Born July 31, 1932 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Ted Cassidy grew up in Phillippi, West Virginia. Although his six-foot-nine-inch frame made him an ideal basketball player, Ted's appearances in school plays shifted him into the direction of dramatics. After earning a degree in speech and drama, Ted pursued an acting career--but wound up as production director at a local ABC television affiliate in Dallas, Texas.

In 1964, he moved his family to Hollywood to look for acting jobs, even though he had hardly any professional experience. Luckily for him, his unusual height and deep voice made him perfect for the role of Lurch the butler, in the TV series The Addams Family. Ted was grateful for such a big show business break, but became concerned that he would become typecast if the series ran too long. He was, therefore, glad the show was canceled after only two seasons.

However, subsequent acting work was not as rewarding as he expected, although it included guest shots on such classic series as The Man from U.N.C.L.E., I Dream of Jeannie, Lost in Space, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Star Trek, as well as a few major motion pictures, including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

In the 1970s, Ted spent much of his time trying to dissuade people from thinking that he was the actor who played the villain Jaws in a couple of James Bond pictures. (That role was, of course, played by Richard Kiel, whom Ted did not consider to be a real actor.) Ted accepted voice-over work for Saturday morning cartoons and even revived his Lurch character for the animated version of The Addams Family. One of his last jobs was supplying the voice for Lou Ferrigno's character The Incredible Hulk in the prime time series of the same name.

Ted Cassidy died on January 16, 1979 due to complications following open-heart surgery.