Ralph Taeger

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Ralph Taeger (born July 30, 1936 in Queens , New York - † March 11, 2015 in Placerville , California ) was an American actor . His acting career spanned over 20 roles in productions for film and television. He played in movies like The X-15 Ready to Go , Madame P. and Her Girls or The Delta Factor . He was best known through the two American television series of the 1960s Klondike and Hondo , where he played the courier rider Hondo Lane.

Live and act

Ralph Taeger, born in 1936 in Richmond Hill, New York, to parents of German descent, initially aspired to a career in professional baseball with the Los Angeles Dodgers , but a knee injury ended this dream prematurely. In the late 1950s, after a high school teacher recognized his physical and dramatic talent and made him aware of the possibility of a film career, Taeger began studying at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City while working as a male model. He moved from the east coast to the west coast to the Beverly Hills Playhouse and within six months he got a seven-year contract with MGM and a first small role in George Marshall's romantic comedy A Great Number . Encouraged by this first success in Hollywood, Taeger also applied for television at the same time and in 1960 got smaller roles in episodes of well-known television series such as Lawyer for Justice , Bat Masterson and Adventure Under Water .

In 1961 he finally had his breakthrough with his role as gold prospector Mike Halliday in the western series Klondike , the action of which was set in Alaska at the time of the gold rush . In the same year he also played his first leading role as a test pilot of a new rocket plane in Richard Donner's science fiction drama The X-15 Ready to Go , alongside Charles Bronson and Brad Dexter . He also played Patrick Malone, a Korean War veteran, in eight episodes of the Acapulco series .

In 1964 he played some prominent supporting roles such as in Edward Dmytryk's film drama The Insatiable , in William F. Claxton's western stagecoach to Thunder Rock or in Russell Rouses' drama Madame P. and her girls alongside Shelley Winters , Robert Taylor and Cesar Romero . He also played in the television series The Twilight Zone and in 1965 in an episode of Solo for ONCEL

Taeger celebrated his greatest success in 1967 as the courier rider Hondo Lane in the western series Hondo , where he was allowed to impersonate this character, who John Wayne had already played successfully in the cinema in the 1953 western They call me Hondo , in a total of 17 episodes. In 1970 he played in Tay Garnett's agent thriller The Delta Factor in the ensemble around Yvette Mimieux , Christopher George and Diane McBain .

In the 1970s and 1980s his career in film and television stagnated and he was only seen as a guest star in a few TV productions. In 1975, among other things, in an episode of The Six Million Dollar Man or in 1977 and 1982 in various episodes of the crime series Quincy . In 1983 he had his last television appearance on the series Father Murphy .

In 1967 he married Linda Taeger Jarrett and they have a son.

Filmography (selection)

literature

  • Ralph Taeger in: C. Courtney Joyner: The Westerners: Interviews with Actors, Directors, Writers and Producers . McFarland, 2009, p. 216.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Biographical data of Ralph Taeger in: Richard Lamparski: Whatever became of…? All new ninth series: 100 profiles of the most asked about personalities from television series, documentaries, and movies . Volume 9, Crown, 1985, p. 170.
  2. ^ Ralph Taeger in: Illustrated Weekly of Pakistan . Volume 15, Pakistan Herald Publications, 1963, p. 40.
  3. ↑ Ralph Taeger in: Robert Michael White, Jack L. Summers, Neil Armstrong: Higher and Faster: Memoir of a Pioneering Air Force Test Pilot . McFarland, 2010, p. 173.
  4. ↑ Ralph Taeger in: Cue: The Weekly Magazine of New York Life . Cue Publishing Company, 1967, p. 56.
  5. ↑ Ralph Taeger in: Paul Mavis: The Espionage Filmography: United States Releases, 1898 through 1999 . McFarland, 2001, p. 80.
personal data
SURNAME Taeger, Ralph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-American actor
DATE OF BIRTH July 30, 1936
PLACE OF BIRTH Richmond Hill, Queens , New York , USA
DATE OF DEATH March 11, 2015
Place of death Placerville , California