Theodore Crawford Cassidy (July 31, 1932, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - January 16, 1979, in Los Angeles, California), known as Ted Cassidy, was a well known American character actor and voice actor who performed in television and films.
Contents |
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 attended West Virginia Wesleyan College, in nearby Buckhannon, WV, where he was a member of Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity. He later attended Stetson University in DeLand, Florida, as a Speech Major. Active in student government, he also played basketball for the Hatters, averaging 17 points and 10 rebounds in his only season as a player. Early in his show business career, he worked as a mid-day disc jockey on WFAA-AM in Dallas, Texas. He also occasionally appeared on WFAA-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 in Dallas, playing the organ to entertain patrons.
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[1] playing the harpsichord), and the "helpful hand in a box" character named Thing, on the 1960s American television series, The Addams Family. (A crew member would take over the "Thing" role in those scenes which had both Lurch and Thing.)
Star Trek
He portrayed the voice of the more aggressive version of Balok in the Star Trek episode "The Corbomite Maneuver", and played the android Ruk in "What Are Little Girls Made Of?." He also voiced the Gorn in the Star Trek episode "Arena". Cassidy did more work with Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry in the early 1970s, playing Isiah in the pilots of the post-apocalyptic dramas "Genesis II" and "Planet Earth."
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. After The Addams Family, Cassidy began to add the desire for 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 detested being compared or confused with acromegalic actor Richard Kiel, who played "Jaws," the assassin with stainless steel teeth, in two James 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.
References
- ^ * 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.
External links
- Ted Cassidy at the Internet Movie Database
- Ted Cassidy article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki
- Hear The Ted Cassidy Song "The Lurch"[1]
