THE UNTOLD TRUTH 💚 TED CASSIDY

you right large and lovable lurch was the adam's family butler but ironically ted cassidy did not want this to be the role that he was known for because ted cassidy hated that hollywood had typecast him as a monster it felt very similar to the bullying he had faced as a child so let's find out how cassidy became so successful despite huge odds stacked against him yes yes it had been so long ago i'd forgotten ted cassidy who actually got his start in radio and was one of the first people to interview eyewitnesses in the aftermath of jfk's assassination and this wouldn't be cassidy's only experience working in radio he later recorded a song called the lurch which inspired a 60s dance craze and if you're lucky maybe i'll teach you how to do the lurch i'm your host nostalgic nick and if you enjoy this deep dive please make sure to give it a thumbs up and subscribe to our channel so you never miss an episode alright let's lurch on in a gifted athlete ted cassidy was born in pittsburgh pennsylvania but raised in west virginia he was bullied as a child because he was very intelligent and by the time he reached high school ted was six foot one while barely being a teen cassidy stood out from the crowd quite literally when he finally quit growing he stood a towering six foot nine this was due to a condition called acromegaly where the brain releases too much human growth hormone other famed individuals with a condition were richard keel also known as the steel toothed jaws in the james bond franchise and the tallest of them all was andre the giant so my fault being the biggest and the smallest i don't even exercise back to ted after high school cassidy attended west virginia wesleyan college and finally found the camaraderie he so badly wanted in grade school by joining the alpha sigma phi fraternity but not before too long he transferred to stetson university to play basketball for the hatters he averaged a double-double with 17 points and 10 boards across three seasons lurch could ball no doubt about that and when he wasn't on the court cassidy was very involved in student government and just when you thought his schedule couldn't get any busier he became a lifeguard for the florida life-saving court ted's got the scoop after graduating with degrees in speech and drama ted married his sweetheart margaret helen and the couple moved to dallas texas so ted could pursue his acting dreams cassidy became a disc jockey for wfaa but then began appearing as creech on the channel 8's dialing for dollar segments of ed hogan's afternoon movies cassidy was among the first to interview eyewitnesses of jfk's tragic assassination the united states was reeling and hadn't even had time to process the horrible events of november 22nd 1963. ted interviewed people like w.e newman jr and gail newman who were some of the closest witnesses of the assassination do you remember the heart-wrenching photo of the couple shielding their young boys from the bullets ted cassidy gave an in-studio report on the day of the assassination reaction around the world has been diverse and instant fairly new to the job cassidy was facing the odds and overcoming them once again you rang could anyone else have really played lurch the loyal butler on the addams family i sincerely do not know if anyone would have fit better with that cast and if you want to check in with the other members of that gothic family check out our then and now episode next while ted cassidy only played lurch for the show's two seasons he was apprehensive because he didn't want lurch to be what he was remembered for well uh-oh houston we have a problem cassidy would later go on to reprise his lurch in other tv shows and songs did you know that lurch's famous line you rang almost never was originally lurch wasn't supposed to speak until one day during rehearsal cassidy ad-libbed you rang and the writers and producers thought it was hilarious and loved it they kept it in the scene and made sure to write the line into future episodes father was right about what lurge my being a butler ted cassidy actually played two roles on the addams family no he wasn't morticia does thing ring a bell yep thing was ted cassidy's hand really a pretty cool trick speaking of tricks or treats trick or treat record deal ted cassidy recorded two songs in 1965 and of course released them around halloween and the lurch became very popular cassidy even made appearances as lurch on chivalry and shindig to teach the world how to do the lurch so don't just stand there let's do the lurch talk about a one-of-a-kind 60s dance craze [Music] and if you're like me and you love these kinds of moves check out our countdown of the best dance crazes of the 1970s golly g willikers was the addams family home actually black and white of course not the set was actually made of different shades of pink red and mint to better give the illusion of black and white on camera speaking of color lurch made an appearance on an episode of batman it was one of the few times a cast member of the addams family appeared in character and in color on tv but as we stated ted cassidy didn't necessarily like the role of lurch so he kept looking for that role he believed would establish him as a serious actor the good the bad and the ugly unfortunately many producers didn't get the memo and kept casting cassidy as the monster but true fans know that ted cassidy was a man of many faces kudos to ted and kudos to the makeup artist who did a phenomenal job transforming him the good cassidy brought several iconic cartoon characters to life with his signature deep voice [Music] he voiced ben grimm on the new fantastic four and it's kind of neat that he somehow wound up playing the thing again ted also provided his voice for all 36 episodes of tarzan lord of the jungle the bad cassidy was also good at playing the bad guy he played the towering harvey logan in butch cassidy and the sundance kid in 69. do you remember that famous fight scene guns or knives man i thought for sure harvey was going to win that's 20 bucks i'll never see again and cassidy also provided voices for a few of the villains on challenge of the super friends and many of you will remember his big foot on the six million dollar man and the bionic woman the ugly ted cassidy also played several alien-like creatures in his career like many character actors of his era he appeared in three episodes of star trek do you remember when he picked up captain kirk like a doll in the episode what are little girls made of in 1966 and cassidy also famously narrated the opening for the incredible hulk show starring bill bixby and lou ferrigno and when you heard the roars of the hulk now that wasn't lou but rather our main man ted more than just a monster cassidy resented the fact that hollywood typecast him as a monster but there wasn't much he could do about it he felt the same alienation from hollywood as he did as a young boy in grade school he felt like a sideshow attraction at times but while he might not have wanted to be remembered for his monster roles we're so very lucky he lent his talent and charm to our screens but in addition to acting ted cassidy tried his hand at writing screenplays in the early 70s he co-wrote the herod experiment with michael werner they've been trying to get a screenplay out of that book now for about five years and ted even made a brief appearance in the successful film which starred tippy hedren and don johnson a tragic ending cassidy suffered from heart disease due to his gigantism and when doctors found a malignant tumor near his heart he had to undergo open heart surgery but after was discharged from the hospital yet just a few days later he suffered complications from the surgery and was readmitted ted cassidy unexpectedly passed away days later on january 16 1979 terribly he was just 46 years old hopefully when saint peter opened the pearly gates he greeted ted with his familiar you right much more than just a monster ted cassidy was an extremely talented actor and voice talent who brought us hours of entertainment the man overcame many odds and quite frankly will never be forgotten so let's discuss do you have a favorite character that ted cassidy portrayed or another project that we didn't mention please add it in the comments below and let's remember a hulking figure of entertainment together if you enjoyed our toast to ted consider clicking that thumbs up for us it really helps and subscribe to our channel so you never miss a throwback from all of us here at do you remember thank you for watching

Channel: DoYouRemember?

Views: 241,601

Rating: 4.9479485 out of 5

Keywords: Lurch, addams family, bonanza, hollywood, graveyard, whatever happened to, ted cassidy, the munsters, Ted Cassidy Had a Troubled Career u0026 Tragic Death, ted cassidy had a troubled career, troubled career u0026 tragic death, ted cassidy tragic death, ted cassidy troubled career, troubled career, born in Pennsylvania, The Angry Red Planet, The Addams Family, lurch the addams family, ted cassidy incredible hulk, ted cassidy the lurch, Ted Cassidy, 2021, Munsters, untold, truth, Greatest

Id: 5Pa8Lozqnrg

Length: 10min 0sec (600 seconds)

Published: Tue May 11 2021