Ted Lange

Theodore William Lange (/lændʒ/; born January 5, 1948) is an American actor, director, and screenwriter best known for his role as the bartender, Isaac Washington, in the TV series The Love Boat.

Ted Lange
Lange as Isaac Washington, 1977
Born	Theodore William Lange (1948-01-05) January 5, 1948 Oakland, California, U.S.
Education	City College of San Francisco Merritt College (AA) Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Occupation	Actor, director, screenwriter
Years active	1972–present
Known for	Isaac Washington – The Love Boat
Spouse(s)	Sheryl Thompson ​ ( m. 1979; div. 1989) Mary Ley ​ ( m. after 2001)
Children	2

Early life

Lange was born in Oakland, California, in 1948, the son of Geraldine and Ted Lange, both working in theatre and television.[1] Lange graduated from Oakland Technical High where he was class and student body president before majoring in Drama at San Francisco City College, completing an associate of arts degree at Merritt Junior College in Oakland.

At San Francisco City College, Lange was particularly active on the theatre scene and named Best Actor by the Black Students Association as well as winning a scholarship to the University of Colorado Shakespearean Festival in the summer of 1968.[2]

Career beginnings

After college, Lange started in theatre appearing in local Oakland productions and as guest artist in residence at the University of Santa Clara. Later, he joined the New Shakespearan Company, acting in plays at the University of California, Berkeley.[3]

Lange made his Broadway debut in the musical Hair and was featured in the first national touring of that show.[4] He also performed in a one-man show, Behind the Mask: An Evening with Paul Laurence Dunbar.[5]

Lange's first screen appearance was in the documentary film Wattstax in 1973.[6][7] After starring in the film Black Belt Jones in 1974, he portrayed Junior on the series That's My Mama before landing the role of the ship's bartender, Isaac, on The Love Boat in 1977, opposite Gavin MacLeod.

In the early 1980s, following a letter of recommendation from Lynn Redgrave (who he met on an episode of Love Boat), Lange attended a summer school at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art to perfect his Shakespeare acting skills.[8]

After he left the show in 1987, Lange appeared in various films and guest roles on 227, The Cleveland Show, Glitch!, Evening Shade, Scrubs, Drake & Josh, The King of Queens, Boy Meets World, Psych and Are We There Yet.

Directing and screenwriting

In 1977, he wrote the screenplay for the 1977 drama Passing Through, starring Cora Lee Day and Marla Gibbs. During the run of The Love Boat, Lange also served as director and screenwriter on various episodes of the series. In 1999, Lange directed two episodes of Love Boat: The Next Wave, the UPN series based on The Love Boat. He also directed episodes of Moesha, Dharma & Greg, and Eve. In 2008, he directed the drama For Love of Amy.

Lange has also done extensive theater work as playwright and stage director. He has penned 17 plays, including George Washington's Boy, a historical drama about the relationship between the first president and his favorite slave, along with the comedy Lemon Meringue Facade.[5][9]

Lange remains close to Gavin MacLeod, his acting mentor, who is a Palm Springs resident, and sees his plays. He said in a 2014 interview with CBS New York.com of his long-running friendship with him, "Gavin lives in Palm Springs, I'm in LA. So, when I do my plays, he comes down and sees my plays or I'll go see what he's doing!"[10]

Lange also said in a 2017 interview with The Wiseguyz Show, if his mentor enjoyed all the acting/dancing on The Love Boat series was: "Oh yeah, sure, Gavin was wonderful. Gavin lives down here in Palm Springs and we're still tight, all of us, Gavin and Bernie and Jill; we still see each other. Fred lives in a different state, we're still close, we're still good friends."[11]

"Ask Isaac"

Before the American edition of FHM folded in 2006, Lange wrote a sex and advice column, titled "Ask Isaac", with adult film actress Jenna Jameson.[12]

Celebrity Fit Club

In 2006, Lange appeared in the fourth season of the VH1 reality show Celebrity Fit Club.[13] He lost 28 pounds during the show's run.[14]

Personal life

Lange married Sheryl Thompson in 1978, and they divorced in 1989. The couple has two children, Ted IV and Turner Wallace Lange.[1] Lange remarried in 2001 to Mary Ley. His mother is Geraldine Lange, who was a personal secretary to a San Francisco mayor and was public affairs director of KBHK-TV in San Francisco in the early 1970s. She also hosted television programs on KBHK-TV.

