Early life and acting career

Lange was born in Oakland, California, the son of Geraldine L., a television show host, and Ted Lange. Lange attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Lange was a cast member of the musical Hair. His first screen appearance was in the documentary film Wattstax in 1973. After appearing in the film Black Belt Jones in 1974, he portrayed Junior on the series That's My Mama before landing the role of the ship's bartender, Isaac, on The Love Boat in 1977, opposite Gavin MacLeod. After he left the show in 1987, Lange appeared in various films and guest roles on 227, The Cleveland Show, Glitch!, Evening Shade, Scrubs, Drake & Josh, The King of Queens, Boy Meets World and Psych.

In addition to his film and television work, Lange has also done extensive theater work. He made his Broadway debut in 1968 in the musical Hair. He also performed in a one-man show, Behind the Mask: An Evening with Paul Laurence Dunbar.

Directing and screenwriting

During the run of The Love Boat, Lange also served as director and screenwriter on various episodes of the series. In 1977, he wrote the screenplay for the 1977 drama Passing Through, starring Cora Lee Day and Marla Gibbs. In 1999, Lange directed two episodes of The Love Boat: The Next Wave, the UPN series based on The Love Boat. He also directed episodes of Moesha, Dharma & Greg, and Eve. In 2008, he directed the drama For Love of Amy.

Lange has also done extensive theater work as playwright and stage director. He has penned 17 plays, including George Washington's Boy, a historical drama about the relationship between the first president and his favorite slave, along with the comedy Lemon Meringue Facade.

Lange remains close to Gavin MacLeod, his acting mentor, who is a Palm Springs resident, and sees his plays. He said in a 2014 interview with CBS New York.com of his long-running friendship with him, "Gavin lives in Palm Springs, I'm in LA. So, when I do my plays, he comes down and sees my plays or I'll go see what he's doing!"

"Ask Isaac"

Before the American edition of FHM folded in 2006, Lange wrote a sex and advice column, titled "Ask Isaac", with adult film actress Jenna Jameson.

Celebrity Fit Club

In 2006, Lange appeared in the fourth season of the VH1 reality show Celebrity Fit Club. He lost 28 pounds during the show's run.

Personal life

Lange married Sheryl Thompson in 1978, and they divorced in 1989. The couple has two children, Ted IV and Turner Wallace Lange. Lange remarried in 2001 to Mary Ley. His mother is Geraldine Lange, who was a personal secretary to a San Francisco mayor and was public affairs director of KBHK-TV in San Francisco in the early 1970s. She also hosted television programs on KBHK-TV.

Awards

For his work theater directing, Lange received the NAACP's Renaissance Man Theatre Award, the Heroes and Legends HAL Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Dramalogue Award. Lange has also been the recipient of the James Cagney Directing Fellow Scholarship Award from the American Film Institute along with the Paul Robeson Award from Oakland's Ensemble Theatre.

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Other notes
1973	Wattstax	Himself
	Trick Baby	Melvin the Pimp	Alternative title: The Double Con
	Blade	Henry Watson
1974	Black Belt Jones	Militant	Uncredited
1975	Friday Foster	Fancy Dexter
1977	Passing Through	-	Director
1978	Record City	The Wiz
1987	Terminal Exposure	Fantastic	Alternative title: Double Exposure
1988	Glitch!	DuBois
1989	Othello	Othello	Director
1990	Penny Ante: The Motion Picture	The Deacon
1991	Perfume	George
1992	The Naked Truth	The Flower Peddler
1998	Sandman	Gnome
2000	The Redemption	Reverend
2002	Is This Your Mother?
2003	Banana Moon	Prof. Williams	Co-producer
	Gang of Roses	Bartender #2
2006	Uncle Tom's Apartment	Pops
	National Lampoon's Dorm Daze 2	Celebrity Judge #2
2007	Last of the Romantics	Cole Henderson
	Carts	Sam
2008	Senior Skip Day	Reverend	Alternative title: High School's Day Off
	Who Shot Mamba?	Dr. Crazy
	The Adventures of Umbweki	Airline Captain Boka
	Phil Cobb's Dinner for Four	Old Friend
	For Love of Amy	-	Director
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1974-1975	That's My Mama	Junior	39 episodes
1976	Mr. T and Tina	Harvard	5 episodes
1977-1986	The Love Boat	Bartender Isaac Washington	246 episodes, director, writer
1977	The Love Boat II	Bartender Isaac Washington	Television movie
	The New Love Boat	Bartender Isaac Washington	Television movie
1979	Fantasy Island	The Great Scott	1 episode
	Charlie's Angels	Bartender Isaac Washington	1 episode
1983	The Fall Guy	Bartender	1 episode
	Fantasy Island	-	1 episode, director
1984	Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer	-	2 episodes, director
1986	That's My Mama Now!	Junior	Television movie
1987	Starman	-	1 episode, director
1988	Christmas	Ghost of Christmas Present	Television movie
	227	Lou	1 episode
	In the Heat of the Night	James Jeffson	1 episode
1989	It Nearly Wasn't Christmas	Napoleon	Television movie
1990	The Love Boat: A Valentine Voyage	Bartender Isaac Washington	Television movie
1993	Evening Shade	Mr. Taxerman	1 episode
1995	Platypus Man	Mr. Angel	1 episode
1996	Weird Science	Isaac	1 episode
1996-2000	Moesha	-	Director, 5 episodes
1997	Martin	Bartender Isaac Washington	2 episodes
	Family Matters	Frank Winslow	1 episode
1998	The Love Boat: The Next Wave	Bartender Isaac Washington	1 episode
	The Wayans Bros.	-	Director, 1 episode
1999	L.A. Heat	Frank Millan	1 episode
	The Love Boat: The Next Wave	-	Director, 2 episodes
2001	Cody: An Evening with Buffalo Bill	-	Director
	Dharma & Greg	-	Director, 2 episodes
2002	The Hughleys	Mr. Henderson	1 episode
	Scrubs	Mr. Blair	1 episode
2003	Half & Half	Repairman	1 episode
2004	Eve	-	Director, 1 episode
2004-2005	Drake & Josh	Mr. Calvert	2 episodes
2005	All of Us	-	Director, 1 episode
	The King of Queens	Himself	1 episode
2007	General Hospital	Judge	2 episodes
2008	Psych	Pookie	1 episode
2010	The Cleveland Show	As himself	1 episode
2011	A Russell Peters Christmas	As himself	1 episode
2012	Betty White's Off Their Rockers	Various Characters	Main Cast
2012	The First Family		Director, 2 episodes
2014	Maron	Wise Stranger	1 episode

[ Source: Wikipedia ]