Teddy Dimas is a supporting character in Season 1 and Season 2 of Only Murders in the Building. He is the owner of Dimas Delis, the sponsor of the Only Murders in the Building podcast, and has a son, Theo, who is Deaf.
He is portrayed by Nathan Lane.
History
Family History
Teddy's grandmother, Evangelia, travelled to America from Nesyros in Greece during the Greek and Armenian Holocaust. She carried her money in a necklace of gold coins, which she traded with a soldier to get passage on a ship bound for America. The soldier let her keep two of the coins: one to start a new life, and the other for luck. She used the money to start a sandwich shop, which became the family firm, Dimas Delis. She held on to the other coin for luck, then passed it onto her son, who passed it to his son Teddy. Teddy says his father took the coin to his grave, and he dug his father up and took the coin from him: it is unclear whether this is a joke or not, given Teddy's grave robbing activities.[1]
Son of Sam Game
Teddy often attended the same parties as Oliver and Roberta Putnam. At those parties, Oliver liked to lead the group to play Son of Sam, where they all tried to identify the killer among the attendees. Oliver prided himself on being able to tell when people were lying, making him very good at the game. At one such party, Oliver was suspicious because Teddy was being quiet and asked if he was hiding a different secret, unaware that his wife and Teddy were having an affair.[2]
Investing in Splash
Teddy had invested some money into Splash!, a musical Oliver was directing. When Oliver had an idea to make the show even more grand, he came to Teddy for more money. When Teddy was reluctant, Oliver reminded him that he'd built his life shooting above his league and he wanted to bring Teddy along with him. Teddy agreed to give him the money. Unfortunately, due to an accident on the first night of previews, the show was a spectacular flop and lost all their money.[3]
Zoe's Death
When Teddy noticed Zoe Cassidy wearing a ring he recognized as one he and Theo had stolen, he told Theo he had to get the ring back. Theo went to do that and when he came back with it, he told Teddy that Zoe had died after they had a scuffle on the roof, and he accidentally pushed her off. Teddy said he'd fix it and went to Tim, who had seen the scuffle, and threatened him to stay quiet, saying if he didn't, Teddy couldn't promise that Tim wouldn't get hurt, or maybe even Mabel.[4]
Investing in the Podcast
Oliver came to see Teddy and Teddy immediately knew that Oliver wanted something. Oliver told him about "Only Murders in the Building" and suggested it would be a good investment for Teddy. Teddy was appalled at Oliver for asking, but Oliver said he only needed $32,000 and Teddy could advertise on the podcast. Teddy said no and made Oliver leave.
Despite this rejection, Oliver later returned and promised not to let Teddy down again. Teddy agreed to give him the money.[5]
When he learned that the podcast and therefore his business, was mentioned on Jimmy Fallon, Teddy called Oliver and Charles to his place to show them the clip and give them a $50,000 check to fund three more episodes. Charles didn't want to accept it as they'd decided to end the podcast out of respect for Mabel, but Teddy told them about his grandmother's trip to the United States and how he kept an entirely separate business just to honor her by investing in people who have been loyal to him. He asked them to let him do that and held out the check.[6]
Warning from Theo
When Theo began to suspect that Mabel, Charles, and Oliver were onto their criminal activities, he went to Teddy and warned him. Teddy was upset that Theo had broken into Charles's place and told Theo he would handle it, that he was supposed to protect Theo, not the other way around. Then he sent Theo out to retrieve a shipment. Theo later texted Teddy and said they knew everything.[7]
Arrest
Teddy met up with Theo, who had Oliver and Mabel hostage. Theo drove home with the rest sat in the back. Teddy told them they were going to end the podcast, putting out one final episode to say that they were mistaken and Tim's death was suicide after all. If they didn't, he told them he knew where they lived. They had until 7 AM.
The next morning at 7 AM, Teddy got a notification for a new episode. He was upset to see that the episode was called "The Dimases Take a Dip." He got up to answer his door to find Williams there. He and Theo were both arrested for Tim's murder.[8]
Threatening Oliver
Teddy was released from jail while he awaited trial, along with Theo. He returned to the Arconia, where he met with Oliver in an elevator. He told Oliver that he'd been practicing mindfulness in jail and was using that to stay calm, but when he went to exit the elevator, he explicitly threatened Oliver, saying he would get him back at some point in the future.
