailer for Medical Police. From the inimitable team behind Childrens Hospital, Medical Police follows two American physicians (Erinn Hayes and Rob Huebel) stationed at a pediatric hospital in São Paulo, Brazil who unwittingly discover a civilization-threatening virus. They're soon recruited as secret government agents and find themselves in a race against time to find a cure, all the while uncovering a dark conspiracy at the center of the outbreak. Building on the legacy of its predecessor Childrens Hospital, Medical Police triples as an action-packed thriller, a mystery-wrapped love story and, ultimately, a globetrotting comedy series.

by Sarah Jae Leiber - Dec 16, 2019
From the inimitable team behind Childrens Hospital, Medical Police follows two American physicians (Erinn Hayes and Rob Huebel) stationed at a pediatric hospital in São Paulo, Brazil who unwittingly discover a civilization-threatening virus.

by Kaitlin Milligan - Jul 25, 2019
ROOM 104 returns for its third season FRIDAY, SEPT. 13 at 11:00 p.m. ET/PT, exclusively on HBO.

by Gil Kaan - May 8, 2019
The Grammy Museum will be hosting NOTES ON LIVING: ALL-STAR JAZZ WITH TALES BY BRIAN DOYLE May 14, 2019 as a joint benefit for WordTheatre in the Schools (WITS) and the Grammy Museum. WordTheatre's artistic director Cedering Fox will be producing and directing this evening of selected stories by award-winning author Brian Doyle, read by a star-studded cast, and accompanied by an all-star jazz band led by Starr Parodi. Cedering opened up some of her early evening time to speak to me.

by BWW News Desk - Mar 8, 2018
Get all the scoop on Coming Up On An All New LIFE IN PIECES , airing on CBS today, March 8, 2018!

by BWW News Desk - Nov 28, 2017
Get all the scoop on BROOKLYN NINE-NINE, airing on FOX today, November 28, 2017!
Fred Melamed Videos


by Stage Tube - Dec 19, 2019
Netflix has released a new trailer for Medical Police. From the inimitable team behind Childrens Hospital, Medical Police follows two American physicians (Erinn Hayes and Rob Huebel) stationed at a pediatric hospital in São Paulo, Brazil who unwittingly discover a civilization-threatening virus. They're soon recruited as secret government agents and find themselves in a race against time to find a cure, all the while uncovering a dark conspiracy at the center of the outbreak. Building on the legacy of its predecessor Childrens Hospital, Medical Police triples as an action-packed thriller, a mystery-wrapped love story and, ultimately, a globetrotting comedy series.


by BWW News Desk - Nov 10, 2017
Maria Bamford returns as Maria Bamford in season two of the acclaimed comedy series LADY DYNAMITE, returning to Netflix on November 10. Check out the announcement video below!


by Caryn Robbins - Sep 7, 2017
Maria Bamford returns as Maria Bamford in season two of the acclaimed comedy series LADY DYNAMITE, returning to Netflix on November 10. Check out the announcement video below!
by Broadway Beat - Oct 21, 2011
The world premiere production of RELATIVELY SPEAKING - three one-act comedies by the prolific writing trio of Ethan Coen, Elaine May and Woody Allen, and directed by John Turturro - opened last night October 20 at Broadway's Brooks Atkinson Theatre. Broadway Beat was on hand for the opening night, and takes you inside the after party below!
by BroadwayWorld TV - Oct 20, 2011
The world premiere production of RELATIVELY SPEAKING- three one-act comedies by the prolific writing trio of Ethan Coen, Elaine May and Woody Allen, and directed by John Turturro- opens tonight October 20 at Broadway's Brooks Atkinson Theatre. Click below for a sneak peek of the production onstage!
by BroadwayWorld TV - Sep 9, 2011
This September, Broadway welcomes the world premiere of three one-act comedies, together entitled RELATIVELY SPEAKING, about mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, parents and children, written by four-time Oscar winner Ethan Coen (True Grit, Fargo), two-time Oscar nominee Elaine May (Heaven Can Wait, The Birdcage) and Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris). Broadway Beat was on hand to meet the cast and brings you interview highlights below!