Ted Knight

Actor. Born to a Polish American family in Terryville, Connecticut. Some sources list his real name as Tadeus Wladyslaw Konopka, however, his gravestone reads, Theodore C. Konopka. He dropped out of high school to join the military during World War II. He received five battle stars during his Army service in World War II. After the war, he studied acting in Hartford, Connecticut. He married Dorothy Smith in 1948, and they had three children: Ted, Jr., Elyse, and Eric. He started his career in television at station WTEN in Albany, New York in the 1950's. He did commercial voice-overs and minor TV and movie roles during the 1950s and 1960s. His voice-over talents were used on the "Superman" and "Star Trek" cartoons of the 1960s. He had a bit, non-speaking role at the very end of Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" in 1960. His credits include "The Fugitive," "The FBI," "Bonanza", "Combat!", and "The Twilight Zone". His films include "Twelve Hours to Kill" (1960), "The Candidate" (1964), "The Young Dillinger" (1965), "Countdown" (1968), and "Caddyshack" (1980). Ted also made a record in 1975. "Hi Guys" featured Ted Knight and the Poops in a collection of daffy songs, including such zingers as "Itsy Bitsy, Teeny Weeny Yellow Polkadot Bikini", "Male Chauvinist Pig", "May the Bird of Paradise Fly Up Your Nose", "Chick-a-Boom", and "I'm in Love with Barbara Walters". His role as the newscaster Ted Baxter in "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", brought him 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. He played the lead role in the series "Too Close For Comfort"from 1980-1986. Ted Knight has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to Television, at 6671 Hollywood Boulevard. He died from cancer of the urinary tract at the age of 62.