Ted Knight: Summary

Recent Role:: Ted Baxter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show

Gender:: Male

Birthday:: 12-7-1923

Death:: 8-26-1986

Birthplace:: Terryville, Connecticut, U.S.A.

Birth Name:: Tadeus Wladyslaw Konopka

Ted Knight, the self-proclaimed �Polish Prince of Comedy,� was born Tadeus Wladyslaw Konopka in Terryville, Connecticut. After dropping out of high school to serve in World War II, Knight studied acting in Hartford, Connecticut. During the 1950s and 1960s Knight had some minor TV and movie roles, and kept busy with voice-over work in commercials and cartoons. He finally got his big break when he was cast as news anchorman Ted Baxter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, for which he won two Emmy awards. After the show left the air in 1977 Knight tried shows of his own, finally finding a winner in Too Close for Comfort in 1980. That show was renamed The Ted Knight Show in 1985. During the last year of its run Knight kept taping the show, even though he had been diagnosed with cancer and was gravely ill. Ted Knight died at age 62 from complications during surgery to remove a urinary tract growth. He and his wife, Dorothy, were married in 1948. They had three children: Ted, Jr., Elyse, and Eric. Ted Knight, the self-proclaimed �Polish Prince of Comedy,� was born Tadeus Wladyslaw Konopka in Terryville, Connecticut. After dropping out of high school to serve in World War II, Knight studied acting in Hartford, Connecticut. During the 1950s and 1960s Knight had some minor TV and movie roles, and kept busy with voice-over work in commercials and cartoons. He finally got his big...