Ned Wertimer obit

PASSINGS: Ned Wertimer

He was not on the list.


Ned Wertimer, 89, an actor who played Ralph the doorman on all 11 seasons of the CBS sitcom “The Jeffersons,” died Jan. 2 at a Valley Village nursing home of complications from a fall at his Burbank home in November, said his manager, Brad Lemack.

Wertimer had dozens of guest-starring roles on TV series from the early 1960s through the late 1980s, including “McMillan and Wife,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and “I Dream of Jeannie.”

But he was best known as Ralph Hart, the uniformed, mustachioed doorman at the luxury apartment building on “The Jeffersons,” the “All In the Family” spinoff that ran from 1975 to 1985.

Born in Buffalo, N.Y., on Oct. 27, 1923, Wertimer was a Navy pilot during World War II. He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he also appeared in student theatrical productions.

After graduating college, Wertimer went to New York City to perform Broadway theatre in such shows as Texas Li'l Darlin', a 1949 musical by Robert E. Dolan and Johnny Mercer; 1950's The Live Wire by Garson Kanin; 1950's The Disenchanted, by Budd Schulberg, with Jason Robards; and 1963's All in Good Time by Bill Naughton. He also began performing in small roles in television, a new medium at the time. He was able to show his improvisational skills as a regular guest on The Shari Lewis Show.

In the mid-1960s, Wertimer moved to Los Angeles to continue his burgeoning television career. He had over 100 guest-star credits on such shows as Gunsmoke, McMillan & Wife, Car 54, Where Are You?, The Debbie Reynolds Show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, A Touch of Grace, WKRP in Cincinnati, Mork & Mindy, He & She and Family Law. He also appeared in such films as Mame, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, The Impossible Years, Pinocchio, The Strongest Man in the World, The Pack and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. He had a role in the 1970 film C.C. and Company.

He became a longtime member of the performers' trade unions SAG and AFTRA, which merged in 2012

He chose to pursue acting rather than a business career and won stage roles in New York City before segueing to television.

Sherman Hemsley, the star of “The Jeffersons,” died July 24.

Filmography

Year       Title       Role       Notes

1958      Let's Rock            Studio Manager                Uncredited

1964      Santa Claus Conquers the Martians          Andy Henderson             

1968      What's So Bad About Feeling Good?        Marshall legal aide           Uncredited

1968      The Impossible Years      Dr. Bodey           

1968      Pinocchio             Vito Whale / Farmer       TV movie

1969      Some Kind of a Nut          Larry      Uncredited

1970      C.C. and Company            Motorcycle Salesman    

1972      Bad Company    Mr. Dixon           

1974      Mame   Fred Kates          

1975      The Strongest Man in the World                Mr. Parsons       

1975      At Long Last Love             First Man (Nightclub)     

1977      The Pack              Walker

1979      Hometown U.S.A.            Mr. Duckworth

2007      Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End                Singing Gallows Pirate #6              (final film role)