DAD WAS RIGHT ALL ALONG!

WATCHING THE DETROIT LIONS ON THANKSGIVING WHEN WE WERE KIDS

"I think that was a Lem Barney interception!"

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In 1967, while recording a voiceover for a dull industrial training film in a cramped Burbank studio, Ted Knight paused between takes, looked at the sound engineer, and muttered, “I didn’t crawl out of a foxhole in Belgium to narrate instructions on fork-lift safety.” The engineer laughed, but Knight was serious. Moments later, he shifted gears and delivered the next few lines in a booming, authoritative baritone, precise, clear, and oddly captivating for content so mundane.

That day, a producer from CBS happened to be in the building scouting voice talent. Within months, Ted Knight was being considered for a new sitcom being developed by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns. The character was an egotistical news anchor named Ted Baxter. Knight initially refused the audition, saying, “You want me to play a clown? I’ve been trying to get taken seriously for twenty years.” But when he read the script aloud at home, his wife Dorothy laughed so hard she cried. “You have to do it,” she told him. “That’s you, only louder.”

Born Tadeusz Wladyslaw Konopka on December 7, 1923, in Terryville, Connecticut, Knight was raised in a working-class Polish-American family steeped in Catholic values and old-world discipline. As a boy, he stuttered and was bullied for his thick accent and gangly frame. He took refuge in mimicking radio voices, particularly Lowell Thomas and Edward R. Murrow. The local priest once told his mother that her son had “the voice of a bishop, but the soul of a prankster.” He dropped out of high school to enlist in the U.S. Army during World War II, eventually serving with the 44th Infantry Division. Knight saw combat in France and Germany and earned five battle stars. But what stayed with him most weren’t the medals, it was the camaraderie and the makeshift stage shows he helped organize to entertain troops during rest periods.

After the war, Knight returned to Connecticut and enrolled in the Randall School of Dramatic Arts under the G.I. Bill. He paid rent by working nights at a local radio station. By the 1950s, he had relocated to Albany, New York, where he worked as an announcer and hosted “The Early Show” on WROW-TV. He also performed puppet voices for children’s programs, often switching between five or six characters in a single episode. His talent for vocal modulation earned him modest fame in the Northeast, but not the kind of recognition he craved.

Frustrated, Knight moved to Los Angeles in the early 1960s. He picked up minor TV roles, mostly policemen, security guards, or delivery men, and supplemented income by narrating educational films and commercials. His breakthrough came in 1970 when he was cast as Ted Baxter on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." Initially hesitant to accept a comedic role that bordered on parody, Knight transformed the arrogant anchorman into a deeply flawed yet oddly sympathetic character. Over seven seasons, he earned two Emmy Awards and turned Ted Baxter into one of the most iconic television characters of the decade. His timing was razor sharp, and his delivery always walked a tightrope between absurdity and heartbreak. He once told "Newsweek," “Every line Ted Baxter says is a cry for approval that never comes.”

After the show ended in 1977, Knight took a short break before returning with the sitcom "Too Close for Comfort" in 1980, playing a cartoonist and family man. The series ran for several years and reinforced his reputation as a dependable television lead. He also delivered a standout performance as the uptight Judge Smails in "Caddyshack" (1980), a role that showcased his flair for physical comedy and barely contained fury.

Knight’s personal life remained grounded throughout his success. He married Dorothy Smith in 1948, and they raised three children. He was known to bring his kids to set and never missed a Little League game. He also volunteered regularly at veterans’ hospitals, rarely letting anyone photograph him during visits. He lived by a simple rule: “Don’t make kindness public. Just do it and shut up.”

In 1977, Knight was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. He kept the illness private and continued working, even taping "Too Close for Comfort" episodes while undergoing treatment. Co-stars said he never once asked for special treatment or missed a rehearsal. In early 1986, his condition worsened. He died on August 26, 1986, at St. Joseph Medical Center in Glendale, California, surrounded by his wife and children.

On the day of his funeral, a small group of CBS technicians placed a framed photo of Knight in the control room of Studio City’s Stage 7. Beneath it, a note read: “His voice is off, but the echo remains.”
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