Ted Cooper

Edward Theodore "Ted" Cooper (November 11, 1920—December 5, 1999) was a longtime United States television set designer, producer and consultant. He was a gold card member of the United Scenic Artists, and for several years until his retirement, was the oldest working member of that union.

Cooper is best known as the longtime art director and creative consultant for Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions, the leading producer of American game shows. He joined the firm in 1960 and was associated with it until his death at age 79.

Cooper was hired as a TV art director for NBC in 1950 where he worked on various shows including 'Your Show of Shows', the 'Lewis and Martin Show' (until it moved to Los Angeles), 'The Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney Show', and 'The Jimmy Durante Show' among others. He was responsible for the sets for the Orson Welles 1956 Broadway production of King Lear, which lasted only 21 performances. [http://www.wellesnet.com/learindex.htm] Through his association with NBC, he knew Fred Rogers of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood fame, and contributed to the first version of that show as well.

But Cooper’s best-known achievement would be in creating set designs and game displays for TV quiz shows. For the Barry and Enright game show "Concentration", which aired on NBC for 15 years before moving into syndication, he created the prize display that showed the list of gifts as the contestants matched them. The display did not show the stagehand slipping in the name of the prize on the side, it had the prize name in place but obscured by a front covering, which would then be pulled to the side to reveal the prize name.

He has been credited with being the motivating force behind taking game shows from a table set in front of a drape to a full set designed for the show. On the 1961 game show "Say When!!", he utilized the first electronic readout device used on a game show.

The game shows for which Cooper would serve as art director or creative consultant after 1960 include quiz programs "The Price Is Right", "The Match Game", "What's My Line?", "To Tell The Truth", "He Said, She Said" (and its successor "Tattletales"), "Family Feud, Beat the Clock, Password, Say When!!, Double Dare, Card Sharks, Blockbusters, Body Language" and "Trivia Trap". Many of the designs were executed without the benefit of computer generated special effects for which the industry is known today.

Cooper’s best-known single TV stage design is the psychedelic set he created for the 1969 syndicated revival of "To Tell the Truth". The bright-colored panels and elegant lettering he supervised for the show’s Ed Sullivan Theater set in New York gave a modern, youthful feel to a show that had already been a success for 12 years on CBS.