Ralph Taeger R.I.P.

Ralph Taeger, who starred in the TV shows Klondike, Acapulco, and Hondo, died on March 11 2015 at the age of 78.

Ralph Taeger was born on July 30 1936 in Richmond Hill, Queens, New York. For a brief time he played for the farm team for the Dodgers, but was sidelined by injuries to his knees. He chose acting as his new career and in the late Fifties enrolled in the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City.

Mr. Taeger was appearing in a play at the Beverly Hills Playhouse when he was signed to MGM. He made his film debut in an uncredited part in It Started with a Kiss in 1959. He made his television debut in an episode of Tombstone Territory in 1959. He guest starred in episodes of Lock Up, Men into Space, Bat Masterson, and Sea Hunt. It was in 1960 that he was cast opposite James Coburn in the short lived adventure series Klondike. After Klondike ended its run he played the lead in the short lived series Acapulco.

In the Sixties he was the star of the short lived Western TV show Hondo (based on the John Wayne movie of the same name). He guest starred on such shows as The New Breed, Dobie Gillis, The Twilight Zone, and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. He appeared in the films X-15 (1961), The Carpetbaggers (1964), Stage to Thunder Rock (1964), A House Is Not a Home (1964), and The Delta Factor (1970).

His career slowed in the Seventies. He guest stared in episodes of The Six Million Dollar Man and Quincy M.E. In the Eighties he made his last appearance on screen in an episode of Father Murphy. After his acting career he ran He operated Taeger's Firewood Company in Placerville, California.