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Sandy Becker

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Name
  
Sandy Becker

Role
  
Television actor


Education
  
Movies
  
The Best of Go-Go Gophers

Sandy Becker BBeM NYCarea TVRadio Item

Died
  
April 9, 1996, Remsenburg, New York, United States

TV shows
  
Go Go Gophers, Underdog, King Leonardo and His S, The Beagles, Armstrong Circle Theatre

Sandy becker show wabd new york


George Sanford Becker (February 19, 1922 – April 9, 1996), who was known professionally as Sandy Becker, was a television announcer, actor, and comedian who hosted several popular children's programs in New York City. The best known of these was The Sandy Becker Show, which ran from 1955 to 1968 on Channel 5 WABD-TV and WNEW-TV.

Contents

Sandy Becker The Sandy Becker Show Old Memories

Sandy Becker - Soupy Sales - Fred Scott Interview - Part 1


Early life and career

Sandy Becker was born and raised in New York City. He held local radio announcing jobs before first reaching public fame on radio as the title character of the series Young Doctor Malone, a role he was invited to take to television but declined in order to pursue his own television projects. Originally a pre-medical student at New York University in the 1930s, Becker played the good doctor on radio for a decade, after having been the show's announcer. Soon, he started working for Channel 5 and began hosting a program featuring Bugs Bunny cartoons, The Looney Tunes Show, on weeknights from 1955 to 1958. A second Friday night program called Bugs Bunny Theater ran from 1956 to 1957. Becker also did television announcing, such as for Wildroot Cream-Oil ads in the television series The Adventures of Robin Hood. He did radio spots for Crisco, as well.

Sandy Becker Sandy Becker Show The Nostalgia Central

In the middle of those activities, Becker found his true calling, spun in large part off from his knack for entertaining his own 3 children, with his vocal and comic versatility and mimicry. This led him to his morning show, beginning in 1955. He soon added a noontime program, Sandy Becker's Funhouse, briefly in 1955. He also hosted the syndicated Wonderama television show from 1955-56.

Sandy Becker Early TV Kid Show Pioneers Puppets to be Brought Back to Life

Becker would also host a weekday afternoon and evening children's wraparound program, The Sandy Becker Show, which had him playing comedic characters, performing puppet skits, engaging his viewers in informational segments and contests, and interviewing guest performers and personalities in-between the reruns of movie and TV cartoons.

Sandy Becker Becker

The Sandy Becker Show was seen weekday afternoons and evenings from Monday March 30, 1961, to Friday February 16, 1968. The show also ran on Saturday evenings, from March 27, 1961 to September 4, 1965.

Becker's propensity for doing comic voices brought him much work in animation. His best-known work there was perhaps Mr. Wizard on King Leonardo and His Short Subjects — "Drizzle, drazzle, drozzle, drone / Time for this one to come home" — who was always indulging, then rescuing Tooter Turtle from his outlandish wishes. Becker also provided the voices for Sergeant Okie Homa and Ruffled Feathers on Go Go Gophers. The former character sounded similar to John Wayne, while the latter simply exploded into babbling gibberish whenever he explained his latest idea to stop the coyote adversaries.

On his morning and (later) afternoon children's programs, Becker created such characters as double-talking disc jockey Hambone, the addled, but brilliant Big Professor (who claimed to know the answer to every question in the world), rumpled Hispanic kid's show host K. Lastima, incompetent mad scientist Dr. Gesundheit, and — showing a remarkable knack for silent comedy — simple-minded Norton Nork, whose routines of earnest bumbling were joined only by musical accompaniment and a droll Becker narration that ended, invariably, with, "That's my boy, Norton Nork — you've done it again!" He also had a real bird in a cage called "Chipper".

Another aspect of Becker's humor was derived from his interaction with his (often ethnically stereotyped) hand puppets, which included; Marvin Mouse, Googie, the German-accented Geeba Geeba, the English Sir Clive Clyde, Wowee the Indian, the space creature Sputnik, the Latino K. Lastima (the name taken from the Spanish phrase "¡Qué lástima!" {"What a pity"}), and the Irish Danny Moran.

