Ted Knight

Ted Knight Headshot

Actor

Birth Date: December 7, 1923

Death Date: August 26, 1986

Birth Place: Terryville, Connecticut

With a booming voice and a pompous, yet easily flustered elitist persona, actor Ted Knight was a comic tour de force on television and in film for decades. While often remember by the Gen-X set for his stick-in-the-mud, golf-obsessed judge in "Caddyshack" (1980), it was his Emmy-winning characterization as the vain and vastly untalented Ted Baxter on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" (CBS, 1970-77) that first endeared Knight to the public. He went on to create another loveable buffoon, Henry Rush, on the hit sitcom, "Too Close for Comfort" (ABC, 1980-86), cementing a legacy that few in Hollywood ever hope to achieve.

Knight was born on Dec. 7, 1923 and raised in Terryville, CT. He dropped out of high school to enlist in the military during World War II, where he earned five Bronze Stars as a radio reconnaissance operator in the First Army Group's combat engineers. Reportedly, he was among the first of the Allied troops to enter Berlin at the end of the war. Returning to the United States, Knight studied acting in Hartford, CT at the Randall School of Fine Arts, where he performed in productions of "Grand Hotel" and "Time of Your Life." Like any struggling actor, Knight made ends meet in a variety of odd jobs - disc jockey, singer, ventriloquist and puppeteer - before moving on to the American Theater Wing in New York City, NY. His multiple talents were put to good use at the ABC affiliate in Albany, NY, where he introduced western movies in the character of Windy Knight and hosted a morning news program.

He continued to act on stage, eventually moving west where he found work at the famed Pasadena Playhouse. Knight made the transition from stage to screen, appearing in numerous commercials and television shows like "The Donna Reed Show," (ABC, 1958-1966), "The Twilight Zone," (CBS, 1959-1964), "Gunsmoke" (CBS, 1955-1975), and "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C." (CBS, 1964-69). On the big screen, he later became infamous for his non-speaking role as a police officer near the conclusion of Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" (1960). Knight also put his announcer's voice to work in children's cartoon shows, such as "Aquaman" (CBS, 1970-71) and "The Batman/Superman Hour" (CBS, 1968), the animated version of "Star Trek," (NBC, 1973-75) and - most memorably - as the narrator on "The Super Friends" (ABC, 1973-77), on which he intoned the famous line, "Meanwhile, at the Hall of Justice "It was on the classic sitcom "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" (CBS, 1970-77), that Knight achieved his greatest success, crafting the overconfident, but often clueless, television news anchor, Ted Baxter. His stern, commanding demeanor was easily stymied when he sailed through authoritarian news reports full of mispronunciations and bungled readings. In a memorable scene, when handed a termination notice with orders to read it aloud, he looked at the paper and said, "You're fried." Knight's performance drew critical attention as well - he won the Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1973 and 1976, and was nominated four other times.

Knight's follow-up as the temperamental Judge Elihu Smails in the 1980 cult comedy classic "Caddyshack" brought even more notoriety. With memorable comedic confrontations with Rodney Dangerfield and Chevy Chase, a new generation of younger fans was turned on to Knight. During production, rumors abounded that he often clashed with Dangerfield, while Chase slyly pitted the two against each other. Meanwhile, back on television, Knight landed his own series finally - the very short-lived, "The Ted Knight Show," (1977-78), where he played a man running an escort service in New York City. Knight returned to guest star status for a spell, appearing in several episodes of "The Love Boat," (ABC, 1977-1986) in the recurring role of Captain Gunner Norquist, before hosting a fifth-season episode of "Saturday Night Live," (NBC, 1975- ).

In 1980, everything changed when Knight accepted the leading role in the sitcom "Too Close for Comfort." (ABC, 1980-86). In the beloved series, Knight played the over-protective father Henry Rush, who, along with his wife (Nancy Dussault), struggled as the flustered parents of two beautiful daughters (Deborah Van Valkenburgh and Lydia Cornell) who have moved out to the downstairs apartment in their San Francisco duplex. Adding to Rush's misery was his "flamboyant" tenant, Monr (Jim J. Bullock), who over the course of the series, proved to be an effective - albeit, unwitting - foil. Oddly enough, Knight's character on "Too Close for Comfort" was a cartoonist who drew with a puppet on his hand, harkening back to his early experience with puppetry.

