Ted Raimi

Theodore Raimi (born December 14, 1965)^[1] is an American character actor, director and writer. He is known for his roles in the works of his brother Sam Raimi, including a fake Shemp in The Evil Dead, possessed Henrietta in Evil Dead II, and Ted Hoffman in the Spider-Man trilogy.^[2] He later reprised his role as Henrietta in the television series Ash vs. Evil Dead, in which he also played the character Chet Kaminski. He is also known for his roles as Lieutenant JG Tim O'Neill in seaQuest DSV, his recurring role as the merchant in Legend of the Seeker and Joxer the Mighty in both Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.

Ted Raimi
Raimi at GalaxyCon Raleigh in 2024
Born	(1965-12-14) December 14, 1965 (age 58) Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Alma mater	University of Michigan
Occupations	Actor director screenwriter
Years active	1977–present
Relatives	Sam Raimi (brother) Ivan Raimi (brother)

Raimi has appeared in minor roles including the films Crimewave, Intruder, Shocker, Darkman, Candyman, Army of Darkness, Clear and Present Danger, The Grudge, Drag Me to Hell and Oz the Great and Powerful, as well as the television series ALF, Twin Peaks, Baywatch and Supernatural. He has had voice roles in the television series Invader Zim and Code Monkeys, and in the video games Evil Dead: Regeneration and The Quarry.

Early life

Raimi was born to a Jewish family^[3] in Detroit, Michigan. His parents are Celia (née Abrams), a lingerie store proprietor, and Leonard Raimi, a furniture store proprietor. Ted was raised in Conservative Judaism, and his ancestors immigrated from Russia and Hungary.^[4] He attended Wylie E. Groves High School in Beverly Hills, Michigan, where he played blues harp and was a DJ and a member of the Groves Cinema Society. At seventeen, Raimi began his professional acting career doing industrial films in Detroit, for Ford, General Motors and Chrysler. He attended University of Michigan, New York University, then finally University of Detroit. Raimi's older brothers are director Sam Raimi and screenwriter Ivan Raimi.

Career

Raimi's motion picture acting credits include: Wes Craven's Shocker, Born Yesterday, Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger, The Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, Army of Darkness, Darkman and the Spider-Man series, as well as roles in such features as: Stuart Saves His Family, The Grudge, Midnight Meat Train and Oz the Great and Powerful.

On television, he has been seen on shows such as Twin Peaks, CSI: NY, Supernatural and Legend of the Seeker, but is best known for his roles as the communication officer Lt. Tim O'Neill on the science fiction television series seaQuest DSV (later seaQuest 2032) and starring as the warrior wannabe Joxer on Xena: Warrior Princess.

Raimi wrote the original "Joxer the Mighty" song with help from director Josh Becker for Xena: Warrior Princess. In 2022, he joined director Alex Kahuam for his upcoming feature film Failure!, which was shot entirely in a single long-take.^[5]