Becker's show was so popular in the New York area, that when he began using a version of the Hambone theme music from an old 78 rpm record by Red Saunders, which was recorded in 1952, Okeh Records re-released the song on a 45 rpm record. Enough kids bought the record that it reached survey position #22 on local rock radio station WMCA in March 1963. For the morning show's own theme music, Sandy came to use Guy Warren's "That Happy Feeling" as recorded in 1962 by Bert Kaempfert. (The evening show used "Afrikaan Beat" also by Kaempfert.)

Becker also created a puppet known as Henry Headline, who delivered lighter news to the children who watched. Becker was quoted in an early 1960s interview in 'Long Island Press", as saying it was better to introduce children to news listening on a lighter note; "the impact of a major news story might be lost to them, or it might even frighten them. They'll learn about wars and international crises soon enough. I try to keep the news as light as possible. Occasionally I'll use an item that has historical value."

In spite of this view — or perhaps because of it — Becker is warmly remembered for the manner in which he handled one of America's deepest tragedies on the air. On November 22, 1963, after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Becker went on the air and, quite movingly, attempted to explain to his young viewers what had happened.

Later career

Sadly, most of Becker's programs were not preserved. Most aired live and were not kinescoped or videotaped; they live on only in the memories of those who watched them. However, some clips are surfacing on the Internet.

After withdrawing from on-camera hosting in 1968, Becker helped other children's shows create puppets and characters, and he became known as a mentor to new generations of children's hosts.

Death

Becker died on April 9, 1996 at his home on Long Island in Remsenburg, New York. He reportedly suffered a heart attack. Becker was 74.

Approach

"I never treated them as though they were in swaddling clothes," he said many years later of his young viewers. "Most kid shows regard young viewers as babies. I wanted to treat them as their parents might if they were on TV."

