Ted Cassidy

Ted Cassidy as Ruk

Ted Cassidy was a very tall (6' 9"), gravel-voiced actor best known for portraying the macabre butler Lurch on the television series, The Addams Family. Born in 1932 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Cassidy was raised in West Virginia. He played college basketball at Stetson University in Florida and was married soon after graduation. His first career was in news radio, working for WFAA in Dallas, Texas, and he was part of the ongoing coverage of the JFK assassination.

Cassidy started working in films in 1960. One of his first television roles was in 1966, as Ruk, the ancient android discovered by Roger Korby. His deep bass voice was sought after for voice-over roles (which included voice-over roles in two other TOS epsiodes), and his large size earned him roles as physically impressive characters. While auditioning for the role of Lurch, which was supposed to be a non-speaking role, Cassidy ad-libbed the famous "You rang?" line, which was written into the series.

Cassidy died of complications following open heart surgery in 1979, leaving behind a long-time girlfriend and two children, Sean and Cameron, who are now both attorneys.

Appearances

• TOS
  • "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" as Ruk
  • "The Corbomite Maneuver" as the voice of Balok's puppet
  • "Arena" as the voice of the Gorn captain (uncredited)

Trivia

His most famous role, Lurch from The Addams Family, would be played by TNG guest star Carel Struycken in the Addams Family movies of the 1990s. Star Trek III: The Search for Spock actor Christopher Lloyd played Uncle Fester in the first two of these films.

External Links

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