Theodore Rosevelt "Teddy" Wilson (December 10, 1943 – July 21, 1991) was an American stage, film, and television actor. He is best known for his recurring roles as Earl the Postman on the ABC sitcom That's My Mama, and Sweet Daddy Williams on the CBS sitcom Good Times and Phil Wheeler on the NBC sitcom Sanford Arms (1977). Throughout his television and film career, Wilson was credited interchangeably with either Theodore (36) or Teddy (50) as his given name.
Theodore Wilson | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Theodore Rosevelt Wilson December 10, 1943 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | July 21, 1991 (aged 47) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Other names | Teddy Wilson |
| Alma mater | Florida A&M University |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1970–1991 |
| Children | 3 |
Career
editBorn in Harlem, New York City, Wilson studied music at Florida A&M University before switching to drama. Upon returning to New York, he joined the Negro Ensemble Company and later worked with the Arena Stage Repertory. He made his acting debut in the blaxploitation film, Cotton Comes to Harlem, in 1970. The following year, Wilson left New York City and moved to Los Angeles to further his acting career. He made his television debut in a two-episode role as Hawthorne Dooley on the television series The Waltons. In 1973, Wilson was cast as the character High Strung on the CBS sitcom Roll Out. The series was canceled after 12 episodes.[1] The following year, Wilson was cast as Earl Chambers, a postman on the sitcom That's My Mama. That series ran for two seasons on ABC. Wilson also starred in national TV commercials for Aamco in the 1970s as a character named "Walter T." Wilson appeared as CWO2 Martin H. Williams, a chopper pilot and buddy of characters Trapper and Hawkeye in the Season 3 episode of M*A*S*H titled "The General Flipped at Dawn" (1974).
In September 1976, Wilson was offered and signed a contract with Tandem Productions, the production company owned by Bud Yorkin and Norman Lear, who produced some of the most popular television sitcoms of the 1970s. Wilson went on to guest star in several Yorkin/Lear-produced series including All in the Family, Sanford and Son, What's Happening!!, The Jeffersons, and 13 Queens Boulevard.[1] In 1976, Wilson was cast as Sweet Daddy Williams, a street hustler on the CBS sitcom Good Times. His character of Sweet Daddy appeared in a recurring role. In August 1977, it was announced that Wilson would star in a spin-off series of the hit sitcom Sanford and Son called Sanford Arms. Sanford and Son had ended in March 1977 when star Redd Foxx left the series. Sanford Arms was intended to be a continuation of that highly popular series. In Sanford Arms, Wilson starred as Phil Wheeler, an Army veteran and widower who has purchased the Sanford Arms, a rooming house, from his old Army buddy Fred G. Sanford, the Foxx character from Sanford and Son.[2] Upon its premiere in September 1977, Sanford Arms was met with low ratings and was canceled after four episodes.
After the series was canceled, Wilson made various TV guest appearances in episodes of The White Shadow (he also wrote a 1980 episode), Enos, Gimme a Break!, The Golden Girls, and What's Happening Now. In 1986, he had a role as Jim-Jam on another short-lived series, The Redd Foxx Show. Wilson continued to work throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, appearing in Alien Nation, Dallas, Family Matters, Tales from the Crypt, Gabriel's Fire, Mama's Family, and Quantum Leap. He was also featured in several motion pictures including The Hunter (1980), Blake Edwards's A Fine Mess, That's Life! (both 1986), and Mel Brooks's Life Stinks (1991). Wilson made his last onscreen appearance in Blood In Blood Out, a 1993 crime drama released after his death.[3]
Personal life
editWilson had three children, Theodore Jr., Robert and Nicole.[4] The latter two children were with actress Joan Pringle,[4] Wilson's co-star during the second season of the television series That's My Mama. Pringle was named executrix of Wilson's estate when he died in 1991.[4]
Death
editOn July 21, 1991, Wilson died of complications from a stroke at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, at the age of 47.[5][3][4][6][7] He had undergone open-heart surgery several years prior to his death.[8]
Filmography
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | Cotton Comes to Harlem | Barry | |
| 1972 | Come Back, Charleston Blue | Cemetery Guard | |
| 1973 | Cleopatra Jones | Pickle (Doodlebug's hood) | |
| 1974 | Newman's Law | Lindy | |
| 1974 | Black Eye | Jaycee | |
| 1976 | The River Niger | Chips | |
| 1976 | Gang Wars | Black Spade | |
| 1977 | The Greatest | Joe, the Gardener | Credited as Theodore R. Wilson |
| 1977 | Run for the Roses | Flash | |
| 1978 | Loose Shoes | Elijah Abdoul Jamaal Muhammed | a.k.a. Coming Attractions, a.k.a. Quackers |
| 1980 | Carny | Nails | |
| 1980 | The Hunter | Winston Blue | |