Filmography

Actor
1966
Go Go Gophers (TV Series) as
Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma / Corporal Crimp / ...
- Kitchen Capers (1968) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
- The Great White Stallion (1968) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
- Blankety-Blank Blanket (1968) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
- California Here We Come (1968) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
- Back to the Indians (1968) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
- The Big Pow-Wow (1968) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma / Indians / - (voice)
- The Indian Giver (1968) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
- Marooned on Cannibal Island (1968) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
- Mutiny a Go-Go (1967) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
- The Steam Roller (1967) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
- Radio Raid (1967) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
- Go Go Gamblers (1967) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
- Rocket Ruckus (1967) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
- Choo Choo Chase (1967) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
- Hotel Headaches (1967) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
- Locked Out (1967) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma / Corporal Crimp (voice)
- Don't Fence Me In (1967) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
- Three Ring Circus (1967) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
- Tricky Teepee Trap (1967) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
- Root Beer Riot (1967) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma / Corporal Crimp (voice)
- Lookout, Here Comes Aunt Flora (1967) - Ruffled Feather / Corporal Crimp (voice)
- Wild Wild Flowers (1967) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
- Crash Diet (1967) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
- Amusement Park (1967) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
- The Iron Clad (1967) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
- Cuckoo Combat (1967) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
- Tenshun! (1967) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
- The Raw Recruits (1967) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
- The Colonel Cleans Up (1967) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
- Honey Fun (1967) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
- The Carriage Trade (1967) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
- Indian Treasure (1966) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
- Moon Zoom (1966) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
- The Trojan Totem (1966) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
- Introducing General Nuisance (1966) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
- Gatling Gophers (1966) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
- The Cleveland Indians (1966) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma / Narrator / - (voice)
- Mesa Mess (1966) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
- Medicine Men (1966) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
- Termite Trainers (1966) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
- Tapping The Telegraph (1966) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
- Who's A Dummy (1966) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
- Bold As Gold (1966) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
- The Big Banger (1966) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
- Up in the Air (1966) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
- Tanks to the Gophers (1966) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
- Swamped (1966) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
- He's For The Berries (1966) - Ruffled Feather / Sgt. Hokey Loma (voice)
1966
The Beagles (TV Series) as
Stringer
- The Cat Napper (1967) - Stringer (voice)
- The Island Hideout (1967) - Stringer (voice)
- Island in the Sky (1967) - Stringer (voice)
- Motorcycle Mountie (1967) - Stringer (voice)
- Klondike Goes to Town (1967) - Stringer (voice)
- Date on the Desert (1967) - Stringer (voice)
- The Big Race (1967) - Stringer (voice)
- If I'd Known You Was Coming (1967) - Stringer (voice)
- Getting the Air (1967) - Stringer (voice)
- Who's a Pill (1967) - Stringer (voice)
