{"id":3626,"date":"2016-11-20T09:49:12","date_gmt":"2016-11-20T17:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/wallysweek\/?page_id=3626"},"modified":"2016-11-20T09:49:12","modified_gmt":"2016-11-20T17:49:12","slug":"my-friend-fred","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/my-friend-fred\/","title":{"rendered":"MY FRIEND FRED"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"fred_01\"<\/a><\/p>\n

My friend Fred Wostbrock and I came from similar backgrounds; comfortable familial surroundings in cities that just didn\u2019t understand us. We both longed to leave our implied destinies for greener pastures of palm trees, swimming pools, movie stars.\u00a0 For we had both fallen in love with the same seductive muse; television.<\/p>\n

For me it was \u201cBatman,\u201d \u201cThe Monkees,\u201d \u201cThe Munsters,\u201d and just about any show with an animated star.\u00a0 For Fred it was about anything that had a toothy host, amped up contestants, and a buzzer. \u00a0Fred was only six months older than me, so generationally we were both on the same pop culture page.<\/p>\n

Fred made it to L.A. to start his career long before I did, as I took a slight detour to get married and have children first.\u00a0 But through our mutual friend Sir Adam West (please, could we bestow Knighthood on this guy already?) we met in 1992 and were fast friends from that day forward.\u00a0 I can remember the day Adam called my answering machine and told me to call his new agent Fred.\u00a0 The way Adam meticulously and slowly said \u201cWOST-BROCK\u201d still rings in my ears.<\/p>\n

Becoming a talent agent for a specific type of performer was Fred\u2019s unique niche in the entertainment industry.\u00a0 I chose a slightly wider path as a Voice Actor.\u00a0\u00a0 Gameshow hosts, classic TV and film actors, and unique showbiz personalities were all signed to Fred\u2019s roster of stars.\u00a0 He worked hard for them, and they respected his Herculean efforts to keep them working.<\/p>\n

I quickly became accustomed to Fred\u2019s quirky nature and numerous odd habits. Even his peculiar speaking style made everything sound like it was being announced on a mid-day gameshow.\u00a0 As my friends began to know him too, we all developed our own \u201cFred\u201d impersonation. Always welcoming and hospitable, our group spent many a hot, sunny weekend afternoons around his pool telling tales of Hollywood hoo-ha and spinning yarns about obscure TV tidbits.<\/p>\n

While sunning in his paradisal backyard and enjoying a number of Swisher Sweet cigars, it wasn\u2019t uncommon to see Fred leap from his lounge chair when he spotted a hungry squirrel.\u00a0 While throwing a cacophony of bread and nuts into his grass he proclaimed, \u201cThis is like Thanksgiving to them!\u201d\u00a0 Never a proponent of sunscreen, I once asked him if he was worried about cancer.\u00a0 He said with a smile, \u201cI can\u2019t be bothered.\u201d<\/p>\n

There were aspects of Fred\u2019s life that were left to deep mystery; many of us were curious as he would disappear to random places with very little explanation.\u00a0 We figured he had some sort of double life as a spy or foreign operative; using his position as an agent as brilliant cover.\u00a0 Or maybe he had a shy girlfriend or mistress.\u00a0 But as Fred always used to proclaim, \u201cMy wife is gameshows, and my mistress is the sun!\u201d<\/p>\n

When we jokingly prodded him with curious questions about his activities he would simply say, \u201cI\u2019m staying home all night and organizing my comics from Alvin to Zorro.\u201d\u00a0 Perhaps he just really enjoyed his alone time, or maybe this was simply one more quirky aspect of his unpredictable life.\u00a0 I mean, we\u2019re talking about a guy who would sit at home every 4th<\/sup> of July with pails of water at the ready in case a wayward firework landed on his roof and started his house on fire.<\/p>\n

It always seemed like Fred was keeping everyone at an arm\u2019s length away for some unknown reason.\u00a0 I don\u2019t believe many people really got to know him on a deep, bonding level.\u00a0 While we would talk about a wide range of things during our marathon late-night phone calls (we were both night owls) our conversations mainly skimmed 70\u2019s music, ghosts and UFOs, great TV shows, our favorite actors, and very graphic opinions about women we knew.<\/p>\n

The only glimpse I got into his highly private life and little-discussed upbringing was a story he told me once – and only once.\u00a0 As a youth he spent hours in front of the TV filling his brain with a database of information that he said his parents didn\u2019t respect or understand.\u00a0 One Saturday night, Fred was perched in front of the tube diligently watching a gameshow.\u00a0 Before him, he had a binder full of information he kept about his favorite shows.\u00a0 In it, he would log which gameshow asked what questions, which contestants won what jackpot, and probably even had in-depth descriptions of what the gameshow host was wearing.<\/p>\n

