Ralph the Doorman

Ralph the Doorman
Ralph Hart was a doorman at the Whittendale Building in Manhattan on the series.
Personal Information
Gender:	Male
Ethnicity	Caucasian
Occupation/ Career:	Doorman at the Colby East/Whittendale Building in Manhattan, NY
Character description:	Money-obsessed doorman who constantly hounds residents in the building, particularly George Jefferson, for tips friend of the Jeffersons, The Willises, and Florence Johnston
Character information
Appeared on:	The Jeffersons
Character played by:	Ned Wertimer

Ralph Hart aka Ralph the Doorman (Ned Wertimer), is the money-crazed doorman of the Whittendale Building in the high-rise Colby East apartment complex. Although he appears to be a hard-working fellow with a decent attitude, he always makes sure his hand is stuffed with a reasonable amount (in his case, a lot) of money tips. He appears in the episodes usually to deliver merchandise or mail to George, and George must always give him a big tip. The same goes true for just about every other tenant focused on the sitcom. But in later seasons, they learn to stop giving Ralph a big tip, and, if necessary, tell him to get lost.

In one episode Ralph was almost replaced by an automatic door before George along with several tenants told the building manager that they would all move if Ralph was replaced and he was allowed to keep his job. He is a very loyal guy and friends with the Jeffersons, The Willises and Bentley. However it was revealed that none of the people actually lived in the building and that they all hated Ralph and only did it because he paid them. It is also hinted that the people that actually live in the building (aside from George) hate him so much that they wouldn't have helped him keep his job even if he did pay them. In a season 5 nightmare dreamEpisode:George's DreamGeorge has of the future, Ralph has so much money from George's tips that he has moved up from doorman to owner of the apartment building and remarks how $500.00 pays for a gallon of gasoline!

Ralph does sometimes seem to care for his tenants over his tipping, though. In one of the later Season Two episodes, after Lionel and Jenny have a big altercation and break up for a short while, George unknowingly pays a hooker to spend time with Lionel. When Ralph sees her and recognizes her instantly, he tells George the truth. George, clearly panicked, gives Ralph a $100 tip as gratitude. But Ralph turned it down, explaining that he's "going to need it." He would continue to join the cast for the majority of the show's numerous seasons.

Trivia

Ralph debuted on the All In The Family episode "The Jeffersons Move On Up" just four months after the debut of Rhoda doorman Carlton. Unlike Ralph, though, Carlton was never seen in person to the television audience, with his voice only being heard on the Intercom. Rhoda also aired on the same network as The Jeffersons and All In The Family, CBS.

Unlike Ralph, real-life doormen cannot freely hound apartment tenants directly at their apartment homes and are more known to be stationed at the entrance area of a building rather than always having the freedom of traveling around a building while on duty. In order for Ralph to have had this kind of freedom, building management would've had to have been willing to hire other doormen to fill in for him at the entrance area during his work shift. something which they were not legally required to do. Though Ralph was acknowledged to have also lived in the Colby East/Whittendale Building, it was at times pointed out that he in fact did "favors" for tips while still on duty.