Ted Gehring

Never a marquee name even within the relatively intimate fraternity of character actors, Ted Gehring nevertheless carved out a nice career for himself over the two-plus decades he worked, despite landing some of the most nondescript and anonymous roles in the business. He made his television debut in an episode of the 1965 western "The Big Valley." That year he was also cast in his first movie, the low-budget drama "Swamp Country." On the motion picture front, he wound up acting alongside an impressive array of stars including Steve McQueen ("The Thomas Crown Affair"), Sidney Poitier ("They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!"), Warren Beatty ("The Parallax View"), Robert Mitchum ("Farewell, My Lovely"), and Burt Reynolds ("The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas"). Television gave him significantly meatier roles that included reoccurring roles on "Bonanza," "Gunsmoke," "Little House on the Prairie," "Emergency!," and "The Rockford Files." His longest stint came playing series regular Charlie on the CBS sitcom "Alice," a job that lasted for 16 episodes from 1979 through 1982. His last part came in the 1988 television remake of the 1945 drama "Leave Her to Heaven." Ted Gehring died in Steelville, Missouri, at the age of 71.