Michael Vale (June 28, 1922 – December 24, 2005) was an American commercial actor famous for being the longtime sleepy-eyed mascot "Fred the Baker" for doughnut chain Dunkin' Donuts, with his famous catchphrase "Time to make the doughnuts." He was featured for 15 years until he retired in 1997, having done more than 1,300 television commercials. Vale also reprised the role for commercials for the short-lived Dunkin' Donuts Cereal.
One of his earl...
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Michael Vale (June 28, 1922 – December 24, 2005) was an American commercial actor famous for being the longtime sleepy-eyed mascot "Fred the Baker" for doughnut chain Dunkin' Donuts, with his famous catchphrase "Time to make the doughnuts." He was featured for 15 years until he retired in 1997, having done more than 1,300 television commercials. Vale also reprised the role for commercials for the short-lived Dunkin' Donuts Cereal.
One of his earliest appearances was in a summer stock production of George Bernard Shaw's "Androcles and the Lion". Vale later described his modest role: "I was thrown to the lions."
Vale was a longtime spokesman for Kraft Foods' Breakstone line of cottage cheese and sour cream products, for whom he portrayed long-suffering dairy owner "Sam Breakstone". The focus on those commercials is Sam's dedication to quality, usually with Sam having a comedic "eureka" moment on how to make a better product. The humanizing touch given "Sam Breakstone" was his...
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