While Fred was scribbling notes in his gameshow log, he said his mother looked in on him with pity in her eyes.\u00a0 \u201cFreddie,\u201d she said, \u201cdon\u2019t you have friends?\u201d\u00a0 Fred innocently replied that the people on television were his friends; Wink Martindale, Bob Eubanks, Monty Hall, Bill Cullen, Tom Kennedy.\u00a0 With absolute certainty in his voice he told her that someday he\u2019d be working with all of those people and this was important work he was doing.<\/p>\n

When his \u201cEncyclopedia of TV Game Shows\u201d book was published, I asked him if he sent his parents a copy to complete the circle and prove that his youthful prophecy had been fulfilled.\u00a0 He said he did, but they didn\u2019t really \u201cget it.\u201d\u00a0 This hit me in the heart like a giant hammer of sadness.\u00a0 Having grown up with nothing ever less than fully supportive parents, I found their indifference puzzling, confusing and sad.\u00a0 Perhaps this gave me the lead I needed to deduce the reason for Fred\u2019s emotional fortification.\u00a0 \u00a0He eventually changed his last name from \u201cWostbrock\u201d to \u201cWestbrook.\u201d\u00a0 He said it was easier for people to understand when talking to industry contacts on the phone.\u00a0 But I wondered if the name change was for deeper reasons known only to Fred.<\/p>\n

Though he kept his heart guarded, the wall around it was no doubt colossal.\u00a0 You\u2019d need an enormous wall to contain the gigantic heart he possessed.\u00a0 I know of friends to whom he lent large sums of money, but never asked for it back.\u00a0 When I would try to pay for Adam West\u2019s autograph at a collector show, he\u2019d take my money, pretend to put it in his pocket, and then give it right back to me on the sly.\u00a0 He wouldn\u2019t take my money, but he appreciated my effort.<\/p>\n

After having known him for almost 25 years, I should be in tears as I write this.\u00a0 But every time I feel a lump forming in my throat, it\u2019s soon superseded by a developing tickle in my belly; which soon turns into a full blown belly laugh generated from ridiculous thing Fred had done or said during the course of our friendship.<\/p>\n

Hearing the 1972 hit \u201cOh Babe, What Would You Say\u201d by Hurricane Smith was always a sure-fire way to put a smile on his face.\u00a0 He had a terrific memory for the music of his childhood. But for having a savant-like, encyclopedic memory for television shows, music and trivia, he had a pretty rotten memory for people\u2019s names.\u00a0 He\u2019d ask, \u201cHow\u2019s that real pretty blonde girl you know?\u201d\u00a0 Of course, that could be any number of girls I\u2019m acquainted with, so I\u2019d always ask him to be more specific.\u00a0 He always referred to my contractor and friend Terry Crisp as \u201cElvis.\u201d\u00a0 Sure Terry was an Elvis impersonator, but I don\u2019t think Fred ever remembered that his real name was Terry. Hanging with Fred was always a laugh a minute; which is why I was very puzzled by his actions in the last few years of his life.<\/p>\n

Right around the fall of 2014 he stopped talking to me altogether.\u00a0 Almost completely incommunicado.\u00a0 I wracked my brain to try and figure out what I had said or done to offend him so.\u00a0 I sent him occasional e-mails about interesting people I had met or songs I heard.\u00a0 A brief, curt reply would come a few days later.\u00a0 Unsure of what I had done to create this conversational vacuum, I decided to just leave him be.\u00a0 Something I had done was obviously eating him, but Fred being Fred, he wasn\u2019t able to have \u201cthat\u201d conversation with me to put the issue to rest.\u00a0 He had his reasons for effecting radio silence, and none of my cordial overtures and efforts of outreach were having any effect.<\/p>\n

In late 2015 I had heard through the grapevine that Fred had cancer, but that the information was on the down-low.\u00a0 Knowing his love for searing in the sun sans sunblock, I simply rationalized it by saying, \u201cBah. He\u2019ll have it cut off and be just fine.\u201d\u00a0 But in late September a close mutual friend had spilled the beans completely\u2026he was very sick with lung cancer.\u00a0 When the call came in on November 4th<\/sup> that he had succumbed, it wasn\u2019t completely unexpected.<\/p>\n

