Ted Lange

TED LANGE certainly exemplifies the Renaissance Man Theatre Award that he received from the NAACP in Los Angeles and the Heroes and Legends HAL Lifetime Achievement Award. A prolific actor of stage and screen, director, author, and educator comprise the talents that have created a revered career and worldwide recognition.

An award winning theatrical director, Lange received the Artistic Director Achievement Award, as Director of an Original Play for his comedy Lemon Meringue Facade and the Dramalogue Award for outstanding directing of The Visit. Lange also received the Oakland Ensemble Theatre’s Paul Robeson Award and the James Cagney Directing Fellow Scholarship Award from the American Film Institute. Other highlights from his stage directing include: an interracial Hamlet starring Glynn Turman, an avant-garde version of Richard III, Driving Miss Daisy, a one man show — Big Daddy’s Barbecue starring Jeff Wayne and a one woman show — Evil Legacy—The Story of Lucrezia Borgia, which he also co-wrote.

Honored to be named a mentee of James Burrows, Lange’s film directing career includes: “Moesha,” “Love Boat: The Next Wave,” “In the House”, and “The Wayans Brothers”. His directing expertise also encompasses a pilot he co-created for NBC, “Big Daddy’s Barbecue,” episodes of “Fall Guy,” “Starman,” “Fantasy Island,” and seventeen episodes of the original “Love Boat.”

A graduate of London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, Lange has written seventeen plays and garnered multiple theatrical awards. Behind the Mask — An Evening with Paul Laurence Dunbar is Lange’s own one-man show, touring thus far to sold-out houses at Ohio State University and San Jose State. Four Queens — No Trump played to rave reviews in Los Angeles and Chicago, and won NAACP Best Play —1997. The Valley Theatre Awards nominated his play, Lemon Meringue Facade, in five categories. Another respected play, Soul Survivor, was staged at the National Black Theatre Festival at the 1996 Olympics and at the Lee Strasberg Institute. Evil Legacy — The Story of Lucretia Borgia was nominated by LA Weekly for Best One-Woman Show. Also written, directed, and produced by Lange was Born a Unicorn, a rock ‘n roll musical depicting the life of Black Shakespearean actor, Ira Aldridge. This gave birth to the Ira Aldridge Acting Awards, an annual competition designed to showcase minority actors for the Hollywood film and television industry. As a film author, Lange has created over a dozen screenplays including seven “Love Boat” scripts.

Lange made his Broadway acting debut in the musical hit Hair and his theatrical acting careers spans over fifty plays including South Coast Repertory’s Piano Lesson, Sunshine Boys, Biloxi Blues, and a national tour of Driving Miss Daisy. His passion for Shakespeare has led to the roles of Petruchio in Taming of the Shrew, Bottom in Midsummer’s Night Dream, and leads in MacBeth, King Henry VI, and Romeo and Juliet. Other credits include Othello, in which he directed and starred in the stage version at the Inner City Cultural Center.

As a star of the television classic “The Love Boat”, Lange’s ten seasons as Isaac Washington earned him global recognition. His television acting career also includes “That’s My Mama,” “Mr. T and Tina,” and guest appearances on “Evening Shade,” “Family Matters,” “In the Heat of the Night,” and “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.”

Lange was the 1997 Co-Chairman of the African American Steering Committee for the Directors Guild of America. He was also one of the guiding forces of the Directors Guild Fellowship Program, instituted to develop job opportunities for Women and Ethnic Minorities.

Lange was named an adjunct associate professor at the School of Cinema/Television at USC, where he taught a weekly course in film directing. In addition to this, he also lectures on Shakespeare and acting at high schools and colleges across the nation. When asked about the diversity of his career, Lange states, “The duty of the artist is to find his muse, then let her rip.”