Ted McGinley

Ted McGinley Headshot

Actor

Birth Date: May 30, 1958

Age: 65 years old

Birth Place: Newport Beach, California

Spouses: Gigi Rice

As a former model-turned-prominent character actor, Ted McGinley graced screens both large and small, often as empty-headed jocks or smarmy heartthrobs with unseemly ulterior motives. Most active throughout the 1980s and 1990s, McGinley broke through as a high school coach and teacher on "Happy Days" (CBS/ABC, 1973-1984), then hopped aboard "The Love Boat" (ABC, 1977-1986) as the new cruise director during the show's waning years, while in the feature world, he shined as the head of a jock fraternity in "Revenge of the Nerds" (1984). Despite occasional sojourns onto the silver screen, McGinley's bread-and-butter remained on television, where he delivered perhaps his most memorable role on "Married With Children" (Fox, 1986-1997) as the underhanded neighbor of the dysfunctional Bundy clan. But due to McGinley's late casting on series steadily in decline, he was unfortunately tagged for being the catalyst for each show "jumping the shark" - the moment when it reaches its peak and heads straight down toward creative mediocrity. Nonetheless, McGinley continued steady work through the new millennium on "The West Wing" (NBC, 1999-2006) and "Hope & Faith" (ABC, 2003-06), ensuring his status as a go-to character performer.

Born on May 30, 1958 in Newport Beach, CA, McGinley was a surfer and lifeguard while attending Newport Harbor High School. After graduating, he matriculated at the University of Southern California, where he dipped his t into a modeling career. But his appearances in sporting goods ads cost him his water polo scholarship - the university claimed that he had violated NCAA endorsement rules, forcing him to leave college and move to New York, where he began modeling in earnest. He landed several advertisements, including one on the box cover of Sun-In hair lightener - an appropriate campaign, given his all-American "Malibu Ken"-type looks. Making the segue to acting, McGinley made his onscreen debut with a bit part as a jogger in the romantic drama, "Valentine" (ABC, 1979). In 1980, he was discovered by television producer Garry Marshall, who cast the fledgling performer in his hit series, "Happy Days." Introduced after Ron Howard left the show, McGinley settled into the role of Roger Phillips, the nephew of the Cunninghams, as well as a coach and teacher at Jefferson High.

Though McGinley remained on the show for its last four seasons, "Happy Days" was already in the midst of a decline. Meanwhile, he made his feature film debut with a small role in "Young Doctors in Love" (1982), then made a more lasting impression in the comedy classic, "Revenge of the Nerds" (1984), playing über-jock Stanley Gables, head of the Alpha Beta fraternity that wages war against the nerd frat, Lambda Lambda Lambda. After "Happy Days" left the airwaves, McGinley joined "The Love Boat" as the new cruise director, Ashley "Ace" Covington-Evans, filling the hole left behind by Lauren Tewes, who was forced off the show because of her cocaine addiction. In 1986, he joined "Dynasty" (ABC, 1980-89), another long-running series winding down to its final days. Only on for one season, McGinley played Clay Fallmont, the son of Senator Buck Fallmont (Richard Anderson) who romances Amanda Carrington (Catherine Oxenberg) and winds up marrying Sammy Jo (Heather Locklear), only to skip town when it is revealed he might be related to Ben Carrington (Christopher Cazenove).

Already apparent on McGinley's résumé was his knack for joining successful series well past their prime. He reprised "Ace" Convington for a series of made-for-television movies, including "The Love Boat: Who Killed Max Thorn?" (ABC, 1986), "The Love Boat: The Shipshape Cruise" (ABC, 1986) and "The Love Boat: The Christmas Cruise" (ABC, 1986). After an episode of "Perfect Strangers" (ABC, 1985-1993), he played Mitch Slade in the made-for-television movies "Die Laughing" (ABC, 1989) and "Auntie Sue" (ABC, 1989), both of which showcased Burt Reynolds as New Orleans private investigator B.L. Stryker who returns to his native Florida to solve high-end crimes. He made a cameo as himself in "Troop Beverly Hills" (1989), then returned to regular series work to join the cast of "Married With Children," playing Jefferson D'Arcy, the lazy, money-hungry second husband of Al Bundy's (Ed O'Neil) neighbor and chief nemesis, Marcy D'Arcy (Amanda Bearse). For six seasons, McGinley essayed the role of a scheming, do-nothing gigolo who constantly persuades a typically game Al to participate in all manner of dubious, far-fetched, money-making plots that were destined to fail miserably from the start.