Selected filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref(s)
1977	It's Murder!	Bradley
1981	The Evil Dead	Fake Shemp		[6][7]
	Torro. Torro. Torro!		Short film
1982	Cleveland Smith: Bounty Hunter
1985	Crimewave	Waiter		[6][8]
	Thou Shalt Not Kill... Except	Chain Man
1987	Evil Dead II	Possessed Henrietta		[9]
	Blood Rage	Condom Salesman
1989	Intruder	Joe 'Produce Joe'		[10]
	Easy Wheels	Charlie
	Shocker	"Pac-Man"
1990	Darkman	Rick Anderson		[6]
1991	Lunatics: A Love Story	Hank Stone
1992	Eddie Presley	"Scooter"
	Patriot Games	CIA Technician
	Candyman	Billy		[11][12]
	Army of Darkness	Cowardly Warrior / Swordsmith / Villager / S-Mart Clerk	Credited as "Theodore Raimi"; uncredited for roles besides "Cowardly Warrior"	[9]
	Inside Out V	Richard	Direct-to-video
	The Finishing Touch	Detective Arnold
	The Fountain Clowns	Hayden
1993	Maniac Cop III: Badge of Silence	Reporter
	Born Yesterday	Cynthia's Assistant
	Skinner	Dennis Skinner		[13]
	Hard Target	Man On The Street
1994	Floundering	Safe Salesman
	Clear and Present Danger	Satellite Analyst
	In This Corner	Interviewer
1995	Stuart Saves His Family	Hal
	The Expert	Jerry's Friend	Uncredited
1996	The Shot	Detective Corelli
1997	Wishmaster	Ed Finney
1998	Hercules and Xena – The Animated Movie: The Battle for Mount Olympus	Crius	Voice; direct-to-video film
1999	Freak Talks About Sex	Jackie's Husband
2001	The Attic Expeditions	Dr. Coffee
2002	Spider-Man	Ted Hoffman		[2]
2003	Red Zone	Phelps
	Between the Sheets	Gabriel / A.D.R. Mixer
2004	Spider-Man 2	Ted Hoffman		[2]
	Illusion	Ian
	The Grudge	Alex Jones		[14]
2005	Man with the Screaming Brain	Pavel
	Freezerburn	Special Agent Johnson
2006	High Hopes	Special Agent Brown
	Kalamazoo?	Angel
2007	Reign Over Me	Peter Saravino
	My Name Is Bruce	Mills Toddner / Wing / Sign Painter
	Spider-Man 3	Ted Hoffman		[2]
	Millennium Crisis	August
2008	Diamonds and Guns	The Landlord
	The Midnight Meat Train	Randle Cooper
2009	Drag Me to Hell	Doctor
2010	VideoDome Rent-O-Rama	Francis	Short film
2011	Ruthless: An Experiment in Terror	Bartender
2012	Attack of the 50 Foot Cheerleader	Dr. Higgs
2013	Oz the Great and Powerful	Skeptic In Audience
2014	Murder of a Cat	Young Sheriff
2017	Darkness Rising	Dad		[15][16]
2021	18½	Alexander Haig	Voice
2023	Failure!	James

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref(s)
1989	Knight & Daye	Buyer	Episode: "Stalk Radio"
	Alien Nation	Johnny Appleseed	Episode: "Chains of Love"
	ALF	Julius	Episode: "It's My Party"
1991	Twin Peaks	Heavy Metal Youth	Episodes: "2.19", "2.20"
1992	Baywatch	Leonaard	Episode: "Rookie of the Year"
1993–1996	seaQuest DSV	Lieutenant j.g. Timothy O'Neill	Main role (54 episodes)
1996	American Gothic	Ted Parker	Episode: "Learning to Crawl"
	Apollo 11	Steve Bales	Television film
1996–2001	Xena: Warrior Princess	Joxer	Recurring role (42 episodes)	[13]
1997	Hercules: The Legendary Journeys		Episodes: "When a Man Loves a Woman", "Stranger in a Strange World"
1998		Alex Kurtzman	Episode: "Yes, Virginia, There Is a Hercules"
1999	Iggy Vile M.D.	Frederick Marsche	Television film
2001	Primetime Glick	Various roles
2002	Invader Zim	Skoodge, Holographic Alien Head	Voice roles Episodes: "Battle of the Planets", "HOBO 13/Walk for Your Lives"
	Odyssey 5	Harry Mudd	Episode: "Trouble with Harry"
2005	CSI: NY	Garage Joe / Joe Strahil	Episode: "Hush"
2006	Masters of Horror	Father Tulli	Episode: "The Damned Thing"
2007	Planet Raptor	Dr. Tygon	Television film
2007–2008	Code Monkeys	Various roles	Recurring voice roles (6 episodes)
2008	Legend of the Seeker	Sebastian	Episode: "Bounty"
	30 Days of Night: Dust to Dust		Television miniseries
	Supernatural	Wesley Mondale	Episode: "Wishful Thinking"
2009	Angel of Death	Jed Norton	Web series
2010	Legend of the Seeker	Sebastian	Episode: "Hunger"
2011	Your Dungeon, My Dragon		Episode: "Battle of the Bands, Man"
2016	Ash vs Evil Dead	Possessed Henrietta	Also played Possessed Henrietta in Evil Dead II	[17]
2018		Chet Kaminski	Recurring role (6 episodes)	[18]
2017	Buddy Thunderstruck	Darnell / Moneybags	Voice role; 12 episodes
2021	Creepshow	Ted	Episode: "Public Television Of The Dead"

