Theodore Ross Roberts (June 30, 1934 – September 3, 2002) was an American film, television and theater actor. He, like Bert Lahr, is best known for his role as the Lion in The Wiz on Broadway (he won a tony award for it) and in the film adaptation.
Biography[]
Born in Zanesville, Ohio, his mother, Elizabeth Russell, a nightclub singer in the 1920s and 1930s, moved the family to Dayton when young Ross was seven.
He loved the clubs on West Fifth Street—Dayton’s answer to Harlem in the first half of the 20th century. When he was eighteen, Ross entered an amateur night contest at the Top Hat bar on Germantown Street. After leaving the military, Ross worked his way from Great Falls, Montana, to a strip bar in Los Angeles as a singer and MC. One night he sang a cover of Judy Garland's "Over the Rainbow", won $5 that night.
Ross went on to appear in many films from including the role of Bitterman in the classic Arthur and on the television sitcoms Benson, The Jeffersons, What’s Happening Now, The Cosby Show, and A Different World. His final role was in the 1991 movie The Fisher King. Though the role Ross is widely known for is his portrayal of the Cowardly Lion in The Wiz film were he starred alongside Diana Ross (no relation), Michael Jackson, Richard Pryor, Nipsey Russell,Lena Horne and Mabel King as Evillene whom Ross played alongside with during the original Broadway show .
Besides starring as the Cowardly Lion in The Wiz he also worked on other other Broadway productions, such as Purlie, Ain't Misbehavin, and Raisin in the Sun. His first film was The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings, a baseball movie starring James Earl Jones and Richard Pryor. In 1990, Ross played Troy Maxson in a Cincinnati production of August Wilson's Fences. He also appeared in many stage shows and films with famous actors like James Earl Jones, Billie Dee Williams and Richard Pryor once more.
James Monroe Iglehart quotes Ted Ross as being one of his biggest inspirations to become an actor.