Theodore (Ted) Raimi, a native of Detroit, is the youngest of the three Raimi brothers and one sister, who is actually the first born of the family. (And nope, she isn't in the entertainment business, but we've heard she's very entertaining.) The eldest brother is Ivan Raimi, a doctor, whose writing credits include Army of Darkness and Darkman and who had co-creator credit for the recent TV series Spy Game. The middle brother is the famous Sam Raimi; producer, director, actor, screenwriter, and co-founder of Renaissance Pictures.
Young Ted had a choice between a successful fashion or furniture career
because his mother owned a chain of lingerie shops and his father had
his own home furnishings stores. He made a career decision not to follow
the family business but choose acting instead. "I could have been
the 'Bra King of Michigan'", he muses. "But I couldn't find
a matching girdle."
Ted got the acting bug as a child when he would appear as an extra in
Sam's early Super-8 and feature films (including Sam's first hit The Evil
Dead). A deejay in high school, Ted also spent time entertaining a succession
of fawning aunts and uncles at home with his impressions. Ted briefly
attended Michigan State University, then went to the University of New
York and finally to the University of Detroit.
Ted's unique acting ability has landed him in a variety of roles playing
both good guys and villains in television and in movies. He has played
everything from a paranoid lunatic to a CIA analyst. He has gone from
a role as a sweet, shy communications officer with a rather dry sense
of humor on board a futuristic submarine, to an innocent-looking but viciously
brutal killer who enjoys skinning people. His acting skill has been shown
in his ability to adapt to these and other roles. He enjoys playing villains
or out of the ordinary roles because of the challenge.
He started his career by appearing in a series of industrial films in
the Motor City. He arrived in Los Angeles in 1988 to attempt to break
into the Hollywood film scene...and lodge with Sam. He landed in his first
role outside of his brother's movies in a feature film called Shocker
in 1989. He then had a role in Darkman as a bad goon under Durant. A year
later he had his first starring role in Lunatics: A Love Story, directed
by long-time family friend, Josh Becker.
The first film he appeared in that received much commercial success was
the Tom Clancy thriller Patriot Games starring Harrison Ford in which
Ted played a satellite analyst in the CIA, a minor role he later reprised
in Clear and Present Danger. His other motion picture credits include
Hard Target, Candyman, Born Yesterday, Forced Exposure, Stuart Saves His
Family and For Love Of The Game. Many of these roles are of the 'blink-and-you'll-miss-him'
variety, but Ted-spotting is considered an art form among many fans. The
ultimate Ted-spotting flick is Army of Darkness (a.k.a. Evil Dead III)
in which Ted takes on at least four minor roles.
Ted's second starring role was in the horror thriller Skinner made in
1995. He plays the title character, Dennis Skinner, a disturbingly nice
serial killer. It also featured Ricki Lake as Carrie, his landlady whom
he falls in love with, and Traci Lords as Heidi.
Ted has also had a number of television appearances. He has had guest
starring roles on series such as Baywatch, Twin Peaks, and Alf. He had
a small but very memorable scene in Alien Nation as a chatty alien in
the episode "Chains of Love". He also had a major guest-starring
role in one American Gothic episode.
Ted is probably best know for his recurring roles on seaQuest DSV (later
seaQuest 2032) as Lt. Tim O'Neill, and Xena: Warrior Princess as Joxer
The Mighty.
In seaQuest, a science fiction show about a futuristic submarine, which
ran from 1993 to 1995, Ted played the shy, but intelligent, multi-lingual
communications officer, Lieutenant (junior grade) Timothy O'Neill. Fans
had the opportunity to hear him speak several different languages including
Spanish, French, German, Mandarin, Vietnamese and Japanese. Ted felt that
his background as a ham-radio operator and, a former high school deejay,
and his interest in practicing dialects made him suitable for this role.
Ted also has an interest in science. He says "I'm a huge science
nut, although I wouldn't know how to fix a circuit or wire anything."
Ted was one of only three actors to survive through all three seasons
of the series.
In Xena: Warrior Princess, which is currently airing in syndication, Ted
plays Joxer The Mighty, a warrior wannabe who has a heart of gold and
tags along after Xena and Gabrielle whenever possible. Joxer is one of
many recurring characters on the show and has also crossed over to Hercules:
The Legendary Journeys on occassion. When the charater first appeared
on the show, he (and Ted) was the focal point of a rather large negative
outcry from fans for Xena. It is a testament to Ted's amazing acting skills
and the way he has developed the character that Joxer has gone from a
much-reviled and hated character to a well-loved--or at the very least,
TOLERATED--part of the dynamics of X:WP.
The role of Joxer has led to several convention appearances over the last
several years. Many people who have had the opportunity to see Ted in
person describe him as extremely charming and pleasant to his fans, especially
children. He's considered to be a bit of a stand-up comedian because of
his sense of humor and cheerfulness. He is willing to talk with almost
anyone and comes off as quite the 'boy-next-door'.
Ted writes screenplays along with his acting. Ted co-wrote the script
for a second-season episode of seaQuest titled "Lostland." Ted
especially likes to write screenplays for horror movies, although in 1998
he wrote a pilot for a live action/animated series called 'Normal Joe',
based on the short film of the same name that he starred in. Ted also
enjoys playing piano and trumpet (which he has played since he was a kid.)
He also likes to invent board games for his friends. Ted is a huge Detroit
Tigers and Detroit Red Wings fan, even though he said he "hates sports."
In an interview he said "I did not excel in sports at all."
Ted has said that he had wanted to get into acting as a way "to explore
all these fantasy elements (like science fiction) in a real way."