Ted Knight

Trivia

• After The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Knight landed the lead role as the kind, curmudgeonly cartoonist Henry Rush in the ABC series Too Close for Comfort (renamed The Ted Knight Show in later seasons) which ran from 1980 to 1986. During scenes in which Henry draws in his bedroom, Knight used his earlier acquired ventroliquism talents for comical conversations with a hand-puppet version of his comic book's main character "Cosmic Cow." Despite the series' ongoing success in first-run syndication, it un
• After the show's run, Knight appeared in one episode of The Love Boat as a rival cruise captain opposite Mary Tyler Moore co-star Gavin MacLeod ("Captain Stubing").
• Knight used some of this character's style for regional commercials. In the Cleveland area during the early to late 1970s, a newsman simply known as "Ted" would provide news of the events at a local shopping center, often finishing the 60-second spot with a comedic flair, including wearing a jacket that resembled his blue "WJM" blazer. The spots were produced by UAB Productions for Southgate USA.
• Ted Knight was a social conservative who often disagreed with former co-star Ed Asner. While the two were political opposites, they remained friends.
• 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.
• His role as the vain and untalented WJM newscaster Ted Baxter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show brought Knight widespread recognition, and his greatest success.
• In addition to his televison work, Knight appeared in the film Caddyshack as bigoted, overbearing Judge Elihu Smails (1980).
• Knight's distinctive speaking voice brought him work as an announcer, notably as narrator of the first season of the Super Friends (his signature line was, "Meanwhile, at the Hall of Justice..."), as well as several other animated television series, including the voices of the opening narrator and team leader Commander Jonathan Kidd in Fantastic Voyage.
• In the 1962-1963 season, he appeared as "Haskell" in the short-lived drama and situation comedy The New Loretta Young Show on CBS.
• Knight spent most of the 1950s and 1960s doing commercial voice-overs and essaying minor television and movie roles (he was the cop guarding Norman Bates at the end of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960).

Quotes

• “There are ogres and black beasts out there; you have to be constantly on guard.”
• “Sometimes when I got a little lonely or depressed I would go down to the supermarket in hopes of being recognized. I would squeeze a few melons and look around surreptitiously. Raise my voice if I had to.”
• “I prefer what I remember to what is going on today. I don't like what I see today, the irresponsibility, the lack of moral values, permissiveness, lack of respect for the elderly, irresponsibility toward society. It depresses me.”
• “There are little moments when Ted Baxter seeps through. His voice sinks down... there's a momentary expression. Ted Baxter is an extension of Ted Knight. I'll never completely divorce myself from that guy. But Baxter was limited, he only reacted, he couldn't resolve a critical situation.”
• “Of course I could have retired anytime. But retiring would drive me crazy.”
• “I don't like being on talk or game shows and I wasn't interested in guest shots.”
• “I'm healthy, I've got a wonderful wife, happy kids, money in the bank. I'm one of the luckiest guys in the world.”

Biography

Ted Knight

Last Updated: Saturday, August 29, 2009

Actor Ted Knight dropped out of high school in order to enlist for World War II service. 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 handed Norman Bates a robe at the end of Hitchcock's Psycho [1960]).
Just barely making ends meet with TV guest spots and cartoon voices, Knight was rescued professionally in 1970 when he was cast in the role of vainglorious TV anchorman Ted Baxter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Three years into the series, Knight threatened to quit because of the one-note stupidity of his character. He was assuaged when the MTM producers "humanized" him with an understanding girlfriend (played by Georgia Engel) -- and it didn't hurt that the actor later won two Emmy awards for his portrayal of the clueless Ted Baxter.

When MTM left the air in 1977, Knight attempted to headline a sitcom of his own. After a couple of false starts, he struck pay dirt in 1980 with Too Close for Comfort, playing a comic-strip artist with two nubile daughters. Too Close left the network for syndication in 1984, then matriculated into The Ted Knight Show in 1985. Though gravely ill, Ted Knight valiantly taped a years' worth of episodes before succumbing to cancer at the age of 62.