- Sticky Stuff (1967) - Stringer (voice)
- Fort Frazzle Frolics (1967) - Stringer (voice)
- Jail Break (1966) - Stringer (voice)
- Pie Fly (1966) - Stringer (voice)
- Up a Tree (1966) - Stringer (voice)
- Banana Skinned (1966) - Stringer (voice)
- Plane Food (1966) - Stringer (voice)
- Cream Puff Buff (1966) - Stringer (voice)
- Gravy Train (1966) - Stringer (voice)
- Baiting the Trap (1966) - Stringer (voice)
- Rotten to the Core (1966) - Stringer (voice)
- The Candy Mine (1966) - Stringer (voice)
- Hard to Guard (1966) - Stringer (voice)
- The Big Fromage (1966) - Stringer (voice)
- Secret Weapon (1966) - Stringer (voice)
- Honor at Steak (1966) - Stringer (voice)
1966
Gene Hattree: The Trap (TV Short) as
Gene Hattree (voice, uncredited)
1966
Captain America (TV Series) as
Captain America / Steve Rogers
- The Red Skull Lives/He Who Holds the Cosmic Cube/The Red Skull Supreme (1966) - Captain America / Steve Rogers (voice)
- The Girl from Cap's Past/The Stage Is Set/Thirty Minutes to Live (1966) - Captain America / Steve Rogers (voice)
- The Sleeper Shall Awake/Where Walks the Sleeper/The Final Sleep (1966) - Captain America / Steve Rogers (voice)
- When the Commissar Commands/Doorway to Doom/Duel or Die (1966) - Captain America / Steve Rogers (voice)
- The Bitter Taste of Defeat/Sorcery Triumph/The Road Back (1966) - Captain America / Steve Rogers (voice)
- The Coming of the Swordsman/Vengeance Is Ours/Emissary of Destruction (1966) - Captain America / Steve Rogers (voice)
- Let the Past Be Gone/The Adaptoid/The Super Adaptoid (1966) - Captain America / Steve Rogers (voice)
- Zemo and his Masters of Evil/Zemo Strikes/The Fury of Zemo (1966) - Captain America / Steve Rogers (voice)
- The Revenge of Captain America/The Trap Is Sprung/So Dies a Villain (1966) - Captain America / Steve Rogers (voice)
- Midnight in Greymore Castle/This Be Treason/When You Lie Down with Dogs (1966) - Captain America / Steve Rogers (voice)
- The Sentinel and the Spy/The Fantastic Origin of the Red Skull/Lest Tyranny Triumph (1966) - Captain America / Steve Rogers (voice)
- The Origin of Captain America/Wreckers Among Us/Enter Red Skull (1966) - Captain America / Steve Rogers (voice)
1966
The Marvel Super Heroes (TV Series) as
Captain America
1964
Underdog (TV Series)
- Safe Waif (1964) - (voice)
1960
King Leonardo and His Short Subjects (TV Series) as
Mr. Wizard the Lizard / Black Bark / Big John / ...
- The Man in the Blue Denim Suit (1961) - Mr. Wizard the Lizard (voice)
- Anchors Awry (1961) - Mr. Wizard the Lizard (voice)
- Waggin' Train (1961) - Mr. Wizard the Lizard / Big John (voice)
- The Sheep of Araby (1961) - Mr. Wizard the Lizard (voice)
- News Nuisance (1961) - Mr. Wizard the Lizard (voice)
- Duck Haunter (1961) - Mr. Wizard the Lizard / Duck (voice)
- Muddled Mountie (1961) - Mr. Wizard the Lizard / Black Bark / Mountie Chief (voice)
- Canned Camera (1961) - Mr. Wizard the Lizard / Gag Participant (voice)
- The Master Builder (1961) - Mr. Wizard the Lizard / Foreman (voice)
- Anti-Arctic (1961) - Mr. Wizard the Lizard (voice)
- Snafu Safari (1961) - Mr. Wizard the Lizard (voice)
- Tuesday Turtle (1961) - Mr. Wizard the Lizard (voice)
- Sky Diver (1961) - Mr. Wizard the Lizard (voice)
- Fired Fireman (1961) - Mr. Wizard the Lizard (voice)
- Jerky Jockey (1961) - Mr. Wizard the Lizard / Blackie Bark (voice)
- Lumber-Quack (1961) - Mr. Wizard the Lizard / Pierre Le Bark (voice)
- Drafthead (1961) - Mr. Wizard the Lizard / Sergeant (voice)
- Quarterback Hack (1961) - Mr. Wizard the Lizard (voice)
- Railroad Engineer (1961) - Mr. Wizard the Lizard / Black Bark (voice)
- Souse Painter (1961) - Mr. Wizard the Lizard / The Helper / Home Owner (voice)
- Steamboat Stupe (1961) - Mr. Wizard the Lizard / Big Blackie Bark / Sailor (voice)
- Robin Hoodwink (1961) - Mr. Wizard the Lizard (voice)
- Moon Goon (1961) - Mr. Wizard the Lizard / Frank (voice)
- Buffaloed Bill (1960) - Mr. Wizard the Lizard (voice)
- Stuper Man (1960) - Mr. Wizard the Lizard (voice)
- Olimping Champion (1960) - Mr. Wizard the Lizard / Black Barkus (voice)
- One Trillion B.C. (1960) - Mr. Wizard the Lizard / Small Son (voice)
- Kink of Swat (1960) - Mr. Wizard the Lizard / Manager (voice)
- The Unteachables (1960) - Mr. Wizard the Lizard (voice)
- Mish-Mash-Mush (1960) - Mr. Wizard the Lizard / Prospectors (voice)
- Knight of the Square Table (1960) - Mr. Wizard the Lizard (voice)
- Highway Petrol (1960) - Mr. Wizard the Lizard / The Chief (voice)