Even though McGinley was on "Married With Children" for more than half its network run, he began earning the reputation for aiding the inevitable slide any series experiences after being on the air too long. Unfortunately, McGinley typically joined a series well past its creative peak, which targeted him as the reason for that show's decline. In 1997, former University of Michigan student Jon Hein created the website jumptheshark.com, which allowed visitors to vote on an episode or event that marked a particular show's initial slide into mediocrity. The site's name referred to the infamous "Happy Days" episode in 1977, where Fonzie (Henry Winkler) mimicked Evel Knievel by jumping over a group of penned-in sharks on water skis. Though that series went on to air over 100 more episodes - some of which co-starred McGinley - Fonzie's stunt proved to be the moment when the writers' creative juices finally dried up. As for McGinley, his penchant for joining a show after its peak led Hein to consider him the patron saint of "jumping the shark." "Chances are that if Ted is anywhere near your cast, consider the show on the downward spiral," Hein said on his site. "[But] that's not to take away from Ted's fine acting skills."

During his run on "Married With Children," McGinley reprised the role of Stan Gable for "Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation" (Fox, 1992) and "Revenge of the Nerds IV: Nerds in Love" (Fox, 1994). Following an episode of "The John Larroquette Show" (NBC, 1993-97) and the cyber-thriller "Deadly Web" (NBC, 1996), McGinley had a recurring role during the first season of "Sports Night" (ABC, 1998-2000), then landed two episodes on the short-lived lawyer sitcom, "Work With Me" (CBS, 1999-2000). He then joined the cast of "The West Wing" (NBC, 1999-2006) for its second season, playing talk show Mark Gottfried on the fictional gabfest, "Capital Beat." Though he appeared in small roles for feature films, including "Dick" (1999), "The Big Tease" (2000) and "Pearl Harbor" (2001), McGinley kept his focus squarely on television. In 2003, he starred on the sitcom "Hope & Faith" (ABC, 2003-06), playing the orthodontist husband of a housewife (Faith Ford) who takes in her former soap opera diva sister (Kelly Ripa), much to his constant dismay. After that series came and went, McGinley voiced a character on several episodes of "Family Guy" (Fox, 1998- ) before it was announced that he would join season seven of "Dancing With the Stars" (ABC, 2005- ), showcasing his moves on the dance floor as a celebrity contestant partnered with dance professional, Inna Brayer.

