Sandy Baron

Sandy Baron (born Sanford Irving Beresofsky; May 5, 1936 – January 21, 2001) was an American actor and comedian who performed on stage, in films, and on television.

Sandy Baron
Baron in 1968
Born
Sanford Irving Beresofsky

(1936-05-05)May 5, 1936
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
DiedJanuary 21, 2001(2001-01-21) (aged 64)
Van Nuys, California, U.S.
Resting placeHillside Memorial Park Cemetery
EducationThomas Jefferson High School
Alma materBrooklyn College
OccupationActor
Years active1962–1998
Spouse(s)
Geraldine Mary Crotty
​
(
m. 1962; div. 1967)

Mary Jo Webster
​
(
m. 1970; div. 1975)

Stephanie Ericsson
​
(
m. 1976; div. 1981)

Early life

Sanford Beresofsky was born in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in the Brownsville neighborhood, the son of Helen Farberman, a waitress, and Max Beresofsky, a house painter,[1] both Yiddish-speaking Russian Jewish emigrants.[2] His father was born in Slonim, Belarus.[3] He graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in East New York; and while he was a student at Brooklyn College, to which he received a scholarship, changed his name to Sandy Baron—taking his inspiration from the nearby Barron's Bookstore.[1][4] He started his career working in the Catskill Mountains resorts when they were synonymous with the "Borscht Belt" brand of Jewish humor on which Baron made his mark. He then moved on to the Compass Players Improv Comedy group in the late 1950s.

Career

Baron made his Broadway debut in Tchin-Tchin in 1962. He also appeared in many other Broadway plays, hits as well as flops, including Autoro Ui, Generations and Lenny (Los Angeles production); replacing Cliff Gorman in the lead role of Lenny Bruce on Broadway.

In 1964, he established a reputation for himself as part of That Was The Week That Was and as the opening act for Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme at the Copacabana in New York City. In the 1966-1967 season, Baron co-starred with Will Hutchins in the NBC sitcom Hey, Landlord about a brownstone apartment in Manhattan. In the 1970s, he made regular appearances on talk shows such as The Mike Douglas Show and The Merv Griffin Show, and multiple guest appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Sandy was also co-host of The Della Reese Show and hosted a number of television talk shows including A.M. New York and Mid-Morning LA. In addition, he was the host of the pilot for Hollywood Squares and often appeared as a celebrity contestant on this and other games shows.

He acted in many television programs, including a notable recurring role in Seinfeld as Jack Klompus, starred in Law & Order, and as Grandpa in a 1996 TV-movie revival of The Munsters' Scary Little Christmas. His appearances in feature films included Sweet November (1968), Targets (1968), If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium (1969), The Out-of-Towners (1970), Birdy (1984), and others. Along with several of his contemporaries, Baron played himself in Woody Allen's Broadway Danny Rose (1984), and narrated the film.[1]

Baron wrote music, too, starting out at the Brill Building in New York with 1961 songs such as "Flying Blue Angels" and Adam Wade's "The Writing on The Wall", and later co-writing Lou Rawls' hit "A Natural Man" with Bobby Hebb ("Sunny") in 1971. Sandy wrote and recorded a number of comedy albums, including The Race Race and God Save the Queens co-written with Reverend James R. McGraw, editor/writer of Dick Gregory's books.

Throughout his career, he opened for Neil Diamond, The Fifth Dimension, Bobby Vinton, Anthony Newley, Diana Ross, and others.

Personal life and death

He was married to model/actress Geraldine Baron, writer/activist Mary Jo Webster Baron, and writer/screenwriter Stephanie Ericsson;[5] all ending in divorce. He had no children.[6] Baron died of emphysema in Van Nuys, California, at the age of 64.[7]

Television
Year Title Role Notes
1965-1975The Mike Douglas Show Himself
1966-1967Hey, LandlordCharles 'Chuck' Hookstratten
1970-1971Love, American StyleSalesman / Freddie
1982Cassie & Co.John Stuart
1990-1991The Munsters Today Yorga
1991Walter & EmilyStan
1992Life Goes OnSam Berkson
1996Tracey Takes On...Sheldon Sturges
1996The Munsters' Scary Little ChristmasGrandpa Munster
1991-1997SeinfeldJack Klompus

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1968Sweet NovemberRichard
1968TargetsKip Larkin
1969If It's Tuesday, This Must Be BelgiumJohn Marino
1969Girls in the Saddle
1970The Magic Garden of Stanley SweetheartMan telling joke in barUncredited
1970The Out-of-TownersTV Man
1978Straight TimeManny
1984Broadway Danny RoseSandy Baron
1984BirdyMr. Columbato
1986Sid and NancyHotelier - U.S.A.
1986Mission KillBingo Thomas
1986VampVic
1990The GriftersDoctor
1991MotoramaKidnapping Husband
1991Lonely HeartsApartment Manager
1994Leprechaun 2Morty
1995Twilight HighwayLenny
1998The Hi-Lo CountryHenchman(final film role)
gollark: The same language with different encodings is practical, and Eldraeic does that.
gollark: How would that even work?
gollark: The ray shielding thing was dropped, I think.
gollark: Clearly what we really need is ultra-low-frequency radio wave lasers.
gollark: That's not really actual temperature, but I see your point.

References
  1. Van Gelder, Lawrence (29 January 2001). "Sandy Baron, 64, Veteran Comic Who Antagonized Morty Seinfeld". The New York Times.
  2. 1930 United States Federal Census
  3. U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942
  4. Bisogno, Frank (1990). Is Anyone Here from Brooklyn?. Fradon Publishing. ASIN B0006EV8V0.
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-04-14. Retrieved 2015-04-14.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. "Amazon.com: Stephanie Ericsson: Books, Biography, Blog, Audiobooks, Kindle". amazon.com. Retrieved 16 March 2016.
  7. Woo, Elaine (26 January 2001). "Sandy Baron; Comic Known for Quirky Roles on Stage, Screen". Los Angeles Times.
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