• Ted Vernon is an American TV celebrity, entrepreneur, and actor.
• He has a successful car store business called 'South Beach Classics'.
• He was married to his first wife Monika Sula from 1988-1994 and his second wife Robin Zeil from 2000-2017.
• He has been accused of domestic violence and child abuse.
• His current net worth is estimated to be around $15 million.
Contents
Ted Vernon had been a TV celebrity, running his car store show “South Beach Classics” on Discovery Channel, until he had a fight with his ex-wife, Robin Zeil Vernon, which led to the show’s eventual cancellation. Let’s find out more details about this controversy, and know more about Ted’s net worth, age, arrests, etc.
Early life and family
Ted Vernon was born on 17 October 1948, in Long Island, New York USA, under the sign of Scorpio, and holding American nationality. Little is known about his family, as he’s never shared details about his parents, nor information about any siblings. The only fact available states that Ted’s father was a real estate developer, whose name was Harold Vernon. Ted once shared he was his main source of entrepreneurial inspiration, as the old man taught his son to earn money and to feel the good deals and probable sources of income.
Educational background
Almost nothing is known about Ted’s educational background, except that he matriculated from his high school in New York in 1966. Further education of Ted is still unknown, as he probably started working right after matriculating, as he wanted to be an independent person and earn money by himself.
Career
Wrestling career and first vehicle company
Being very good at boxing, Ted started as a boxer, and apparently had a lot of mostly undocumented fights, however, he decided to quit fighting, and along with an unnamed partner, in 1977 he started a business re-selling and fixing vehicles . In 1979 he quit his partnership and started his own commercial enterprise all alone, borrowing more than $150,000 for his new endeavor. He worked hard, allegedly without any days-off or weekends to earn enough money to develop his business.
Eventually he made it, and his company called “South Beach Classics” became quite popular among local car owners; Ted also dealt with antique and old cars, so his business benefited from this side of the business too.
South Beach Classics
While he was still working hard in his own company, Ted found an evening for a blind date, on which he met his future wife, Robin Zeil, and in 2005 he made her his partner at “South Beach Classics”. She then reached the producers of the Discovery Channel, and they offered Ted the launch of a show about his company; the show was initially launched on the Velocity Network, moving to the Discovery Channel a later due to the high ratings among the audience. Ted and Robin soon became TV celebrities, and the popularity of the show only grew. “South Beach Classics” eventually became one of the largest vehicle company and car stores in Florida.
However, due to the developing bad relationship between himself and Robin, including several accusations of abusive behavior towards his now-ex-wife and his children, the cancellation of the show was inevitable. Robin and Ted are now trying to get the company into their respective hands, and “South Beach Classics” was even reported to experience a fire in 2018. A lot of people think it was Ted’s work as he wanted to spoil Robin’s attempts to keep the business running.
Acting career
Ted also tried himself as an actor, and produced low-budget horror films. His first acting experience happened in 1987, when he played the title charactear in “Hammerhead Jones”. Later he played Corbin in “Scarecrows” (1988), a receiver in “Extralarge: Black and White” (1991), Vinnie in “Deadly Rivals” (1993), and Thug B in “South Beach” (1993).
In 1995 he was the executive producer of “Village of the Damned” (1995), the horror movie featuring Christopher Reeve and Kirstie Alleym and telling the story of the village called Midwich when it was invaded by aliens. In the same year, Ted appeared as Lloyd Mason in “Silent Hunter”. He also began playing Stunt Double in “Miami 7” (1999 – present). Ted became the star of two low budget movies of Russian director Alexander Sharoglazov – aka Alex Wesley; Alex is a well-known writer and director of short horror films about various zombie stories. Ted appeared as Dr. Ted Vernon in “Tumors” and as Colonel Ted Vernon in “Zombie Infection” both in 2011, the story of a small village in Omskaya Oblast, Siberia, where the American government allegedly spread the zombie infection, and Ted along with his brother Sasha had to deal with it. Ted’s most recent works as an actor are “Hell Glades” (2013) and “Bikini Swamp Girl Massacre” (2014).