Credits

The Baxters

Actor
John Baxter
Series
2024

Live with Kelly and MarkStream

Guest
Talk
2023

Keeping Up With the Joneses: The Wrong Nemesis

Actor
Webb
Movie
2022

Keeping Up With the Joneses: The Wrong Murder

Actor
Webb
Movie
2022

Keeping Up With the Joneses: The Wrong Marriage

Actor
Webb
Movie
2022

Keeping Up With the Joneses: The Wrong Inside Man

Actor
Webb
Movie
2022

Keeping Up with the JonesesStream

Actor
Webb
Miniseries
2021

Keeping Up With the Joneses: The Wrong Family

Actor
Webb
Movie
2021

Keeping Up With the Joneses: The Wrong Blackmail

Actor
Webb
Movie
2021

Keeping Up With the Joneses: The Wrong Letter

Actor
Webb
Movie
2021

Christmas ReservationsStream

Actor
Duffy Johnson
Movie
2019

Christmas With Capital C

Actor
Dan Reed
Show
2018

Caroline & Friends

Guest
Show
2018

God's Not Dead: A Light in Darkness

Actor
Thomas Ellsworth
Movie
2018

Daily Blast Live

Guest
Show
2017

Battle of the Network Stars

Guest
Reality
2017

Live with Kelly and Ryan

Guest
Talk
2017

The Outskirts

Actor
Principal Whitmore
Movie
2017

Fatherly Obsession

Actor
Robert J. Farnsworth
Movie
2017

Happily Never After

Actor
Gene
Movie
2017

Area of Conflict

Actor
Carter
Movie
2017

No TomorrowStream

Guest Star
Series
2016
88%

Karen Kingsbury's The Bridge Part 2

Actor
Charlie
Movie
2016

Do You Believe?Stream

Actor
Matthew
Movie
2015
25%

Expendable Assets

Actor
Carter
Movie
2015

Karen Kingsbury's The Bridge

Actor
Charlie Bartons
Movie
2015

Rescuing Madison

Actor
Douglas Kelly
Movie
2014

MomStream

Guest Star
Dr. Bernson
Series
2013

Bad Behavior

Actor
Bruce
Movie
2013

A Mother's Rage

Actor
Stan
Movie
2013

See Dad RunStream

Guest Star
Series
2012

Live! With Kelly and Michael

Guest
Talk
2012

Notes From the Heart Healer

Actor
Kingston Danville
Movie
2012

The Note III

Actor
King
Show
2012

Breaking InStream

Guest Star
Larry
Series
2011
56%

Hawaii Five-0Stream

Guest Star
Agent Collins
Series
2010

Scooby-Doo! Curse of the Lake Monster

Actor
Uncle Thorny
Movie
2010

Christmas With a Capital C

Actor
Dan Reed
Movie
2010

CastleStream

Guest Star
Series
2009
82%

The Note II: Taking a Chance on Love

Actor
Kingston Danville
Movie
2009

The MentalistStream

Guest Star
Series
2008

Wizards of Waverly PlaceStream

Guest Star
Series
2007

Mad MenStream

Guest Star
Mel
Series
2007
94%

The Morning Show With Mike & Juliet

Guest
Show
2007

The NoteStream

Actor
Kingston Danville
Movie
2007

'Til DeathStream

Guest Star
Series
2006

Dancing With the StarsStream

Contestant
Reality
2005

NTSB: The Crash of Flight 323

Actor
Reese Faulkner
Movie
2004

Hope & Faith

Actor
Charley Shanowski
Show
2003

Charlie Lawrence

Actor
Graydon Ford
Show
2003

Frozen Impact

Actor
Dan Blanchard
Movie
2003

My Adventures in Television

Guest Star
Show
2002

Live With Regis and Kelly

Host
Show
2001

Daybreak

Actor
Dillon Johansen
Movie
2001

Cahoots

Actor
Brad
Movie
2001

Face the Music

Actor
Marcus
Movie
2000

Work With Me

Guest Star
Show
1999

The West WingStream

Guest Star
Mark Gottfried
Series
1999
81%

Family Guy

Guest Voice
Additional Voices
Show
1999

Family GuyStream

Guest Voice
Helicopter Rental Agent
Series
1999

Dick

Actor
Roderick
Movie
1999

Sports NightStream

Guest Star
Series
1998
90%

Major League: Back to the Minors

Actor
Leonard Huff
Movie
1998

Every Mother's Worst Fear

Actor
Scanman
Movie
1998

Follow Your Heart

Actor
James Allen Bailey
Movie
1998

The PracticeStream

Guest Star
Series
1997

Deadly Web

Actor
Peter Lawrence
Movie
1996

Cara Vivirás, Ceca Morirás

Actor
Jeffrey Quint
Movie
1995

Tails You Live, Heads You're Dead

Actor
Jeffrey Quint
Movie
1995

Jugando Entre la Vida y la Muerte

Actor
Movie
1995

Revenge of the Nerds IV: Nerds in Love

Actor
Stan Gable
Movie
1994

The John Larroquette Show

Guest Star
Series
1993

Wild Justice

Actor
Aubrey Billings
Movie
1993

Linda

Actor
Brandon "Jeff" Jeffries
Movie
1993

Revenge of the Nerds III: The Next Generation

Actor
Dean Stanley Gable
Movie
1992

Baby Talk

Guest Star
Series
1991
0%

Blue Tornado

Actor
Philip
Movie
1990

B.L. Stryker: mourir de rire

Actor
Movie
1989

Physical Evidence

Actor
Kyle
Movie
1989

B.L. Stryker: Die Laughing

Actor
Mitch Slade
Movie
1989

Married ... With ChildrenStream

Actor
Jefferson D'Arcy
Series
1987

Married ... With ChildrenStream

Guest Star
Jefferson D'Arcy
Series
1987

Perfect StrangersStream

Guest Star
Series
1986

Revenge of the NerdsStream

Actor
Stan Gable
Movie
1984
71%

El Regreso de los Nerds

Actor
Movie
1984

Hotel

Guest Star
Soap
1983

Making of a Male Model

Actor
Gary Angelo
Movie
1983

Un mannequin sur mésure

Actor
Movie
1983

Young Doctors in Love

Actor
Dr. Bucky DeVol
Movie
1982
35%

DynastyStream

Actor
Series
1981

Fantasy Island

Guest Star
Series
1978

Happy DaysStream

Guest Star
Roger Phillips
Series
1974

Today

Guest
News
1952

News aboutTed McGinley