Back in the 50's his name was big, one of the biggest as I recall. I just read a brief bio on him (prompted by your blog) and his private life seems to have been as stable as his public life. He adopted children, ran a ranch, stayed married to the same woman for 37 years (his first wife died).
I was never a fan of My Three Sons--probably wasn't aimed at my age group. But I enjoyed watching Fred MacMurray in just about anything.
And having a stable private life alone is a huge achievement for a star of his magnitude.