- Sea Haunt (1960) - Mr. Wizard the Lizard / Fair Lady (voice)
- Tailspin Tooter (1960) - Mr. Wizard the Lizard / Erik von Bark / General (voice)
- Two Gun Turtle (1960) - Mr. Wizard the Lizard / Black Bark (voice)
1960
Tooter Turtle (TV Mini Series) as
Lizard
1955
The Sandy Becker Show (TV Series) as
Host / Hambone / Norton Nork / ...
1955
The Adventures of Robin Hood (TV Series) as
'Wildroot' pitchman in original US airing
- The Coming of Robin Hood (1955) - 'Wildroot' pitchman in original US airing (uncredited)
1954
The Jack Benny Program (TV Series) as
Commercial Announcer
- David Niven Show (1954) - Commercial Announcer (voice)
Miscellaneous
1953
Robert Montgomery Presents (TV Series) (announcer - 42 episodes)
- Towhead (1955) - (announcer)
- Second Chance (1955) - (announcer)
- Now or Never (1955) - (announcer)
- The Cage (1955) - (announcer)
- Bella Fleace Gave a Party (1955) - (announcer)
- P.J. Martin and Son (1955) - (announcer)
- The Tender Leaves of Hope (1955) - (announcer)
- N.Y. to L.A. (1955) - (announcer)
- A Matter of Dignity (1955) - (announcer)
- Coming of Age (1955) - (announcer)
- Joe's Boy (1955) - (announcer)
- A Night for Dreaming (1955) - (announcer)
- End of a Mission (1954) - (announcer)
- Judith (1954) - (announcer)
- The Hunchback of Notre Dame: Part 2 (1954) - (announcer)
- The Gentleman (1954) - (announcer)
- Foreign Affair (1954) - (announcer)
- Two Wise Women (1954) - (announcer)
- The People You Meet (1954) - (announcer)
- Personal Story (1954) - (announcer)
- About Sara Caine (1954) - (announcer)
- Patricia (1954) - (announcer)
- Story on Eleventh Street (1954) - (announcer)
- In His Hands (1954) - (announcer)
- Great Expectations: Part 1. The Promise (1954) - (announcer)
- Once Upon a Time (1954) - (announcer)
- Skyblock (1954) - (announcer)
- Wages of Fear (1954) - (announcer)
- Big Boy (1954) - (announcer)
- For These Services (1954) - (announcer)
- The Pink Hippopotamus (1954) - (announcer)
- The Paradise Cafe (1954) - (announcer)
- Land of Happiness (1954) - (announcer)
- Mr. Whittle and the Morning Star (1954) - (announcer)
- Richard Said No (1954) - (announcer)
- No Visible Means (1953) - (announcer)
- The Soprano and the Piccolo Player (1953) - (announcer)
- The Deep Six (1953) - (announcer)
- The Sunday Punch (1953) - (announcer)
- Breakdown (1953) - (announcer)
- Private Purkey's Private Place (1953) - (announcer)
- Anne's Story (1953) - (announcer)
Self
1961
The Tonight Show Starring Jack Paar (TV Series) as
Self
- Episode #4.170 (1961) - Self
1954
Armstrong Circle Theatre (TV Series) as
Self - Host
- Moment of Truth (1955) - Self - Host
- Time for Love (1955) - Self - Host
- The Honorable Mrs. Jones (1955) - Self - Host
- The Hallelujah Corner (1955) - Self - Host
- Perilous Night (1955) - Self - Host
- The Narrow Man (1955) - Self - Host
- East of Nowhere (1955) - Self - Host
- Crisis (1955) - Self - Host
- Fight for Tomorrow (1955) - Self - Host
- The Secret of Emily du Vane (1955) - Self - Host
- Leap for Freedom (1955) - Self - Host
- Buckskin (1955) - Self - Host
- TV or Not TV (1955) - Self - Host
- Trapped (1955) - Self - Host
- Crack-Up (1955) - Self - Host
- Stay Away Stranger (1955) - Self - Host
- Sudden Disaster (1955) - Self - Host
- I Found Sixty Million Dollars (1955) - Self - Host
- No Room to Breathe (1955) - Self - Host
- Ladders of Lies (1955) - Self - Host
- Thunder in the House (1955) - Self - Host
- The Invisible Handcuffs (1955) - Self - Host
- The Fatal Trap (1955) - Self - Host
- Save Me from Treason (1955) - Self - Host
- Runaway Fast! (1954) - Self - Host
- Ring Twice for Christmas (1954) - Self - Host
- Hit a Blue Note (1954) - Self - Host
- H Is for Hurricane (1954) - Self - Host
- The Contender (1954) - Self - Host
- Brink of Disaster (1954) - Self - Host
- Flare-Up (1954) - Self - Host
- Fred Allen's Sketchbook (1954) - Self - Host
- Scandal That Rocked Paris (1954) - Self - Host
- Lie Detector (1954) - Self - Host
- Half a Hero (1954) - Self - Host
- The Runaway (1954) - Self - Host
- The Judged (1954) - Self - Host
- Explosion (1954) - Self - Host
- Judy and Me (1954) - Self - Host
- The First Born (1954) - Self - Host
- The Beautiful Wife (1954) - Self - Host
1955
Wonderama (TV Series) as
Self - Host (1955-1956 & 1957-1959)
1951
Charlie Wild, Private Detective (TV Series) as
Self - Announcer
- The Case of the Robber's Nest (1952) - Self - Announcer
- The Case of the Sad Eyed Clam (1951) - Self - Announcer

References

Sandy Becker Wikipedia