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Teddy Mangean
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born:
28 January 1901 Elmhurst, California, United States of America |
died:
09 September 1964 Los Angeles, California, United States of America (cardiac decompensation, age 63) |
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Short and slender American actor, stuntman, and acrobat, who was a professional tumbler and wire-walker before commencing a three-decade film career that lasted into the mid-1950s. It is likely he toured with the Mangean acrobatic troupe in his earlier years, hence his stage (and later, apparently, legal) surname; the troupe was co-founded by his aunt, Carrie Mangean (a sister of Teddy's mother, Alice Kleupfer, née Smith). Teddy also toured with the Poblones Circus of Cuba and South America. He appears to have worked in films as early as 1920, possibly working as an assistant director at L-KO. From there, he would work in many comedy shorts for Educational, Mack Sennett, Al Christie, Hal Roach, and Columbia, among other companies and producers. At Columbia, he doubled for Larry Fine of the Three Stooges. Due to his small, rail-thin build, he also frequently doubled for women, especially for slapstick spills, and played roles often associated with men of his size such as jockeys, messengers, and bellhops. He also worked as an assistant director on Educational comedies during the mid-1930s. In features, Teddy served as Robert Woolsey's stand-in at RKO. He also doubled for Alice Faye in "Hollywood Cavalcade" (1939), Peter Coe in "The Mummy's Curse" (1944), and Larry Stewart in the serial "Captain Video: Master of the Stratosphere" (1951). One of his most notable feature assignments was in "The Thing from Another World" (1951), where he both doubled for Robert Cornthwaite and portrayed the medium-sized version of the titular alien as it shrunk at the film's climax (shrinking from 6'7" James Arness, to ~5'7" Teddy, to 4'2" Billy Curtis). Interestingly, Teddy also once portrayed Stan Laurel, wearing a mask, for a sequence in the 1934 film "Young and Beautiful." In 1954, while filming the 20th Century Fox film "The Egyptian," Teddy fell from a 12-foot altar and landed on actress Marjorie Jackson; both received head injuries. Although Teddy would serve among the titular bumbling police force in "Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops" (released 1955) not long after, one wonders if the "Egyptian" injury perhaps helped hasten the end of his film career (his known credits dry up around 1953-54). Teddy's death certificate (excerpted in his funeral service record) reveals that, for the last 10 years of his life (1954-1964), he worked as a soil inspector for the U.S. government. Teddy was married at least four times, and had one son, Ronald Raymond (Kleupfer) Mangean (1928-1991). As Fred R. Mangean, he passed away at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Los Angeles, California, at 9:41am on 9 September 1964. He was survived by his last wife, Myrtle (1915-1983), and son Ronald, and is interred at Valhalla Memorial Park in North Hollywood, California. Some sources also spell his surname as "Manjean." |
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Real name: Frederick Raymond Kleupfer Height: 5'6¾" |
Films listed on this page: complete Hal Roach filmography. |
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