Dunkin’s Fred the baker dead at 83

Michael Vale, aka Fred the baker from the old Dunkin’ Donuts
commercials, has died at 83
. Vale first uttered his sleepy refrain, "Time
to make the doughnuts," in ads from Ally & Gargano in 1982, led by creative
director Ron Berger. The chain figured that Vale played Fred in some
200 spots before switching to a PR role in 1997 as the “Dunkin’
Diplomat.” “The first time he said, ‘Time to make the doughnuts,’ we were
hysterical,” Berger told the Boston Herald in 1997.