"Edward Herrmann, who is best known for his performances as FDR and Lou Gehrig and also is the TV spokesman for Dodge, conducted the live auction [at the New Jersey Shakespeare Festival]. He spoke with me a couple of times and was clearly well regarded by all the performers there. His sense of humor really kept the bidding going and his brand of self-deprecating humor speaks well of his true self-confidence and generous nature. I really enjoyed meeting him and Dodge commercials will never be the same for me."

The studious-looking Broadway actor is "a conservative guy who makes the correct decisions. He doesn't look mechanically oriented, yet he converts a Durango into the vehicle he wants. Then he swings an imaginary golf club. Sophisticated, upscale, not technically savvy, but an acceptable guy."

Anita Lienert/The Detroit News

He's different. He's ubiquitous. He's all over television — even more than Regis Philbin. He's in prime-time. He's on during the local news every night. He's on cable. He's seen during Reds games on Fox Sports Ohio. He's Edward Herrmann, the Tony- and Emmy-winning actor, who has a role of a lifetime — as the spokesman for the Dodge “Different” TV commercials.

The big, tall guy in the dark suit has been crawling out from under Dodge cars, minivans and trucks for seven years. He just signed for another four. “I've officially passed Ricardo Montalban as the longest Dodge spokesman,” says the actor, referring to the former Fantasy Island star.

People used to stop Mr. Herrmann and talk about his portrayal of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in ABC's Eleanor and Franklin (1976) and Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years (1977). Others used to recognize him from The Paper Chase (1973) or his Tony-winning Broadway performance in Mrs. Warren's Profession (1976). Today, as many people know him from Dodge commercials than his Emmy-winning guest role on The Practice, or from hosting Founding Fathers and The Ultimate Auto series on the History Channel programs. He also narrates the History Channel's History's Lost & Found (6:30 p.m. weekdays).

The Dodge job, unlike others in his career, didn't require him to sweat through the audition process. “They came to me and asked me to do it. I just went along for the ride,” he says. It's been a congested ride for the Washington, D.C., native. He does all the national TV spots, plus regional commercials for every local Dodge dealers' association, and all the Dodge radio advertising voice-overs. “The Dodge guy is a big deal to an awful lot of people,” says Mr. Herrmann, who attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art on a Fulbright Scholarship. “I have sort of a niche audience. What they know me from depends on the generation — Eleanor and Franklin, or The Practice, or the History Channel.”

A new generation has discovered him this year. At 57, he finds himself one of TV's top-rated series for teen-age girls — the WB's Gilmore Girls. The drama, launched with help from the Family Friendly Programming Forum last October, concludes its first season Thursday (8 p.m., Channel 64). Many of his older fans from The Great Waldo Pepper (1975) or Reds (1981) are surprised to learn he's a regular on the young-skewing network, home for Dawson's Creek and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He plays stuffy family patriarch Richard Gilmore, father to central character Lorelai (Lauren Graham) and grandfather to Rory (Alexis Bledel).

It's his first TV series in 25 years, since CBS' short-lived Beacon Hill. The Upstairs, Downstairs-style drama also starred Nancy Marchand, David Dukes, Holland Taylor and Michael Nouri. “I wanted to do this because of the writing,” says the actor. He praised the multigenerational family drama scripts by creator Amy Sherman-Palladino, a former Roseanne writer. “Amy really has it pegged beautifully.”

Through the years, Mr. Herrmann has turned down numerous TV series and movies — in part because of the regular checks from Dodge. “You go through stages when you're hot, and then you're not. And when you're hot, they want to give you (TV series) pilots. And almost always they're lousy,” he says. “It's much more comfortable now, though I'm constantly doing voice-overs,” he says. “This (Dodge deal) allows me to chose more carefully.” Gilmore Girls seemed like the right show, at the right time, at the right place for a serial TV role. “I knew the WB wanted a crossover show. They really wanted to tap into a larger (older) audience. And I thought they'd probably support this.”

Mr. Herrmann and Gilmore Girls fans will find out next week if WB remains committed to the show, ranked No. 142 of 164 series this season. The network announces its fall lineup on Tuesday. If WB pulls the plug, Mr. Herrmann isn't worried. For him, that's the Dodge difference.

From the Cincinnati Enquirer---May 09, 2001
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DETROIT -- Edward Herrmann, Dodge's bespectacled spokesman of eight years, doesn't fault DaimlerChrysler AG’s Chrysler Group for dumping him last summer. After that many years, the automaker had every right to try something new.

What burns the 58-year-old actor -- known for his cinematic roles in The Purple Rose of Cairo and Lost Boys and on the current TV show Gilmore Girls -- is how he was dumped and the new direction Dodge and Chrysler ads have taken since.

Herrmann, who grew up around Detroit, believes the new Dodge commercials sell nothing but attitude and the Chrysler ads delve too much into sexual innuendo and not the cars themselves. "Some of the image they're selling is absolutely dangerous. It's drinking, it's sex and its driving too fast," Herrmann said.

"I think it's a colossal blunder, frankly," Herrmann said from his northern Michigan home on the Straits of Mackinac. "I also think they made an error that they think the American working man is an idiot." Last August, Chrysler jettisoned Herrmann in a bid to revive Dodge's image with commercials that featured slick visuals and music by rock band Aerosmith. Chrysler said Herrmann's older, professor-like image just wasn't connecting with Dodge's younger, blue-collar audience.

"We wanted to be streetsmart because that's who we are," Jeff Bell, Chrysler vice- president of marketing, said at the time. "Ed was increasingly book smart. That's how he's seen."

Herrmann believes Bell is underestimating Dodge's customer base. "As if, somebody who is reasonably articulate and wears a suit is an insult to guys who work," Herrmann said. "I took it personally when this guy made these cheap remarks."

The actor also is concerned about the direction the Dodge and Chrysler brand ads are going. "(Consumers) don't know what they're advertising," he said. The ads are spectacular looking, but "they are selling attitude. They're not selling product."

Over the years, Herrmann feels like he forged a bond with the automaker and still hobnobs with former Chrysler execs such as Bob Lutz, who is now a vice-chairman at General Motors Corp. That's why he was surprised by Chrysler's cold dismissal.

"No letter of thanks. No testimonial. Just stone silence," he said. Still, Herrmann hates to see Chrysler once again struggling to keep its head above water. "Although I'd like to think, you get rid of Ed and you're sales are going to drop," he said.

From The Detroit News----February 10, 2002

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