Alexander George "Alex" Karras (Greek: Αλέξανδρος Γεώργιος Καρράς) (born July 15, 1935), nicknamed "The Mad Duck", is an American football player, professional wrestler, and actor.
He played football with the Detroit Lions in the National Football League from 1958–1962 and 1964-1970. As an actor, Karras is noted for his role as the thuggish Mongo in the 1974 comedy film Blazing Saddles, and for starring in the ABC sitcom Webster (1983-87), alongside real-life wife Susan Clark, as the titular character's adoptive father.
Alex Karras is the son of Dr. George Karras, a Greek immigrant (Chios) who graduated from the University of Chicago and got his medical degree in Canada. There, George Karras met and married a Canadian woman, Alex's mother. George Karras opened a medical practice in Gary, Indiana, but he died when Alex was 13 years old. By that time, Alex Karras had learned to play football in a parking lot near his home, and he blossomed into a four-time Indiana all-state selection at Gary Emerson High School.
His older brothers, Lou (a future member of the Redskins) and Ted (who later played with the Bears and Lions), had played at Purdue but later Ted transferred to Indiana.
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