Ralph Taeger

The name may not be familiar but for one brief shining moment in the 1960s, this handsome, firm-jawed, sober-looking actor had his "15 minutes--plus" on TV and film. Ralph Adolph Taeger was born of German-speaking parents on July 30, 1936 in Richmond Hill, New York. Very shy as a youngster, he took public speaking to try and overcome his social handicap. He went so far as to pursue acting roles in college plays and in summer stock. An aspiring pro baseball player, he stayed for a time on a Dodger farm team but knee injuries forced him to rethink his future plans. He enrolled instead at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, attending classes and finding work as a male model on the sly. He migrated to the West Coast where a stage performance at the Beverly Hills Playhouse caught the eye of an MGM talent scout. Signed briefly, he made an uncredited appearance in the film It Started with a Kiss (1959) before he was let go. He found himself freelancing on TV, finding the sma