The Best TV Dads in History: Fred Gwynne, Andy Griffith and More

So many great actors have played fathers on television, but only a few could be called the best TV dads in history. Stars like Michael Landon, Andy Griffith, John Astin, Ralph Waite, Robert Young, Hugh Beaumont and Fred Gwynne from The Munsters take the cake for the best performances of all time!

In a previous interview with Closer Weekly, Geoffrey Mark, writer and co-director of the 2002 documentary Behind the Fame: The Munsters/Addams Family, recalled Fred’s rise to fame. “I don’t know if you’d call him a big Broadway star, but Fred was a featured player in play after play after play in the 1950s, doing a lot of comedy and singing. And this led him to doing live television and being seen by television people,” Geoffrey said.

In 1964, Fred landed The Munsters and became known as the “6-foot-5-and-a-half inches” actor who played Herman Munster on-screen. The only thing he adored more than his role was his five kids — Madyn, Dylan, Keiron, Gaynor, and Evan. By being a dad to them made his parenting as Herman even more believable on-screen.

“Fred was an actor,” Geoffrey said, “who knew how to play comedy with incredible pinpoint, sharp timing. Like Lucille Ball, he knew how to suspend disbelief so that you could completely buy what was going on. For me, The Munsters is a cartoon — only we believe it because Fred believes it. There was a warmth and a heart that came out of him that made what he did believable.”

After the show premiered, Fred was broadcast as a “character” actor. However, that didn’t stop him from booking jobs. “He went back to Broadway and was a star there, because he could play all kinds of parts,” Geoffrey explained. “He was Broadway-trained and could live quietly working onstage, and then slipping away back to the suburbs to get far away from all of it. That’s how he lived his life.” Fred will always be one of our favorite actors in Hollywood.

Michael Landon was both a fun prankster and a strict father figure on the set of Little House on the Prairie. “We used to catch frogs in the creek,” recalls Rachel Greenbush, 51, who split the role of young Carrie Ingalls with her twin sister, Sidney, told Closer Weekly in May 2021. “We would bring them back to Michael. He would put them in his mouth, walk up to people, open his mouth and the frog would jump out! People would freak out!”

But the majority of the time, Michael ran “a very tight ship,” and when action was called, playtime was over. “He knew exactly what he wanted with every shot and every scene,” Alison Arngrim, 59, who played Nellie, revealed. She added that on set, “there was no real drama because Michael wouldn’t allow it.”

“We were very lucky,” Melissa Gilbert, who played Laura “Half-pint” Ingalls, exclusively told Closer Weekly. “We were like a second family.

For more on your favorite stars, pick up the latest issue of Closer Weekly, on newsstands now — and be sure to sign up for our newsletter for more exclusive news!

Scroll below to see more of the best TV dads in history!

Michael Landon

“People didn’t know how funny he was,” said Jennifer Landon of her dad. “He was a prankster.” Once while the family was on vacation in Vail, Colorado, Michael covered the snowy backyard with strawberry Nesquik powder — Jennifer’s favorite — and sent her and a friend out with spoons. But like his beloved character on Little House on the Prairie, Charles Ingalls, Michael had a serious side, too.

“There was a tremendous amount of respect in the house,” Jennifer said. “I felt admired by him, which is an amazing feeling to have as a child — someone you look up to admiring you back.” Michael, who also starred in the hits Bonanza and Highway to Heaven, accomplished many things before tragically dying at 54 in 1991. But as the proud father of nine kids, noted Jennifer, “My dad would say his greatest achievement was his children.”

Andy Griffith

On The Andy Griffith Show, Sheriff Andy Taylor was never too busy to spend quality time with son Opie. Off-camera, the actor “really loved to show us kids a good time,” said daughter Dixie. “He taught us how to ride motorcycles and shoot guns!” Andy enjoyed quieter pursuits as well. “He would sit down with me and teach me how to play the piano,” Dixie shared. There was always an important lesson underlying everything Andy, who died at 86 in 2012, did with Dixie. “He instilled that work ethic,” she said. “You really have to put some effort and elbow grease into whatever you do.”

Ralph Waite

“I loved doing scenes with Ralph,” said Judy Norton, who played Mary Ellen, one of the seven kids on the Depression-era family drama The Waltons. “He had this naturalness about him — he was just like talking to the dad you wish you had.” Ralph, who had three children in real life, put many aspects of himself into the character of John Walton. “There was a lot of love and caring in him,” said Judy of Ralph, who died at 85 in 2014. “He felt things very deeply.”

Robert Young

60 years after Father Knows Best went off the air, viewers still turn to Robert’s character, Jim Anderson, for comfort and wisdom. “This Father’s Day is very special because so many people have told me they’ve been watching Father Knows Best on Hulu, and it’s helped them,” said one of Robert’s four daughters, Carol Proffitt, whose dad passed away at 91 in 1998. “I’m sure Daddy’s smiling down to see his show making people happy.”

Hugh Beaumont

For years, daughter Kristan Beaumont tried to make her dad Hugh his favorite dessert — banana cream pie — for Father’s Day. “In the beginning, he ate a lot of banana cream soup, until I got the knack. He never complained!” It seems Hugh was just as patient and kind as Ward Cleaver, the patriarch he played on Leave It to Beaver. “He’d always say, ‘You start by tying your shoelaces,’ which meant you start from something small and go from there — you don’t have to do the whole thing at once,” said Kristan of Hugh, who had three kids and died at 73 in 1982. “His philosophy in life was you never stop growing.”

Fred Gwynne

“Everyone looked up to Herman Munster — he was 7 feet tall!” joked Butch Patrick, who played son Eddie on The Munsters. In fact, Fred was only 6’5″ without his Frankenstein-esque boots, but Butch still saw him as a giant presence. “When he wasn’t on camera, he was playing a guitar or telling jokes. He was a multitalented guy.” A father of five who died at 66 in 1993, Fred was also generous with his time. “He took me to my first hockey game,” recalled Butch. “We went into the locker room after, and it was amazing to see the players up close — none of them had any teeth!”