Don Sandburg
This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
Don Sandburg (1930 – October 6, 2018) was an American writer, actor, and producer who worked in television, most notably as producer of The Banana Splits for Hanna-Barbera as well as WGN-TV's Bozo's Circus.
Career
Early career
Sandburg started in television on
Bozo's Circus
When WGN-TV started Bozo in 1960, Sandburg was not involved with the show until after it went to an hour format as Bozo's Circus in 1961. He was approached by station management to write for the program – he already wrote material for a morning program, Breakfast With Bugs Bunny, that evolved into Ray Rayner and His Friends – but refused, suggesting instead that he be hired to appear as a character on air, offering to write material for the show at no extra charge (union pay rates for on-air talent were higher than for writing). WGN agreed, and the character Sandy the Tramp was born. Sandy was a mute clown reminiscent of silent film comedians, although Sandburg said he primarily based the character on Harpo Marx. Eventually, Sandburg would be named the show's producer as well. He was instrumental in the creation of the "Grand Prize Game".[1] By 1965, Larry Harmon added Sandburg's "Sandy" and Ray Rayner's Oliver O. Oliver to Bozo the Clown coloring books.[1] In 1967, Sandburg appeared in local McDonald's ads as Ronald McDonald.[1]
After Bozo
Sandburg left the show in 1969, deflated by the pace of four jobs on the show as performer, writer and producer.
Afterward Sandburg worked as a writer on
Sandburg returned to WGN-TV to play Sandy on The Bozo 25th Anniversary Special (telecast live September 7, 1986); he also came back to play Sandy while Roy Brown was ill.[2] Sandburg was part of The Bozo Show 30th Anniversary Special (aired September 8, 1991),[3] and on the final episode of Bozo: the WGN-TV special Bozo: 40 Years Of Fun, aired July 14, 2001. One of his Sandy costumes is part of the collection of Bozo's Circus artifacts at the Museum of Broadcast Communications.[4]
Personal life
Sandburg and his wife lived in retirement in Oregon. He died of complications of Alzheimer's disease on October 6, 2018, at the age of 87.[5]
References
- ^ a b c d "Bozo Timeline-1960s". WGN-TV. Archived from the original on 9 July 2001. Retrieved 16 February 2011.
- ^ "Bozo Timeline-1980s". WGN-TV. Archived from the original on 9 July 2001. Retrieved 16 February 2011.
- ^ "Bozo Timeline-1990s". WGN-TV. Archived from the original on 8 August 2001. Retrieved 16 February 2011.
- ^ "Bozo Timeline-2000". WGN-TV. Archived from the original on 8 August 2001. Retrieved 16 February 2011.
- ^ "Don Sandburg, last surviving original cast member of 'Bozo's Circus,' dead at 87". 8 October 2018.