Awards

For his work theater directing, Lange received the NAACP's Renaissance Man Theatre Award, the Heroes and Legends HAL Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Dramalogue Award. Lange has also been the recipient of the James Cagney Directing Fellow Scholarship Award from the American Film Institute along with the Paul Robeson Award from Oakland's Ensemble Theatre.[9]

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Other notes
1973	Wattstax	Himself
	Trick Baby	Melvin the Pimp	Alternative title: The Double Con
	Blade	Henry Watson
1974	Black Belt Jones	Militant	Uncredited
1975	Friday Foster	Fancy Dexter
1977	Passing Through	-	Director
1978	Record City	The Wiz
1987	Terminal Exposure	Fantastic	Alternative title: Double Exposure
1988	Glitch!	DuBois
1989	Othello	Othello	Director
1990	Penny Ante: The Motion Picture	The Deacon
1991	Perfume	George
1992	The Naked Truth	The Flower Peddler
1998	Sandman	Gnome
2000	The Redemption	Reverend
2002	Is This Your Mother?
2003	Banana Moon	Prof. Williams	Co-producer
	Gang of Roses	Bartender #2
2006	Uncle Tom's Apartment	Pops
	National Lampoon's Dorm Daze 2	Celebrity Judge #2
2007	Last of the Romantics	Cole Henderson
	Carts	Sam
2008	Senior Skip Day	Reverend	Alternative title: High School's Day Off
	Who Shot Mamba?	Dr. Crazy
	The Adventures of Umbweki	Airline Captain Boka
	Phil Cobb's Dinner for Four	Old Friend
	For Love of Amy	-	Director
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1974–1975	That's My Mama	Junior	39 episodes
1976	Mr. T and Tina	Harvard	5 episodes
1977–1986	The Love Boat	Bartender Isaac Washington	246 episodes, director, writer
1977	The Love Boat II	Bartender Isaac Washington	Television movie
	The New Love Boat	Bartender Isaac Washington	Television movie
1979	Fantasy Island	The Great Scott	1 episode
	Charlie's Angels	Bartender Isaac Washington	1 episode
1983	The Fall Guy	Bartender	1 episode
	Fantasy Island	-	1 episode, director
1984	Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer	-	2 episodes, director
1986	That's My Mama Now!	Junior	Television movie
1986	John Grin's Christmas	Ghost of Christmas Present	Television movie
1987	Starman	-	1 episode, director
1988	Christmas	Ghost of Christmas Present	Television movie
	227	Lou	1 episode
	In the Heat of the Night	James Jeffson	1 episode
1989	It Nearly Wasn't Christmas	Napoleon	Television movie
1990	The Love Boat: A Valentine Voyage	Bartender Isaac Washington	Television movie
1993	Evening Shade	Mr. Taxerman	1 episode
1995	Platypus Man	Mr. Angel	1 episode
1996	Weird Science	Isaac	1 episode
1996–2000	Moesha	-	Director, 5 episodes
1997	Martin	Bartender Isaac Washington	2 episodes
	Family Matters	Frank Winslow	1 episode
1998	Love Boat: The Next Wave	Bartender Isaac Washington	1 episode
	The Wayans Bros.	-	Director, 1 episode
1999	L.A. Heat	Frank Millan	1 episode
	Love Boat: The Next Wave	-	Director, 2 episodes
2001	Cody: An Evening with Buffalo Bill	-	Director
	Dharma & Greg	-	Director, 2 episodes
2002	The Hughleys	Mr. Henderson	1 episode
	Scrubs	Mr. Blair	1 episode
2003	Half & Half	Repairman	1 episode
2004	Eve	-	Director, 1 episode
2004–2005	Drake & Josh	Mr. Calvert	2 episodes
2005	All of Us	-	Director, 1 episode
	The King of Queens	Himself	1 episode
2007	General Hospital	Judge	2 episodes
2008	Psych	Pookie	1 episode
2010	The Cleveland Show	As himself	1 episode
2011	A Russell Peters Christmas	As himself	1 episode
2012	Betty White's Off Their Rockers	Various Characters	Main Cast
2012	The First Family		Director, 2 episodes
2014	Maron	Wise Stranger	1 episode

References

1. "Ted Lange Biography (1947?-)". filmreference.com. Retrieved 2008-09-28.
2. Pietschmann, Patti. "Cruising with the Stars - Ted Lange". Cruise Travel. July/August 1981: 56.
3. Pietschmann, Patti. "Cruising with the Stars - Ted Lange". Cruise Travel. July/August 1981: 56.
4. "Ted Lange Biography". tvguide.com. Retrieved 2008-09-28.
5. "Productions — 2003-2004: Who's Who". newperspectivestheatre.org. Retrieved 2008-09-28.
6. Ryan, Maureen (August 12, 2008). "Honoring Isaac Hayes with a 'Wattstax' screening". Chicago Tribune.
7. Hirsh, Marc (July 16, 2010). "The Summer Of Music Documentaries: 'Wattstax'". NPR.
8. Hugus, Jennifer K (16 May 2014). "My Dinner with Ted Lange: 'Love Boat' Remembrances and Theatrical Dreams Made Real". The Los Angeles Beat. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
9. "Ted Lange Biography". castproductions.com. Retrieved 2008-09-28.
10. http://newyork.cbslocal.com/video/9875657-the-love-boat-star-ted-lange-talks-new-game-show/
11. "03/15/17 - The Wiseguyz Show". wiseguysddv.com. March 15, 2017. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
12. "Catching Up with…Ted Lange". ebonyjet.com. 2008-07-30. Archived from the original on 2009-01-08. Retrieved 2008-09-28.
13. "The Bod Squad". People. 2006-08-07. Retrieved 2008-09-28.
14. "Love Boat: Where are They Now?". abcnews.go.com. Retrieved 2008-09-28.

External links

• Ted Lange on IMDb
• Ted Lange at the Internet Broadway Database