Ned Wertimer

Alongside Lorenzo Music's Carlton from the sitcom "Rhoda," Ned Wertimer had the honor of playing television's most famous doorman during his 50-episode stint on "The Jeffersons." Wertimer began his career in the theater as an assistant stage manager and an actor. He made his first televised appearances in mid-1950s live programming that included the crime series "Rocky King, Detective" and an episode of the drama anthology "The Alcoa Hour." Wertimer's film career is an interesting cross-section of supporting roles in motion pictures ranging from the 1964 guilty pleasure "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians" and the Joe Namath feature film debut "C.C. and Company" to a latter-day supporting role in 2007's "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" as a Singing Gallows Pirate. Television was always Wertimer's steadiest employer, from guest shots on "McMillan & Wife," "Simon & Simon," and "227," to a turn in the 1985 Wes Craven made-for-television horror film "Chiller." But it was Wertimer's portrayal of Ralph the Doorman, the sycophantic gatekeeper of a Manhattan high rise building always angling for a tip from Sherman Hemsley's George Jefferson, that television fans will remember most.