Fred Grandy

Grandy was born in Sioux City Iowa the youngest of three sons of William Grandy who worked in his fathers insurance business and his wife Bonnie When Grandy was eleven his father died of a heart attack His mother died of an aneurysm a year later The young Grandy was raised by Margaret Avery his mothers best friend a widow who later married his fathers doctor He went to public schools until ninth grade after which he attended high school at Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter New Hampshire as his father and brothers had done At Exeter Grandy was the roommate of David Eisenhower the grandson of President Dwight D Eisenhower and was later best man at Eisenhowers wedding to Julie Nixon the daughter of thenpresidentelect Richard Nixon in December 1968 Grandy graduated magna cum laude with a bachelors degree in English studies from Harvard University in 1970 In 1971 he joined an improvisational group at Harvard called The Proposition and then rejoined the show when it moved offBroadway in 1971 Among his costars was future Saturday Night Live star Jane Curtin Although of service age Grandy had a high lottery number and was not drafted for Vietnam