With the cloud of \u201cunfinished business\u201d hanging over my head, I started second-guessing my earlier decision to simply leave him be.\u00a0 Shoulda, woulda, coulda.Perhaps I should have been more proactive in nailing him down about the reason for his reluctance to communicate.\u00a0 I had seen him at a convention a while back, and though he was cordial and polite, it wasn\u2019t the same ol\u2019 Fred.\u00a0 I had also seen him at Gary Owens\u2019 memorial service in February of 2015 and he was somewhat pleasant and talkative.\u00a0 I wrote off any guardedness he displayed as the result of having just lost a good friend and client.\u00a0 But looking back armed with the information I now know, this would have been right around the time he got his diagnosis.<\/p>\n

Shortly after Fred\u2019s passing I discussed my situation with a few of our mutual friends.\u00a0 I asked them if they had any idea what I might have said to send Fred into hiding.\u00a0 I was shocked, but a bit heartened, when I learned that they too hadn\u2019t been in contact with Fred in about a year.\u00a0 Even Wink Martindale, whom I had briefly encountered at an event in May, said he hadn\u2019t heard from Fred in a long time.\u00a0 And I knew well that Fred considered Wink to be of godhood.<\/p>\n

Apparently when Fred learned of his bleak diagnosis 18 months before his death, he chose to hold it in utmost secrecy in a very Bowie-like manner.\u00a0 Only a few chosen ones were informed, and they were sworn to absolute secrecy.\u00a0 This put a few of our mutual friends in a peculiar place.\u00a0 When I\u2019d ask about Fred, they were unable to offer anything more than simple platitudes.\u00a0 This must\u2019ve been particularly hard for them considering I\u2019ve known Fred longer much longer than they.<\/p>\n

I now know that Fred wasn\u2019t holding any imagined grudge against me, but he simply didn\u2019t want to have \u201cthat\u201d conversation.\u00a0 To use his words, \u201che can\u2019t be bothered.\u201d\u00a0 But I\u2019m still not convinced that his plan of secrecy was the best way to handle his situation.<\/p>\n

Sitting at his memorial service on Friday November 11th<\/sup>, one week after his death, I could see the pain on others\u2019 faces who weren\u2019t included in that \u201csecret circle,\u201d and had no idea their friend was terminal.\u00a0 Stuffed into the backroom of the famous Smokehouse restaurant in Burbank (a regular haunt of Fred\u2019s), were about 120 people.\u00a0 They included recent friends, clients, childhood friends, relatives, industry friends, more clients, co-workers, and even more clients.<\/p>\n

Several of them stood up and took turns to offer their best Fred-isms; anecdotes that had everyone who knew him shaking their head in agreement \u2013 \u201cYup, that\u2019s Fred.\u201d\u00a0 Wink Martindale, Monty Hall, even Sir Adam West spoke eloquently.\u00a0 Most all of the speeches had a common thread; we had no idea!<\/p>\n

But listening to legendary \u201cHollywood Squares\u201d host Peter Marshall hit me the hardest.\u00a0 As Peter wound up his story, he said he wished he would have known about Fred\u2019s illness so he could have spent more time with him; his voice cracking with emotion.\u00a0 Was this really the best way that Fred could have handled this?\u00a0 Did Fred\u2019s indifference to all things emotional make him incapable of considering the emotional impact of those who loved him?<\/p>\n

Unfortunately I had to leave the service early to get to a Voice-Over job. But on my way out I kept hearing Fred\u2019s voice in my head imitating his mother, \u201cFreddie, don\u2019t you have friends?\u201d\u00a0 I was saddened by the fact that Fred\u2019s parents weren\u2019t able to attend the memorial, because that question would have been answered irrefutably, definitively, and with utmost finality.<\/p>\n

We miss ya, Fred. Say hi to Bill Cullen.<\/p>\n

\"Fred,<\/a>

Fred, Adam and me in Chicago in 1995<\/p><\/div>\n

\"fred_03\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Fred,<\/a>

Fred, Adam and I getting ready to shoot a little birthday message for a video I was working on back in 2000<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Fred<\/a>

Fred and Adam at a Palm Springs Show in 2007.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"fred_06\"<\/a>
\n \"fred_07\"<\/a>
\n\"fred_08\"<\/a>
\n\"fred_09\"<\/a>
\n\"fred_10\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My friend Fred Wostbrock and I came from similar backgrounds; comfortable familial surroundings in cities that just didn\u2019t understand us. We both longed to leave our implied destinies for greener pastures of palm trees, swimming pools, movie stars.\u00a0 For we had both fallen in love […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3626","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3626\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wallyontheweb.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}