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Mini Biography

Teddy Tetzlaff was one of the best-known American racing car drivers of the early 20th century, and he held several different speed records at one time or another. In 1914, Tetzlaff set a world speed record of over 142 miles per hour on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, and once in a race at Corona, California Tetzlaff turned in what at the time was the fastest lap speed in the USA. Tetzlaff also twice briefly held the one-lap qualifying record at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but he was never able to win the Indy 500. He drove in the race four times, with his best finish being second place in 1912. Tetzlaff was featured in The Speed Kings (1913) with Mabel Normand.

Mini Biography

Ted Tetzlaff, Sr. appeared in a number of silent star Wallace Reid's famous racing movies like The Roaring Road (1919), Double Speed (1920), Excuse My Dust (1920), Too Much Speed (1921) and Across the Continent (1922). He was unacredited until now; period newspaper articles and Reid's own serialized autobiography described the close friendship between the two that lasted until Reid's 1923 death. Tetzlaff's son Dale H. (b. 1903) became a well-known studio cameraman who worked on over 100 films under the name "Teddy Tetzlaff, Jr."

Spouse

Trivia

Father of cinematographer Ted Tetzlaff (1903-1995).

Annapolis Farewell

TETZLAFF Teddy