- Ted Cassidy
Infobox actor
bgcolour = silver
name = Ted Cassidy
imagesize = 250px
caption = Ted Cassidy as Lurch on "The Addams Family"
birthdate = birth date|1932|7|31|mf=y
location =Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania , U.S.
deathdate = death date and age|1979|1|16|1932|7|31
deathplace =Los Angeles, California , U.S.
yearsactive = 1952-1979
birthname = Theodore Crawford Cassidy
othername =
homepage =
academyawards =Theodore Crawford Cassidy (
July 31 ,1932 -January 16 ,1979 ), known as Ted Cassidy, was a well known Americancharacter actor andvoice actor who performed intelevision andfilm s.Biography
Early life and career
Although born in Pittsburgh, Cassidy was raised in
Philippi, West Virginia , 120 miles south of Pittsburgh. He played basketball (center position) and football (tackle) for Philippi High School. At that time, he was an imposing figure in both venues, being the tallest player in the conference. Early in his academic career, Cassidy attendedWest Virginia Wesleyan College , in nearbyBuckhannon, WV , where he was a member ofAlpha Sigma Phi Fraternity. He later attendedStetson University inDeLand, Florida , as a Speech Major. Active instudent government , he also playedbasketball for the Hatters, averaging 17 points and 10 rebounds in his only season as a player. Early in hisshow business career, he worked as a mid-daydisc jockey on WFAA-AM inDallas, Texas . He also occasionally appeared onWFAA-TV Channel 8, playing "Creech," an outer space creature on the "Dialing for Dollars" segments on Ed Hogan's afternoon movies. An accomplished musician, Cassidy moonlighted at Luby's Cafeteria in the Lochwood Shopping Center inDallas , playing the organ to entertain patrons. OnNovember 22 ,1963 , shortly after theJohn F. Kennedy assassination , Cassidy interviewed several of the witnesses, including two very close witnesses, William andGayle Newman , after the Newman's had appeared on WFAA-TV, but before they left to go to the Dallas Sheriff’s office (No tape exists of that interview for the radio station did not start recording their broadcasts until about 1:45 PM)The move to television
"The Addams Family"
Cassidy's unusual height (6 feet 9 inches tall, or 206 cm) gave him an advantage in auditioning for unusual character roles. He is probably best known for playing the tall
butler , Lurch (in which role he feigned [According to the "Addams Family, Season 1, Volume 1" DVD of the original TV series,Vic Mizzy (Music composer) states that Lurch (Ted Cassidy) is playing on a dead keyboard, and that he (Vic Mizzy) played all the parts. This is shown in the Snap Snap special feature.] playing theharpsichord ), and the "helpful hand in a box" character named Thing, on the 1960s Americantelevision series , "The Addams Family" (A crew member would take over the "Thing" role in those scenes which had both characters).Cassidy also guest starred in
The Wild Wild West in its first season in 1965."Star Trek"
Cassidy portrayed the voice of the more aggressive version of Balok in the "" episode "
The Corbomite Maneuver ", and he played the role of the android Ruk in the episode "What Are Little Girls Made Of? ." He also voiced theGorn in the "Star Trek" episode "Arena".Cassidy did more work with Star Trek creator
Gene Roddenberry in the early 1970s, playing Isiah (pronounced "Eye-SIGH-ah") in the pilots of thepost-apocalyptic dramas "Genesis II" and "Planet Earth"."I Dream of Jeannie"
Ted appeared in several episodes of "
I Dream of Jeannie " in 1968. Once appearing as the master to Jeannie's devious sister in part 3 of the 4-part episode "Genie, Genie, Who's Got the Genie?", and again in the episode "Please Don't Feed the Astronauts.""The Six-Million Dollar Man "
In the two part episode entitled "The Return Of Bigfoot", Cassidy appeared as "
Bigfoot " (played byAndré the Giant in a previous two parter).Voice acting and film work
Concurrently with his appearances on "The Addams Family", Cassidy began doing character voices on a recurring basis for the
Hanna-Barbera Studios, culminating in the role of Frankenstein Jr. in "Frankenstein Jr. and The Impossibles " series. Cassidy also voiced Ben Grimm aka The Thing in the 1978 animated "Fantastic Four".After "The Addams Family", Cassidy began to add more voice-over work to his résumé; in that acting field, most notably, he narrated the opening of the TV series "The Incredible Hulk." Cassidy also provided the Hulk's growls and roars. He also provided the growls and roars for
Godzilla in the 1979 cartoon series and the gurgling voice ofBlack Manta , as well as Braniac and several others on "Super Friends ". He detested being compared or confused with acromegalic actorRichard Kiel , who played "Jaws," the assassin with stainless steel teeth, in twoJames Bond films.Other film work included his appearance in "
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid ". He also co-wrote the screenplay of 1973's "The Harrad Experiment ", in which he made a brief appearance.Death
Cassidy died in 1979 at age 46 from complications following open-heart surgery. Fellow actor
Sandra Martinez assisted and took care of Ted during his final years. Cassidy's remains were cremated, and buried in the backyard of his Woodland Hills home. It is believed by some that when the house was eventually sold, his ashes were left behind as they were paved over or no-one could remember where they were buried. An "Addams Family" movie wasdedicated to him.References
External links
*
* Hear The Ted Cassidy Song "The Lurch" [http://staffannouncer.com/blog/?p=7]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.