Biography for
Ted Lange (I) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

5 January 1948, Oakland, California, USA

Birth Name

Theodore William Lange

Height

5' 10" (1.78 m)

Spouse

Sherryl Thompson

(23 July 1978 - present) 2 children

Trivia

Best known for his role as 'nice guy' bartender Isaac on TV's "The Love Boat" (1977), Ted invariably played a heavy in earlier blaxploitation film roles.

Severely typecast in his long-running, rather featherweight role, he played it low-keyed for many years and found renewed respect on stage as a writer/director/producer/actor. He earned several stage awards for his efforts, including the Renaissance Man Theatre Award from the NAACP and the Paul Robeson Award from AFI.

Ted's mother, Gerri Lange, hosted her own television show on the PBS station in San Francisco, KQED, during the late 1970's.

Personal Quotes

Most directors can't act, and the meanest ones are failed actors.

[Who started out as an unfamiliar actor, before he got his first breakout role as Isaac Washington]: Because I'm an actor. I know how to tap into what works for another actor when I'm directing. On the first day, I just let the actors go - I let them make all their suggestions. They like that, because so many directors hamstring them. And then, because I've done my homework on both the actor and the script, I'll say, 'Try this or that,' and they'll say, 'Wow! I should've thought of that!' By the end of the first day, I'm not ['Love Boat' bartender] Isaac Washington anymore. I'm the director and I've got them.

[When he was promoted from actor to director]: I started out to be an actor. Out of necessity, I found myself becoming a director, writer and screenplay writer to stay involved in the industry and in the exploration of the art.

I'm fortunate. When I get recognized, it's a nice thing. It's a good thing.

[When asked if all "The Love Boat" (1977) cast members, esp. Gavin MacLeod, who were there at the 2010 TV Land Awards]: Well, Gavin MacLeod [Captain Stubing] had a back operation - he hurt himself, hurt a couple of his discs - so he wasn't able to be there. We really missed him, because, you know, he's the anchor of the show as the captain. So I called him up and talked to him to see how he was doing, and he was a little weak, but he was recuperating well. But everybody else was there, and they all brought their kids. Fred Grandy [Gopher] brought his daughter, I brought my son...it was a lot of fun.

[When he responded if he had any on- and off-screen chemistry with Gavin MacLeod, who played Capt. Merrill Stubing and Bernie Kopell, who played Dr. Adam Brinker, respectively]: Absolutely, because when you meet Gavin, he's the nicest guy, he is the greatest guy. And some celebrities you meet, they are very temperamental, emotional, and all these other things, Gavin was like a joy. And Gavin and Bernie [we called those guys 'The Old Farts'], Fred and I [can't tell you what we called us], we're the young [and it's the letter that starts with an 'S' and meets feces]. Well, that's what they called us, and they were the old farts. Anyway, the great thing about that is, they were old timers, because they've been around, once or twice, and they gave us a handbook to run the show by.

[Of Gavin MacLeod]: I have written 21 plays, but Gavin came to my 20th play called: George Washington Boy, and it was about George Washington and his favorite slave. So, he and Bernie and their wives came down and saw the play.

Where Are They Now

(Spring 2000) Directing the original play, "The Marriage" at Stage 52 in Los Angeles.

(December 2005) Ted is currently writing a relationship column with Jenna Jameson in Maxim Magazine.

(June 2009) Appearing on Broadway in "Archbishop Supreme Tartuffe".