Ted Cassidy Had a Troubled Career & Tragic Death

if you've ever found yourself watching old reruns of the addams family then you probably are familiar with the cast of characters they're gomez and morticia uncle fester cousin it pugsley thing everyone's favorite goth diva wednesday and of course lurch the latter mentioned towering monstrosity was played by ted cassidy he was born in pittsburgh pennsylvania grew up in philippi west virginia but later moved to dallas texas but his story didn't stop there at six feet nine inches tall he was one of the tallest actors to ever find success in tinseltown he loomed over the rest of the cast his voice was unfathomably deep and his signature line you rang would stop you dead in your tracks cassidy actually ad-libbed that line lurch was never intended to speak but producers absolutely adored the little piece of improvisation and it stuck his other groans size and guttural grunts had great effect on audiences as well a quick google image search reveals that ted cassidy was a man of many faces it's hard to hide the identity of someone who looked so strikingly unique but you have to give his makeup artists credit for their work they did a pretty decent job to say the least besides playing lurch on the addams family he also played a gunslinger in butch cassidy in the sundance kid as well as a native american in the new adventures of huckleberry finn in 1978 he very fittingly played goliath in a tv series titled the greatest heroes of the bible and followed that up by playing bigfoot in the six million dollar man alongside lee majors as steve austin no not the wrestler and like so many actors throughout showbiz history he also had a cameo on star trek because who hasn't done that at least once even though he had a pretty successful life in terms of his career his personal life especially in the end was rife with struggle and tragedy let's take a closer look at the man behind the lurch stick around for the whole video to find out how his story came to a heartbreaking end ted's younger years full of promise cassidy was an extraordinarily gifted student he started high school at a very early age and loved sports he was on both the basketball and football teams but despite his intelligence and athletic skill he was the frequent target of bullying by his classmates because of his young age coupled with his abnormally lanky physique by the time he was 14 he had already reached six foot one inch tall the bullying and childish jabs he was subjected to gave him a lot of self-image issues but he did his best to use the taunting as fuel to propel him forward ted always had the drive to succeed the concept of beating the odds would be a recurring theme throughout his life whether he wanted it to be or not after graduating from high school he moved so he could attend west virginia wesleyan college he became a pledged member of the alpha sigma phi fraternity while he was there which helped him to experience a sense of camaraderie with his peers something that was sorely lacking in his high school years he transferred to stetson university in central florida where he played basketball for the stetson hatters averaging 17 points and 10 rebounds a game in his three seasons while at stetson he also became an active contributor to student government and joined the ormond beach life-saving corps he would work as a lifeguard in the daytona ormond beach area for the remainder of his college years marriage and a move to dallas cassidy graduated with a degree in speech and drama shortly thereafter he married his sweetheart margaret helen in 1956. the two then decided it was time to make a move to dallas texas it was there he started his career in the entertainment industry when he was hired as a midday dj for wfaa am he then landed a small role as creech the alien on wfaa tvs dialing for dollars afternoon movie block historically he was in studio to deliver the news of the jfk assassination and was one of the first to interview eyewitnesses w.e newman jr and gail newman ted cassidy was also a skilled organist and moonlighted at luby's cafe in the lockwood shopping center near downtown dallas in 1957 his wife margaret gave birth to their first child sean and then three years later the couple welcomed the birth of their daughter cameron things were looking up for cassidy his career was coming together and his family was growing his first big break in 1959 ted cassidy landed his first credited film role albeit a minor one as a martian in the science fiction film the angry red planet starring gerald moore ted struggled to find acting work after that film and he really began to question if his dream of becoming a full-fledged actor had been cut short that was until he scored one of his most iconic roles as lurch in the addams family in 1964. most folks aren't aware of the fact he played another character on the addams family as well no he wasn't secretly morticia in drag but he was also the actor if you will for thing a disembodied hand even though he was an accomplished musician he only pretended to play the harpsichord on the addams family cassidy would go on to reprise his role as lurch in later tv show appearances notably in the batman episode the penguin's nest which aired in 1966. he also voiced the role for the new scooby-doo movies in 1972 and for the 1973 adams family animated series that wouldn't be the end of his voice acting career either in fact you could say that voice acting became his bread and butter but it wasn't too much later that ted cassidy tragically died stick around to hear about it and if you're enjoying this video so far make sure you hit the like button and subscribe to our channel then tap the bell icon to turn on notifications cassidy a prolific voice actor in the star trek episode arena cassidy played the voice of gorn a reptilian alien who gave kirk close to more than he could handle kirk ended up defeating him however when he constructed a bazooka out of bamboo and sulfur and blue gorn into smithereens if that's not some macgyver-like wizardry we don't know what is cassidy also played ben grimm on the new fantastic four ben grimm aka the thing was originally played by legendary voice actor paul freeze but ted was called in when the series got a reboot in 1978. his deep voice made him perfect for villainous roles in shows like super friends where he voiced brainiac and black manta he also provided grunting noises for the 1979 godzilla animated series and the incredible hulk when lou ferrigno transforms into his mean green alter ego for that show he was also the opening narrator when he wasn't doing voiceovers for cartoons and tv series he also appeared in dozens of tv commercials typecast and frustrated ted's unusually large size was said to be the boon and the bane of his existence it seemed like no matter what he was always cast as some kind of freak giant or monster to cassidy this was painfully frustrating seeing as he took his acting career very seriously when asked about how he felt about his role as lurch he expressed it wasn't the role he wanted to be remembered by but he knew that it would be most people's closest association to his name for years to come he also expressed he wasn't proud of any of the roles he had played he was perpetually waiting for the right part to come around that he could stand behind with pride but instead he just kept getting parts that rehashed the same old concept yes he was large yes he had a deep voice and sure he was kind of intimidating until you got to know him but that's not how he wanted to be remembered he was bullied when he was in high school because of his stature and it seemed as if he was being picked on once again by the industry he worked in sure he was being paid well but at the end of the day he couldn't help but feel like a sideshow attraction a tragic demise in 1975 he and his wife margaret helen jesse got divorced following a particularly rocky period in their relationship but that was just the beginning of his woes people with gigantism such as ted cassidy often have circulatory or heart problems ted had been having health problems for years before he was diagnosed with heart disease to make matters worse he had a non-malignant tumor that had formed around his heart cassidy went in for surgery in january of 1979. specifically he needed open heart surgery to remove the mass the procedure seemed to go well but a few days later after he came home and was recuperating he began to have complications he was readmitted to the hospital and unexpectedly passed away on january 6 1979. per his wishes his ashes were scattered around his backyard he left behind his two children shawn and cameron incidentally both of his children went on to become attorneys cassidy was only 46 years old when he passed he had so much life ahead of him still and he was still in search of that perfect role the one he would be remembered by as much as he probably would hate hearing it we will more than likely always remember him best as lurch is that who you think of when you think of ted cassidy or does another role come to mind let us know what you think in the comments section and before you go make sure you tap like subscribe and turn on notifications with the bell icon you

Channel: Facts Verse

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Keywords: Ted Cassidy Had a Troubled Career & Tragic Death, ted cassidy, ted cassidy had a troubled career, troubled career & tragic death, ted cassidy tragic death, ted cassidy troubled career, troubled career, tragic death, born in Pennsylvania, The Angry Red Planet, The Addams Family, lurch the addams family, final curtain call, ted cassidy beverly hillbillies, ted cassidy incredible hulk, ted cassidy the lurch

Id: kMadAAAq8Tk

Length: 9min 26sec (566 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 06 2020