'No one will ever come close to replacing your genius'

Tributes as comedy veteran Fred Willard dies at 86

Fred Willard, whose 50-year career as a comedy actor included Anchorman and Best In Show, has died at the age of 86.

His daughter Hope Mulbarger said in a statement, "My father passed away very peacefully last night at the fantastic age of 86 years old. He kept moving, working and making us happy until the very end. We loved him so very much! We will miss him forever.’

His agent said he died of natural causes.

Willard started performing comedy in the New York nightclubs of the 1950s, before a stint at the Second City improv troupe in Chicago.

He found some fame in the 1970s as a sidekick and announcer, and was a cast member of the NBC series Real People in the lates 1970s and early 1980s, and hosted his own daytime talk show later that decade.

Willard’s became known for his work with director and actor Christopher Guest, whom he met in 1984 when he played an Air Force lieutenant in This Is Spinal Tap. Guest would later cast Willard in Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, For Your Consideration, A Mighty Wind and Mascots.

His TV credits include New Girl, Community, Modern Family (in which he played Frank Dunphy, father of Phil) Everybody Loves Raymond Tim & Eric and Comedy Bang! Bang!

He appeared in 100 sketches on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and he played Mayor Deebs in the Steve Martin comedy Roxanne.

Willard is about to star in the new Netflix comedy Space Force, alongside Steve Carell, who said: ‘Fred Willard was the funniest person that I've ever worked with. He was a sweet, wonderful man.’

Other star colleagues have been quick to pay tribute to his warmth and wit.

Judd Apatow tweeted: ‘Fred Willard could not have been funnier. He was pure joy. And the sweetest person you could ever meet.’

Spinal Tap’s Michael McKean said: ‘Im at a loss for words, a state Fred Willard never found himself in. My friend for 40+ years, a great comic actor who had no competition because there was only one of him. We were all so lucky. Goodbye, Fred.’

And Jesse Tyler Ferguson from Modern Family added: ‘You will always be a true original and I am so honored that our lives intersected. No one will ever come close to replacing your genius.’

Here he is in Best In Show: