Ted Wass

Edward "Ted" Wass (born October 27, 1952) is an American television director and former actor. He is best known for his roles as Danny Dallas on the series Soap (1977–1981) and as Nick Russo on the NBC sitcom Blossom (1991–1995). Since Blossom ended its run in 1995, Wass has retired from acting and has focused only on directing episodic television such as Spin City, The Big Bang Theory, Less than Perfect and 2 Broke Girls.

Wass was born in Lakewood, Ohio (just west of Cleveland). He was raised in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, (about 20 mi (32 km) west of Chicago) and graduated from Glenbard West High Schoolthere in 1970. He attended DePaul University in Chicago, graduating from its Goodman School of Drama.

Wass trained as an opera singer and was also involved in rock and roll as a lead singer and guitarist.

Acting

In 1976, Wass made his Broadway debut in the original Broadway production of Grease, playing Danny Zuko.

He made his television debut as Danny Dallas on Soap opposite stage veteran Katherine Helmond from 1977-1981, filming 101 episodes. He appeared on Broadway with his Soap co-star Diana Canova in Neil Simon's They're Playing Our Song.

Wass starred in Curse of the Pink Panther (1983), one of the post-Peter Sellers films in the franchise, as Detective Sergeant Clifton Sleigh, engaged by Police Chief Dreyfus to track down Inspector Clouseau.

He played struggling musician Bobby Shelton (who trades his soul — and his family — to become ill-fated rock star "Billy Wayne") in the black comedy film Oh, God! You Devil (1984). He played a sports journalist caught up in a murder in female-Tarzan film Sheena (1984), which received five nominations in the Razzie Awards.

In 1986, he starred in the TV movie Triplecross, directed by David Greene, in which he, Markie Post, and Gary Swanson are cops who receive a huge sum of money from a kidnap victim and become private detectives, competing against each other to solve cases. This was intended as a pilot but the series was never picked up.

His last acting role was among his most prominent, playing the title character's father in Blossom (1991–1995), a sitcom about a teenage girl with two brothers being brought up by their single father.

Directing

Wass began directing while acting on the TV sitcom Blossom. Along with many TV movies, he has directed episodes of over 40 TV series.

Wass' first wife was actress Janet Margolin, who died in December 1993 at age 50 from ovarian cancer. Their two children are Julian (a composer) and Matilda. His second wife is producer Nina Wass (maiden name unknown), whom he married in 1996. Together they have a daughter named Stella.