On Saturday, July 18, 2009 my wife and I attended the memorial service to celebrate the life of comedic great, Fred Travalena.

While I had the honor of being Fred’s Webmaster since 2005, I never realized the star quality this man held until the service at the “Church of the Way” in Van Nuys, Ca.  One by one I watched several reputable entertainers up on stage reflecting on Fred’s life, names such as Wink Martindale (American Disc Jockey and Talk Show Host), Gavin MacLeod (Captain Stubing on the hit show ‘The Love Boat’) and Oscar Winning Actress Shirley MaClaine.

It was clear to me that I had worked with someone bigger than I had thought.

How could I have missed that? How could I not feel nervous when going to Fred’s home and talking business? I have other clients who work in show business who have yet to accomplish a spec of what Fred accomplished, yet they all expect a red carpet treatment wherever they go.

Well I guess the short answer would be that Fred was a true man, a gentleman, and a humble man. Never once did I get the sense that I was dealing with a celebrity. 

Instead, I was dealing with a man in a mission to save the lives of innocent babies.  He seemed more passionate about this website, ‘babiesareimportant.com’ then ‘fredtravalena.com’.

Fred was the last of the breed of the ‘Rat Pack’ era entertainers. He was a young man when he associated himself with established legends like Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr. In his four decades in the entertainment industry the appeared on The Tonight Show, Letterman, Mike Douglas Show, Merv Griffin Show. He appeared on various television and movie roles, though he prided himself the most for entertaining US troops overseas.

Whenever we held meetings at Fred’s home in Encino I would walk in and would immediately be greeted by his four dogs. I was nervous about his pit bull, but Fred jokingly would tell me that the pit bull ‘does not know he’s a pit bull.’

His beloved wife Lois would come in, give me a hug and offer some tea. We then would go into the kitchen and discuss his website.

Whenever Fred called by telephone, he would start by saying, ‘Heeeeyyy Jim.’ It would bring a smile not only to my face, but to my spirit as well.

My most memorable moment with Fred was when he and I agreed to work together on ‘babiesareimportant.com’ Being a good Christian we both held hands as he recited a short prayer, then we both held hands and cried together.

Fred will always be known as ‘The Man with 1000 Faces.” To me, he will be known a hero.  I hope one day, with his son Corey, now running ‘babiesareimportant.com’, Fred will be know as “The Man who saved 1000 babies.’