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref(s)
2005	Evil Dead: Regeneration	Sam	Voice role	[7][19]
2022	The Quarry	Travis Hackett	Voice, motion capture and likeness

Non-acting work

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref(s)
1978	Within the Woods	Crew	Short film
1981	Torro. Torro. Torro!
1985	Crimewave	Apprentice editor
1995	seaQuest DSV	Writer	Episode: "Lostland"
1998	Normal Joe
1999	Iggy Vile M.D.		Television film
2008	Diamonds and Guns	Second unit co-director
2009	My Treat	Director	Short film
2011	Morbid Minutes		5 episodes
		Writer	Episodes: "Better to Remember", "Tie Game"

References

1. "Raimi, Ted 1965-". Encyclopedia.com. Cengage.
2. Peter David's novelizations of the films reveal his first name to be Ted, after the actor who plays him.
3. Wills, Adam (July 22, 2009). "Jews Get Geek on at Comic-Con". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
4. Aushenker, Michael (April 26, 2002). "Spider-Mensch: The Jewish roots of director Sam Raimi and "Spider-Man."". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Archived from the original on November 13, 2005. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
5. "FAILURE! Alex Kahuam Directs Genre Icon Ted Raimi in Single Take Thriller". screenanarchy.com. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
6. Muir 2004, p. 307.
7. Mangione, Nick (October 7, 2016). "Chilling news from Ash Vs. Evil Dead at NYCC". Geek.com. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
8. Robson 2007, p. 40–41.
9. Paul, Zachary (February 19, 2018). "Fast Facts: 'Army of Darkness' and 25 Years Worth of Trivia". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
10. Muir 2007, p. 744.
11. Willis 2000, p. 121.
12. Leighton, Susan (December 5, 2017). "Thoughts from the Ledge: Ted Raimi – the genius clown prince of horror". 1428Elm.com. FanSided. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
13. Coffel, Chris (February 15, 2019). "[Blu-ray Review] Ted Raimi Skins Streetwalkers in the Sleazy Fun 'Skinner'". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
14. Cobb, Kayla (October 22, 2019). "'The Grudge's Tongue Scene Will Forever Give Me Nightmares". Decider.com. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
15. Barton, Steve (April 28, 2017). "Ted Raimi Gets Animated for Darkness Rising Art". Dread Central. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
16. Collis, Clark (June 1, 2017). "Explore a house of horrors in exclusive trailer for Darkness Rising". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
17. "Inside the World of Ash vs Evil Dead: Episode 209". STARZ. December 4, 2016. Retrieved December 5, 2016.
18. Bryant, Jacob (February 10, 2016). "TV News Roundup: 'Ash vs Evil Dead' Adds Ted Raimi, Lee Majors; 'Mary Mary' Gets Season 5 Premiere Date". Variety. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
19. Pulliam & Fonseca 2014, p. 88.

Further reading

• Muir, John Kenneth (2004). The Unseen Force: The Films of Sam Raimi. Applause Books. ISBN 978-1557836076.
• Muir, John Kenneth (2007). Horror Films of the 1980s. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-0786428212.
• Pulliam, June Michele; Fonseca, Anthony J. (2014). Encyclopedia of the Zombie: The Walking Dead in Popular Culture and Myth. Greenwood. ISBN 978-1440803888.
• Robson, Eddie (2007). Coen Brothers. Virgin Books. ISBN 978-0753512685.
• Willis, John (2000). John Willis 1993 Film Annual: Screen World. Vol. 44. Applause Theatre & Cinema Books. ISBN 978-1557831750.

External links

• Official website
• Ted Raimi at IMDb
• Ted Raimi at AllMovie
• 2005 MarsDust Interview