Ted Knight: Lifetime, Net Worth, When And Cause Of Death

Ted Knight was born in 1923, nearly one hundred years ago. Here we are talking about him. Because of what he did on screen and with his voice. Here are facts about the Ted Baxter actor you should know.

Ted Knight: Birth and lifetime

Ted Knight was born Tadeusz Wladyslaw Konopka. It is a polish name. Look away for a moment and try pronouncing that. You failed or have gotten it alright but it is to eliminate this uncertainty that the actor chose Ted Knight as his career name.

Why Ted? Could have just been Tad Knight. Perhaps because Ted resembled his birthplace of Terryville, Litchfield County, Connecticut, U.S. Knight was born to Polish-born American parents. The ties to home were strong. When America entered World War 2, Ted Knight dropped out of school and joined the army. He fought in the European Theater which meant he (in)directly fought to dislodge the Germans from his ancestry motherland.

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Ted earned a handful of stars and came back a war hero. After the war, he enrolled in a special college in his home Connecticut where he studied acting.

Ted lived for 62 years and eight months. In his lifetime, he featured in more than 20 movies. He died in Pacific Palisades, California and was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.

Ted Knight’s career: From kiddie’s host to Hollywood

Ted Knight’s acting studies didn’t earn him a role in a blockbuster or any buster movie at all in Hollywood. He became a presenter for a children’s show in Rhode Island. From here, Knight began to get to star in commercials. He now worked at a radio station as an announcer.

Someone advised him to leave Rhode Island and take his career to Hollywood. In California, Ted didn’t hit the proverbial ground running. He began first by appearing in minor roles on TV and films. Ted Knight’s first role was in a film by the legendary Alfred Hitchcock, “Psycho”.

Don’t say eureka yet. It wasn’t the lead role. It wasn’t even a minor role. What do you call a role in which you act as a non-speaking police officer standing guard in a cell? He wasn’t even credited for this role. His first credited role was in the American drama “13 Fighting Men”.

More on his career and net worth

In fact, half of the movies Knight featured in were uncredited. This doesn’t detract from the heights he attained in Hollywood. His role as Ted Baxter on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”, the CBS sitcom that aired in the 1970s made Ted Knight. It brought him national recognition, Emmy-nominations, money and more roles. 

Another notable appearance of the star came in 1980 when he lent his voice in the series “Too Close for Comfort”. It is in this show that Ted Knight’s ventriloquism can be said to have peaked.

Knight went on to guest-star in many important TV shows of that era.

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Ted Knight’s fame soared so much that he even had his own talk show The Ted Knight Show on CBS. This didn’t last long as it was discontinued after six episodes. But there is one thing everlasting about Ted, it is the star awarded to him on Hollywood Walk of Fame for his immense contribution to that industry.

Ted has also dabbled in music. Or more than just dabbling, he released an album named “Hi Guys” in 1975.

Celebrity Networth put Ted Knight’s net worth at 10 million dollars. A big sum but not too much for a family man with his beautiful wife Dorothy Smith and their children, Ted Knight Jr., Elyse, and Eric.

When Ted Knight died and cause of death

Ted Knight died on 26 August 1986. It began in 1977, just after his “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” appearance. He was diagnosed with cancer. Ted Knight underwent treatments, curtailed the disease and went on with his business.

The cancer returned, however, in 1985 as colon cancer and, despite numerous medical battles, it spread to his bladder. Knight had surgery to remove a tumor that grew in his urinary tract. The surgery wasn’t successful. The complications saw Ted ceased working on screens, meaning to continue when he recovered. He never recovered. He passed away in Pacific Palisades, California.

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