Frederick West "Fred" McCarren (April 12, 1951 – July 2, 2006) was an American television and film actor. He gained recognition for his roles on the television seriesAmanda's (1983) andHill Street Blues (1984).

McCarren was born on April 12, 1951, inButler, Pennsylvania. He graduated fromButler Senior High School where he starred in several plays. After attending theUniversity of Cincinnati andPoint Park College, he left for a different kind of campus –Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College inVenice, Florida – and instead of joining the circus afterward, he headed for New York City where he immediately found work in TV commercials.^[1]

A subsequent career in film and television followed soon thereafter from the late 1970s throughout the 1980s. He starred oppositeBea Arthur on the short-lived 1983 sitcomAmanda's and he later made guest appearances on television shows such asScarecrow and Mrs. King,Hill Street Blues,Remington Steele andThe Golden Girls and S1 E8 of The Dukes of Hazzard where he played a chicken farmer that stole Boss Hog's liquor money.

McCarren married Lisa Hogan on December 30, 1982.^[2] After several years of living inTarzana, California, the couple moved back to his native Pennsylvania in 1989 where they focused on raising their six children. He continued to work in both radio and television commercials and his voice was heard as the crazy Dr. Sanchez in radio spots for theMad Mex restaurant chain, and he was seen as the coach in a series of TV commercials forDick's Sporting Goods, as well as TV spots forPNC,PPG,Comcast and Builder's Surplus.^[1]

Fred McCarren died on July 2, 2006, at the age of 55 fromcolon cancer at Butler Memorial Hospital in Butler, Pennsylvania. He is survived by his wife, Lisa, four sons and two daughters.^[2]

• Fred McCarren atIMDb

• 1951 births
• 2006 deaths
• American male television actors
• American male film actors
• 20th-century American male actors
• Male actors from Pennsylvania
• People from Butler, Pennsylvania
• Deaths from cancer in Pennsylvania
• University of Cincinnati alumni
• Point Park University alumni

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