Though "Too Close for Comfort" remained a ratings winner its first few seasons, the show made a fatal move to another time slot that ultimately ended its network run in May 1983. But Fox - then a fledgling network looking to compete - picked up the show and began running new episodes in syndication. In 1985, producers decided to revamp "Too Close for Comfort," having Henry Rush quit his cartoonist job in favor of becoming editor of the fictional Marin Bugler and moving with his wife - and pesky neighbor Monr - to Marin County. Renamed "The Ted Knight Show" (Syndicated, 1985-86), the new series only enjoyed momentary success because, in 1985, Knight was diagnosed with colon cancer. The following year, he underwent surgery to remove a tumor from his urinary tract, but complications forced him back into the hospital. He returned to his Pacific Palisades home, only to die on Aug. 26, 1986 at the age of only 62.

Credits

Family Guy

Guest Voice
Judge Elihu Smails (archive footage)
Show
1999

Family GuyStream

Guest Voice
Judge Elihu Smails (archive footage)
Series
1999

The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians

Voice
Narrator
Show
1985

Circus of the Stars

Self
Show
1984

Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show

Voice
Narrator
Show
1984

Too Close for ComfortStream

Actor
Henry Rush
Series
1980

CaddyshackStream

Actor
Judge Smails
Movie
1980
72%

The World's Greatest Super Friends

Voice
Narrator
Show
1979

Pat Boone and Family Easter Special

Guest
Show
1979

The Comedy ShopStream

Guest
Series
1978

The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast: Ted Knight

Actor
Show
1977

Saturday Night LiveStream

Host
Series
1975

Paradise

Actor
Dickie
Show
1974

Mitzi: A Tribute to the American Housewife

Actor
Show
1974

Star Trek: The Animated SeriesStream

Guest Voice
Series
1973

Super FriendsStream

Voice
Narrator
Series
1973

The 25th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards

Self
Show
1973

The Mary Tyler Moore ShowStream

Actor
Ted Baxter
Series
1970

Anatomy of a Crime

Actor
Nick Ames
Movie
1969

Aquaman

Actor
Show
1968

Fantastic Voyage

Voice
Commander Jonathan Kidd
Show
1968

The Adventures of Batman

Voice
Commissioner Gordon
Show
1968

Countdown

Actor
Walter Larson
Movie
1968

Journey to the Center of the Earth

Voice
Professor Oliver Lindenbrook
Show
1967

Nightmare in Chicago

Actor
Movie
1967

Get SmartStream

Guest Star
Series
1965

The Wild, Wild WestStream

Guest Star
Series
1965

Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.Stream

Guest Star
Don Mills
Series
1964

12 O'Clock High

Guest Star
Series
1964

The Candidate

Actor
Frank Carlton
Movie
1964

The FugitiveStream

Guest Star
Lieutenant Mooney
Series
1963

The Outer LimitsStream

Actor
Mr. Jerome
Series
1963
92%

The Lieutenant

Guest Star
Series
1963

McHale's Navy

Guest Star
Series
1962

Combat!

Guest Star
Series
1962

Swingin' Along

Actor
Priest
Movie
1962

Dr. Kildare

Guest Star
Series
1961

Cry for Happy

Actor
Lt. Glick
Movie
1961

Surfside 6

Guest Star
Series
1960

13 Fighting Men

Actor
Samuel
Movie
1960

Cage of Evil

Actor
Lt. Dan Ivers
Movie
1960

Twelve Hours to Kill

Actor
Denton
Movie
1960

Mr. LuckyStream

Guest Star
Series
1959

The Untouchables

Guest Star
Series
1959

The Twilight ZoneStream

Actor
Adams
Series
1959
92%

Lock-UpStream

Guest Star
Series
1959

BonanzaStream

Guest Star
Series
1959

Mike Hammer

Guest Star
Show
1958

Timmy & Lassie

Guest Star
Show
1957

Highway Patrol

Guest Star
Merrill Hartman
Series
1955

Alfred Hitchcock PresentsStream

Actor
Mr. Maynard
Series
1955

GunsmokeStream

Guest Star
Bill Miller
Series
1955

Lassie

Guest Star
Mr. Ventrilo
Series
1954

The Best of This Is Your Life

Guest
Show
1952

What's My Line?Stream

Guest
Game Show
1950