Ted Zeigler
{{Short description|American actor and comedian (1926–1999)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Ted Zeigler
| birth_name = Theodore Lee Zeigler
| image = Ted Zeigler non-free.png
| imagesize =
| caption = Zeigler as Johnny Jellybean in the 1960s
| birth_date = {{Birth-date|June 3, 1926}}
| birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death-date and age|December 12, 1999|June 3, 1926}}
| death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.
| years_active =
| occupation = {{hlist|Actor|comedian}}
}}
Theodore Lee Zeigler (June 3, 1926 – December 12, 1999) was an American actor, voice actor and comedian.
Early life
Born in Chicago, Illinois, the last of 11 children, Zeigler was the son of a union organizer who was killed by the mafia in the 1930s.{{Cite news |date=20 December 1999 |title=Ted Ziegler Obituary: Montreal TV comic delighted kids as Johnny Jellybean |language=en |page=20 |work=National Post |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/515287308/?terms=%22ted%20zeigler%22&match=1 |access-date=9 January 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}} His sister Dodie was a Ziegfeld girl and busily worked on stage and on radio.{{Cite news |last=Witbeck |first=Charles |date=21 July 1977 |title=Ted Zeigler now playing straight man to robots |language=en |page=56 |work=The Morning Call |via=Newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/284188192/?terms=%22ted%20zeigler%22&match=1 |access-date=9 January 2023}} He started working as a firefighter at 17, and during World War II, he served in the United States Navy, taking part in the Battle of Okinawa and in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, and surviving a kamikaze attack which had sunk his ship.
Career
After the war Zeigler graduated in direction and production at the Goodman Theater School, where he became friend with classmate Harvey Korman, with whom in 1954 he formed a short-lived stand-up comedy duo known as Marsh and Field. Zeigler started working on television in the mid-1950s, playing Uncle Bucky for three seasons in the WGN-TV kids show Lunchtime Little Theater.{{Cite news |last=Hamilton |first=George |last2=Hamilton |first2=Linda |date=17 June 1973 |title=Uncle Bucky Goes Hollywood |language=en |pages=49–54 |work=Chicago Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/383877146/?terms=%22ted%20zeigler%22%20%22ted%20zeigler%22%20%22Uncle%20Bucky%22&match=1 |access-date=9 January 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}} He then worked in Australia, where he hosted the HSV talk show House Party,{{cite news |title=Viewers Can Call Up Compere on Camera |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/122298745/?terms=%22ted%20zeigler%22%20%22house%20party%22&match=1 |access-date=9 January 2023 |work=The Age |via=Newspapers.com |date=15 October 1959 |page=25 |language=en}} and in Canada, where between 1962 and 1967 he had large success with the CFCF kids show Jellybean Comedy Clubhouse (also known as Lunchtime Little Theater and The Johnny Jellybean Show), in which he played the titular character Johnny Jellybean as well as a number of other roles, making extensive use of improvisation.{{cite news |last1=Teitelbaum |first1=Sheldon |title=Johnny Jellybean to 'Consequences' : Guru of '60s Show in Canada No Longer So Off-The-Wall |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-01-01-ca-8007-story.html |access-date=9 January 2023 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=1 January 1988}}{{cite news |last1=Boone |first1=Mike |title=Television Legend Johnny Jellybean Back in Montreal |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/422271710/?terms=%22ted%20zeigler%22%20%22ted%20zeigler%22%20%22Uncle%20Bucky%22&match=1 |access-date=9 January 2023 |work=The Gazette |via=Newspapers.com |date=25 May 1982 |page=49 |language=en}} After the cancellation of the show he formed a comedy duo with Peter Cullen, working mainly on CBC, and in 1970 he decided to move back to the US, settling down in Los Angeles.
In the 1970s Zeigler became a regular on The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour and in its follow-up The Sonny & Cher Show, and also appeared in The Andy Williams Show, The Carol Burnett Show, The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show, The Shields and Yarnell Show, among others. A brain tumor and its treatment kept him out of work for several years, and in the mid-1980s he reprised his activity mainly working as a voice actor for animated series including Heathcliff, Galtar and the Golden Lance and Challenge of the GoBots, and serving as personal manager for a number of figures of the entertainment industry.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|nm0954342}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:20th-century American comedians
Category:20th-century American male actors
Category:American male television actors
Category:American male voice actors
Category:American stand-up comedians
Category:Comedians from Chicago
Category:Male actors from Chicago
Category:Military personnel from Chicago