Ted Lange

---

title: "Ted Lange" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1948-births", "21st-century-african-american-people", "20th-century-african-american-people", "african-american-male-actors", "african-american-film-directors", "african-american-television-directors", "alumni-of-the-royal-academy-of-dramatic-art", "american-male-television-actors", "american-male-film-actors", "american-male-stage-actors", "american-television-directors", "american-male-screenwriters", "city-college-of-san-francisco-alumni", "living-people", "male-actors-from-oakland,-california", "film-directors-from-california", "participants-in-american-reality-television-series", "screenwriters-from-california", "oakland-technical-high-school-alumni"] description: "American actor, director and screenwriter (b. 1948)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Lange" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American actor, director and screenwriter (b. 1948) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Ted Lange
birth_name	Theodore William Lange III
image	Ted Lange Isaac Washington The Love Boat 1977.JPG
caption	Lange as Isaac Washington, 1977
birth_date
birth_place	Oakland, California, U.S.
known_for	Isaac Washington – The Love Boat
education	City College of San Francisco
Merritt College (AA)
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
occupation	{{flatlist
yearsactive	1972–present
spouse	{{plainlist
* {{marriage	Sheryl Thompson
children	2
::

| name = Ted Lange | birth_name = Theodore William Lange III | image = Ted Lange Isaac Washington The Love Boat 1977.JPG | caption = Lange as Isaac Washington, 1977 | birth_date = | birth_place = Oakland, California, U.S. | known_for = Isaac Washington – The Love Boat | education = City College of San Francisco Merritt College (AA) Royal Academy of Dramatic Art | death_date = | death_place = | occupation = {{flatlist|

• Actor
• director
• screenwriter}} | yearsactive = 1972–present | spouse = {{plainlist|

| children = 2

Theodore William Lange III (; born January 5, 1948) is an American actor, director and screenwriter best known for his roles as bartender Isaac Washington in the TV series The Love Boat (1977–1986) and Junior in That's My Mama (1974–75).

Early life, family and education

Lange was born in Oakland, California, in 1948, the son of Geraldine and Theodore William Jr., both working in theatre and television. Lange graduated from Oakland Technical High School where he was class and student body president. He completed an associate of arts degree at Merritt Junior College in Oakland before majoring in Drama at San Francisco City College. At City College, Lange was particularly active on the theatre scene and named Best Actor by the Black Students Association. He also won a scholarship to the University of Colorado Shakespearean Festival in the summer of 1968. Ted is a directing alum of The American Film Institute.

Career

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.

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

Lange's first screen appearance was in the documentary film Wattstax in 1973. After appearing 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. After he left the show in 1987, Lange appeared in various films and in guest roles on 227, In the Heat of the Night, Evening Shade, Boy Meets World, The King of Queens, Scrubs, Drake & Josh, Psych, The Cleveland Show, and Are We There Yet?.

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

Directing and writing

In 1977, he co-wrote the screenplay for the drama Passing Through, starring Nathaniel Taylor. During the run of The Love Boat, Lange also served as director and screenwriter of several 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.

Lange remained close to Gavin MacLeod, his acting mentor, who was a Palm Springs resident and saw his plays. In a 2014 interview with CBS New York, he said 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!" Lange also said in a 2017 interview with The Wiseguyz Show: "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."

"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.

''Celebrity Fit Club''

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

Personal life

Lange married Sheryl Thompson in 1978, and they divorced in 1989. The couple has two children, Theodore William IV and Turner Wallace Lange. His mother, Geraldine Lange, 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 programs on KBHK-TV. She died from COVID-19 on April 10, 2021 at the age of 96.

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.

Filmography

::data[format=table]

Film	Year	Film	Role	Other notes	Television	Year	Title	Role	Notes	Video Games	Year	Title	Voice	Notes
1973	Wattstax	Himself	Documentary film
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		Co-writer
1978	Record City	The Wiz
1987	Terminal Exposure	Fantastic	Alternative title: Double Exposure
1988	Glitch!	DuBois
1989	Othello	Othello	Also 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	Also 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
2009	Who Shot Mamba?	Dr. Crazy
The Adventures of Umbweki	Airline Captain Boka
For Love of Amy		Director
2010	Bed & Breakfast	Judge / Mediator
2011	Phil Cobb's Dinner for Four	Old Friend
1974–1975	That's My Mama	Junior	39 episodes
1976	Mr. T and Tina	Harvard	5 episodes
1977–1987	The Love Boat	Bartender Isaac Washington	246 episodes, also director and 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	3 episodes, director
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 Wilson	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
Boy Meets World	Himself	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	Himself (voice)	1 episode
2011	A Russell Peters Christmas	Himself	1 episode
2011–2012	Are We There Yet?	Ad Director / Captain	2 episodes; also director
2012	Betty White's Off Their Rockers	Various characters	Main cast
2012–2015	Mr. Box Office	Director, 33 episodes
2012–2013	The First Family		Director, 23 episodes
2014	Maron	Wise Stranger	1 episode
2022	The Real Love Boat	Himself
1996	You Don't Know Jack Volume 2	Himself
::

References

References

1. "Ted Lange Biography (1947?-)". filmreference.com.
2. Pietschmann, Patti. (July–August 1981). "Cruising with the Stars - Ted Lange". Cruise Travel.
3. https://watch.afi.com/talent/theodore-lange-554865
4. "Ted Lange Biography". [[TV Guide]].
5. "Productions — 2003-2004: Who's Who".
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".
9. "Ted Lange Biography".
10. (February 24, 2014). ""The Love Boat" Star Ted Lange Talks New Game Show". [[WLNY-TV.
11. (March 15, 2017). "The Wiseguyz Show: March 15, 2017".
12. (July 30, 2008). "Catching Up with…Ted Lange". [[Ebony (magazine).
13. (August 7, 2006). "The Bod Squad".
14. "''Love Boat'': Where are They Now?". [[Good Morning America]].
15. (11 July 2020). "Ted Lange's Life after Playing Bartender on 'The Love Boat' Including Being a Dad to 2 Sons". amomama.com.
16. "Jerri Lange, pioneering Black TV producer and host, dies at 96".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::