05/31/2026
Happy birthday today to Ted McGinley, born May 30, 1958 in Newport Beach, California! ’80s fans remember him as Roger Phillips on Happy Days (1980–1984), where he joined the cast during the show's later years and became a familiar face to television audiences. He also starred as Ace, the nephew of Captain Stubing, on The Love Boat and appeared in films like Revenge of the Nerds (1984).
McGinley continued his success throughout the decade and beyond with memorable roles as Jefferson D'Arcy on Married... with Children and Charley Shanowski on Hope & Faith. Despite the long-running joke about the so-called "Ted McGinley curse," his career has remained remarkably successful, spanning more than four decades on television.
Fans today know him as Derek on the hit Apple TV+ comedy Shrinking with Jason Segel and Harrison Ford.
Join us in wishing Ted a happy birthday today!
P.S. If you're not familiar with the so-called "Ted McGinley Curse", also known as the "show-killer" phenomenon, it is an urban legend stating that whenever actor Ted McGinley joins the cast of a popular TV show, it signals that the series has peaked and is headed for cancellation. However, Ted's career has debunked the theory considering he was on Happy Days and The Love Boat for four seasons, Married... with Children for seven seasons, and Ted playfully said in a Newsweek interview that if he was trying to destroy shows, taking "7-1/2 years to kill Married... with Children" meant he wasn't doing a very fast job. 😂
