Ned Wertimer

Edward "Ned" Wertimer (October 27, 1923 – January 2, 2013) was an American actor born in Buffalo, New York. He is best known for playing Ralph Hart, the gratuity-seeking doorman on the long-running sitcom The Jeffersons.

Wertimer served as a Navy pilot during World War II before pursuing higher education at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, where he earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree. During his time at Wharton, he joined the Mask and Wig Club, an all-male comedy and musical troupe, and became a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity.

His Broadway career spanned from 1949 to 1965. He made his Broadway debut in Texas, Li'l Darlin', a 1949 musical with music by Robert E. Dolan and lyrics by Johnny Mercer. The following year he appeared in two productions: The Live Wire, written by Garson Kanin, and The Disenchanted, Budd Schulberg's drama that featured Jason Robards. His Broadway credits also include the musical Bye Bye Birdie, as well as the productions The Family and All in Good Time, the latter written by Bill Naughton. Alongside his stage work, Wertimer began taking on television roles, demonstrating improvisational ability as a recurring guest on The Shari Lewis Show.

In the mid-1960s, Wertimer relocated to Los Angeles to focus on his television career, accumulating more than 100 guest-star appearances on programs including Gunsmoke, Hogan's Heroes, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, WKRP in Cincinnati, Mork & Mindy, Happy Days, McMillan & Wife, Car 54 Where Are You?, The Debbie Reynolds Show, A Touch of Grace, He & She, and Family Law. His film work included Mame, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, The Impossible Years, Pinocchio, The Strongest Man in the World, The Pack, the 1970 film C.C. and Company, and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.

Wertimer first appeared as doorman Ralph Hart in a 1975 episode of All in the Family titled "The Jeffersons Move on Up," which served as the pilot for the spin-off series The Jeffersons. The character carried over into the series itself, and Wertimer appeared in 57 of the show's 253 episodes, portraying a doorman who consistently sought a tip for his services.

A longtime member of both the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists — unions that merged in 2012 — Wertimer was also a voting member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for the Emmy Awards. Shortly after moving to California in the mid-1960s, he married Dr. Skyne Uku, who became a professor emeritus at California State University, Long Beach.

Wertimer died on January 2, 2013, at the Sherman Village Health Care Center in Los Angeles at the age of 89, following a fall at his Burbank, California, home in November 2012 from which he never recovered.