Personal life, ex-wife Robin Zeil Vernon
First wife, Monika Sula
Ted met his first wife, hairdresser Monika Sula, when he was around 30 years old. They married in 1988, already having a one-year-old son Mark. The couple developed their businesses quite successfully – Ted was still working on his car store, and Monika was working hard as a hairdresser in her own salon. By the end of 1988, they’d moved to a house in Golden Beach, and in 1990 Monika gave birth to their daughter, Alexandra. However, Ted started having affairs with other women, not even hiding the fact much from his wife, so in 1994 the couple divorced, with Ted gaining primary custody of their children as his salary was several times higher than his wife’s. Monika died in 2014, and during all these years her kids lived with Ted and his next wife, Robin, until she also left him.
Second wife, Robin Zeil
Ted met Robin Zeil in 1998′ apparently they instantly fell in love, and by the end of the date Ted proposed. She later shared that she was amazed by his self-confidence; within weeks they started living together. The couple married in 2000 in a Buddhist ceremony, and in 2004 Robin gave birth to her first and Ted’s third child, Ted Vernon Jr. The relationship between Ted and Robin seemed strong, as evidenced by her co-partnership sharing the rights to his company “South Beach Classics”.
Filing for divorce
Together they ran their TV show on the Discovery Channel, eventually becoming TV celebrities. However, some of their friends and even their customers felt and saw something which made them worry about Robin.
One customer unfortunately witnessed a fight between Ted and Robin, when Ted choked her in a fit of anger. In 2016 the couple accused each other of cheating, and in 2017 made headlines with the photo of Robin’s face covered with bruises. Robin told the police she had a fight with her husband, and tried to call 911, but couldn’t even reach the phone, as Ted kept on punching her. Ted’s daughter, Alexandra, who was already around 30 years old, also shared that she was worried about her step-mother, as she saw how cruel her father could be when he lost his temper. Ted was accused of domestic violence and child abuse, as he also behaved improperly with his youngest son, Ted Vernon Jr. The result was that Ted was put on probation for just three months, and fined $2000, apparently the maximum the law allowed fir a supposed first offender..
The show couldn’t go on
As Ted was arrested, the show was cancelled, even though Ted announced his new co-host not long before his fight with Robin. On his Twitter account he posted his photo with Christine Morris, saying she was going to be his new partner at “South Beach Classics”, but after a few episodes, the show was closed in 2017.
However, most recently, Ted has remarried, to Cindy Darrell in June 2023, and apparently another season of “South Beach Classics” is in the offing; presumably court proceedings have been finalised.
Hobbies, favorite things and interesting facts
Ted is a big fan of fishing and camping, though he admitted he didn’t have enough time for his hobbies as he had a lot of work to be done. His work is his biggest passion, as he’s liked cars since he was a small kid. As to his food favorites, he likes American cuisine, eating a lot of hamburgers, French fries and chicken nuggets, as well as pizza.
Social media presence
Ted hasn’t been very active on social media, having only launched his Twitter account, but his last tweet was posted in November 2016. His show is closed now, and the police are investigating the case about his fight with his ex-wife Robin Zeil Vernon. He hasn’t created any Instagram account or Facebook page. It is worth saying that Robin is still active on her Instagram account, which is followed by almost 3,000 subscribers. She often shares her selfies, photos of her son, Ted Vernon Jr., and various motivational quotes, which are always related to recovery after painful breakups: ‘You can’t break a woman. Women craft entire worlds from nothing. You can only make her start again… without you’.
What a beauty. pic.twitter.com/5Jw6GMjJHs
— Ted Vernon (@SobeClassicsTV) October 6, 2016
Appearance, clothing style
Ted shaves his head, while he likes wearing a big moustache; he has blue eyes. He is 5ft 6ins (1.68m) tall, and weighs around 198lbs (90kgs); his vital statistics are not available at the moment. As for his clothing style, he prefers wearing short-sleeved shirts, cowboy hats, leather belts, etc. He doesn’t have any tattoos.
Net worth and salary
According to authoritative sources, Ted’s current net worth is estimated at close to $20 million, as of mid-2024. Nothing is known about the destiny of his wealth, as it may decrease after the court makes its decision about the rights for the company “South Beach Classics” Ted shares with his ex-wife, Robin. Her current net worth is estimated to be around $2 million, but wold seem is sure to grow, as she doesn’t have any problems with police, and is still running her car store business, unlike her ex-husband.