Ted Knight
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ted Knight (December 7, 1923–August 26, 1986) was an American actor.
Contents |
[edit] Early Years
Born Tadeusz Wladyslaw Konopka to a Polish American family in Terryville, Connecticut, Knight dropped out of high school to enlist for military service in World War II, where his bravery was accordingly honored.
[edit] Acting Career
During the postwar years, Knight studied acting in Hartford, Connecticut. He became proficient with puppets and ventriloquism, which led to steady work as a TV kiddie-show host. Knight spent most of the 1950s and 1960s doing commercial voice-overs and essaying minor TV and movie roles (he was the nonspeaking cop who was guarding Norman Bates at the end of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960)). Knight's distinctive speaking voice brought him work as an announcer -- he narrated several animated television series including Super Friends -- and he appeared frequently in TV shows such as Bonanza, Get Smart, Twilight Zone,The Wild Wild West, and The Love Boat. {In one the Love Boat epsiode he guest starred as a rival cruise captain opposite Mary Tyler Moore co-star Gavin MacLeod}.
His role as the vain and untalented newscaster Ted Baxter in Mary Tyler Moore brought Knight widespread recognition, and his greatest success. He received six Emmy Award nominations for the role, winning the Emmy for "Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in Comedy", in 1973 and 1976.
Fans assumed Knight was like the Ted Baxter character and this caused him problems at times. He was an intelligent actor who felt that he was trapped in the character and that it would typecast him. He was correct in some regards and this is the role he is best remembered for.
After the show concluded, Knight appeared in the film Caddyshack (1980), and played the lead role in the series Too Close For Comfort from 1980-1986.
He died on August 26, 1986 of colon cancer and was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.
[edit] Trivia
Ted Knight has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to Television, at 6671 Hollywood Boulevard.
The commanding voice of the Narrator of Superfriends was provided by Ted Knight during the early hour-long episodes. His signature line was, "Meanwhile, at the Hall of Justice!" William Woodson took over once they dropped the original format.
[edit] External links
- Ted Knight at the Internet Movie Database
- Interview with Lydia Cornell by Michael Sutton
- Interview with Lydia Cornell on the podcast The Future And You (anecdotes about Ted Knight and Too Close For Comfort)
Categories: 1923 births | 1986 deaths | American film actors | American television actors | American military personnel of World War II | Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks & Mortuaries | Cancer deaths | Colorectal cancer deaths | Hollywood Walk of Fame | People from Connecticut | Polish-Americans | Recipients of the Purple Heart medal | United States Army soldiers | American voice actors | American character actors
