Rest easy, Fred
Michael Vale, best known for his role as sleepy Dunkin Donut-maker “Fred the Baker” in a long-running ad campaign, has died at 83 of complications from diabetes. 
Growing up in the ’80s, I remember these commercials well. A slumberous Fred shuffling his feet at an ungodly hour on his way to work all the while uttering the famous catchphrase “Time to make the donuts.” Battling rain and snow and, among other things, drowsiness, Fred — a portly little fella with a Hitler moustache — always seemed to find a way to make them donuts no matter how harsh the elements. The ad campaign was so successful it spanned 15 years and turned the humble and good-natured Fred into a sort of cultural icon. He was one of those rare recurring commercial characters that you just never grew tired of, no matter how many times you saw him.
Get some sleep, ol’ friend. You deserve it.
December 28th, 2005 at 12:38 pm
That photo lifted directly from the open casket.
December 28th, 2005 at 6:39 pm
I heard he’s getting buried with a crueller in each hand.