Soon after that, Teddy met with Theo in his apartment. Teddy promised Theo he'd fix everything, but Theo said no, that he had gotten his own lawyer and didn't want his father's help. He told his father to leave him alone and left. Once Theo was gone, Teddy sat down and cried.[9]
Fighting with Oliver
Teddy got on the elevator one day with Oliver and was surprised when Oliver attacked him. Teddy fought him off and Oliver realized Teddy genuinely didn't know and told him that he was Will's biological father. They moved the conversation to Oliver's apartment, where he told Teddy he'd been on the phone with Roberta all night, and she'd told him everything. Oliver said he felt like the worst father in the world, at which Teddy said it couldn't be possible with Teddy around. They talked about why father-son relationships were so hard and Teddy said he'd hated his own father. All he ever wanted was to have a good relationship with Theo like Oliver had with Will. Oliver made Teddy promise never to tell Will, a promise he'd forced Roberta to make as well.[10]
Personality
Teddy appears to be a friendly, benevolent businessman, but has a darker side revealed by his grave robbing business. He rewards those who are loyal to him, but if they try to harm him he will strike back violently. After his short time in prison, he has learned mindfulness and appears much calmer, but still harbors violent feelings towards the trio, particularly Oliver. He appears to love his son Theo and believes that he looks out for him, but Theo feels trapped by Teddy using him in his grave robbing and wants to get away from his father.
Relationships
Roberta Putnam
It was revealed in The Tell that Teddy and Roberta were involved in an affair in the 1980s. It turns out that Will is actually Teddy's biological son, rather than Oliver's, as Will has Greek DNA and Oliver is not known to be Greek. Oliver knew nothing of this affair, despite priding himself on being able to tell when people are lying.
Career
Teddy is the owner of Dimas Delis, a chain of delis in New York. Some of their known products are sandwiches, chicken wraps, and dips. He also finances Broadway shows, and has worked with Oliver on some of his shows, such as Splash! The Musical and Everyone Can Whistle In The Rain.
Teddy has a side business called Angel Inc, where he claims he makes investments in people who have been loyal to him. In reality, Angel Inc is a business that sells jewelry stolen from dead bodies.
Notes and Trivia
- Teddy likes the musical Carousel by Rodgers and Hammerstein. In The Boy from 6B, he listens to the song "Soliloquy" from the show. One of the lyrics of the song is "My boy Bill, I will see that he's named after me." As Teddy is often short for Theodore, which Theo is also short for, it is possible that Teddy actually did name his son after himself.
- Nathan Lane, the actor playing Teddy, learned ASL especially for this role.
- Teddy still has cousins on Nesyros in Greece, where they have a goat farm.
Gallery
Episodic
Episode Stills
Appearances
| Season One | |||||
| #01 | "True Crime" | #05 | "Twist" | #09 | "Double Time" |
| #02 | "Who Is Tim Kono?" | #06 | "To Protect and Serve" | #10 | "Open and Shut" |
| #03 | "How Well Do You Know Your Neighbors?" | #07 | "The Boy from 6B" | ||
| #04 | "The Sting" | #08 | "Fan Fiction" | ||
| Season Two | |||||
| #01 | "Persons of Interest" | #05 | "The Tell" | #09 | "Sparring Partners" |
| #02 | "Framed" | #06 | "Performance Review" | #10 | "I Know Who Did It" |
| #03 | "The Last Day of Bunny Folger" | #07 | "Flipping the Pieces" | ||
| #04 | "Here's Looking at You" | #08 | "Hello, Darkness" | ||
| List of Characters | ||
| MAIN | Charles-Haden Savage • Oliver Putnam • Mabel Mora • Howard Morris • Jan Bellows • Oscar Torres | |
| RECURRING | Tim Kono • Donna Williams • Sazz Pataki • Teddy Dimas • Theo Dimas • Zoe Cassidy • Ursula • Cinda Canning • Uma Heller • Arnav Kapoor • Bunny Folger • Lester • Poppy White • Ndidi Idoko • Grover Stanley • Amy Huang • Will Putnam • Sam • Paulette • Marv • Alice Banks • Joy Payne • Lucy • Ben Glenroy • Bobo Malone • Cliff DeMeo • Dickie Glenroy • Donna DeMeo • Jonathan Bridgecroft • Kimber Min • K.T. Knoblauer • Loretta Durkin • Tobert • Eugene Levy • Eva Longoria • Zach Galifianakis • Vince Fish • Bev Melon | |
| GUEST | Sting • Roberta Putnam • José Torres • Jimmy Fallon • Silvia Mora • Amy Schumer • Detective Daniel Kreps • Matthew Broderick • Scott Bakula • Doreen | |
References
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