Fred McCarren

Handsome, charming, and amiable everyman character actor Frederick West McCarren was born on April 12, 1951 in Butler, Pennsylvania. McCarren acted in numerous stage productions while a student at Butler Area Senior High School. Fred attended not only the University of Cincinatti and Point Park College, but also Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College in Venice, Florida. After college McCarren went to New York, where he immediately found employment doing TV commercials. A subsequent career in film and television followed soon thereafter. Fred married his wife Lisa Hogan on December 30, 1982. A onetime resident of Tarzana, California, McCarren and his wife moved back to his native Pennsylvania in the late 1980's. Fred focused on raising his six children while continuing to work in both radio and television commercials that included the crazy Dr. Sanchez in radio spots for the Mad Rex restaurant chain and the coach in a series of TV commercials for Dick's Sporting Goods as well as TV spots for PNC, PPG, Comcast, and Builder's Surplus. McCarren had two brothers and three sisters. He died at age 55 on July 2, 2006 from colon cancer at Butler Memorial Hospital in Butler, Pennsylvania.