| 1984 | Weekend Pass | Nat | |
| 1986 | Big Trouble | Porter | |
| 1986 | Stewardess School | Probation Officer | |
| 1986 | A Fine Mess | Covington | |
| 1986 | That's Life! | Corey | |
| 1987 | Maid to Order | Woodrow | |
| 1990 | Genuine Risk | Billy | |
| 1990 | Penny Ante: The Motion Picture | Willie | |
| 1991 | Life Stinks | Fumes | a.k.a. Life Sucks |
| 1992 | The Vagrant | X-Rays | Posthumous release |
| 1993 | Blood In Blood Out | Wallace | a.k.a. Bound by Honor, posthumous release |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972–73 | The Waltons | Hawthorne Dooley | 2 episodes |
| 1973 | The Partridge Family | Sam Mulvoney | Episode: "Hate Thy Neighbor" |
| 1973 | Roll Out | High Strung | Recurring role |
| 1974 | M*A*S*H | Warrant Officer Martin "Marty" Williams | Episode: "The General Flipped at Dawn" |
| 1974–75 | That's My Mama | Earl Chambers | Main cast |
| 1975 | Medical Story | Hadley | Television movie |
| 1976 | Baretta | Flash | Episode: "Pay or Die" |
| 1976 | Good Heavens | Special Bingham | Episode: "Jack the Ribber and Me" |
| 1976–79 | Good Times | Sweet Daddy Williams | 7 episodes |
| 1977 | Phyllis | Jimmy Carter | Episode: "Boss or Buddy or Both or Neither" |
| 1977 | The Bionic Woman | Warner Williams | Episode: "Iron Ships and Dead Men" |
| 1977 | Sanford Arms | Phil Wheeler | Main cast |
| 1977 | Kojak | Joe Penney | Episode: "Once More from Birdland" |
| 1977 | Police Woman | Harold Martin | Episode: "Shadow of a Doubt" |
| 1976–78 | What's Happening!! | Al Dunbar / Marty / Mr. Wilson | 4 episodes |
| 1979 | The Dukes of Hazzard | Morgan | Episode: "Route 7-11" |
| 1979 | The White Shadow | Doug Buchanan | Episode: "A Christmas Present" |
| 1981 | The Oklahoma City Dolls | Tom Petree | Television movie |
| 1982 | The Ambush Murders | Jay King | Television movie |
| 1983 | Amanda's | Philip Oliver | Episode: "Last of the Red Hot Brothers" |
| 1985 | A Bunny's Tale | Older Club Employee | Television movie |
| 1985 | Malice in Wonderland | Collins | Television movie |
| 1985 | What's Happening Now!! | Mr. Lee/Bum | 2 episodes |
| 1985 | The Twilight Zone | Henderson | Segment: "Night of the Meek" |
| 1985 | Crazy Like a Fox | Eddie | 2 episodes |
| 1986 | The Golden Girls | Albert, the Diner Owner | Episode "Twas the Nightmare Before Christmas (20 Dec. 1986)" |
| 1986 | 227 | Cousin Ray | Episode: "We the People" |
| 1986 | The Redd Foxx Show | Jim-Jam | Main cast, replaced a different actor after third episode |
| 1986 | Easy Street | Jackie | Episode: "Be-Bop Man" |
| 1987 | The New Mike Hammer | Booker | Episode: "Body Shot" |
| 1987 | Cagney & Lacey | Judge Charnas | Episode: "Easy Does It" |
| 1987 | Gimme a Break | Rev George Dixon | Episode: "Save The Church" |
| 1987–88 | You Can't Take It with You | Durwood M. Pinner | 3 episodes |
| 1988 | Annie McGuire | Jordan | Episode: "The Journey" |
| 1988 | The Golden Girls | Ben | Episode: "Brother, Can You Spare That Jacket?" |
| 1989 | Mama's Family | Gus | Episode: "More Power to You" |
| 1989 | Sweet Bird of Youth | Fly | Television movie |
| 1989 | Midnight Caller | Quinton Oliver | Episode: "Take Back the Streets" |
| 1989 | Alien Nation | Dr. Roscoe Brennan | 2 episodes |
| 1989 | The Munsters Today | Louis | Episode: "The Melting Pot" |
| 1989–90 | Dallas | Clem | 2 episodes |
| 1990 | Beauty and the Beast | Raymond Ensign | Episode: "Legacies" |
| 1990 | Family Matters | Captain Casper Davenport | Episode: "Sitting Pretty" |
| 1990 | The New Adam-12 | Street Artist | Episode: "The Landlord" |
| 1990 | Tales from the Crypt | Clyde | Episode: "Fitting Punishment" |
| 1990 | Quantum Leap | Ernie Tyler / Jimmy Grady | Episodes: "Rebel Without a Clue" / "Pool Hall Blues" |
| 1991 | Wings | John | Episode: "Plane Nine from Nantucket" |
References
edit- ^ a b "'Sanford and Son' Replacement Set". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Spokane, Washington. August 26, 1977. p. 23. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
- ^ "New stars to shine in 'Sanford Arms'". Boca Raton News. Boca Raton, Florida. August 24, 1977. p. 8B. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
- ^ a b "Theodore Wilson dies; appeared on TV shows". The Hour. Norwalk, Connecticut. July 24, 1991. p. 31. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
- ^ a b c d "Actress Joan Pringle Will Oversee $40,000 Estate Of Late Actor Theodore Wilson". Jet. Vol. 81, no. 3. November 4, 1991. p. 36. ISSN 0021-5996.
- ^ "Actor Theodore Wilson, 47, Dies Of Stroke In L.A." Jet. Vol. 80, no. 17. August 12, 1991. p. 56. ISSN 0021-5996.
- ^ "Obituaries: Theodore Wilson, Actor, 47". The New York Times. Associated Press. July 25, 1991. Retrieved August 22, 2018.
His sister-in-law, Naomi Pringle, said he had suffered a stroke.
- ^ "Theodore Wilson Dies, Television, Movie Actor". orlandosentinel.com. July 25, 1991. Retrieved April 3, 2016.
- ^ "Theodore R. Wilson; Actor in Many TV Comedies, Movies". Los Angeles Times. July 25, 1991. Retrieved May 20, 2021.
