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Tommy Sands

Tommy Sands

Actor · b. 1937 · Chicago, Illinois, USA

Thomas Adrian Sands is an American pop music singer and actor. Working in show business as early as 1949, Sands became an overnight sensation and instant teen idol when he appeared on Kraft Television Theater in January 1957 as "The Singin' Idol". The song from the show, "Teen-Age Crush", reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on Cashbox. Sands's initial recordings achieved little in the way of sales but in early 1957 he was given the opportunity to star in an episode of Kraft Television Theatre called "The Singing Idol". On the show, his song presentation of a Joe Allison composition called "Teen-Age Crush" went over big with the young audience and, released as a single by Capitol Records, it went to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 record chart and No. 1 on the Cashbox chart. It became a gold record. His track, "The Old Oaken Bucket", peaked at No. 25 on the UK Singles Chart in 1960. He released his debut album Steady Date with Tommy Sands. Sands' sudden fame brought an offer to sing at the Academy Awards show. He did another episode of Kraft Television Theatre, "Flesh and Blood" playing the son of a gangster. He also made "The Promse" for Zane Grey Theatre playing the son of Gary Merrill. Sands' teen idol looks landed him a motion-picture contract with 20th Century Fox to star in a 1958 musical drama called Sing, Boy, Sing, the feature film version of "The Singin' Idol". Fox had enjoyed success with films starring other teen idols such as Elvis Presley and Pat Boone but Sing, Boy, Sing was a financial failure. Sands supported Pat Boone in a musical for Fox, Mardi Gras , which was a moderate hit. He also released the albums Sands Storm, This Thing Called Love, and When I'm Thinking of You. His later albums included Sands at the Sands and Dream with Me. From May to November 1960 he served in the US Air Force Reserves. Sands' second lead role in a feature was in the teen comedy Love in a Goldfish Bowl with Fabian Forte, which was not a success. More popular was a fantasy musical he made at Disney, Babes in Toyland, co-starring with Annette Funicello. That year he and Funicello sang the Sherman Brothers' title song from the Walt Disney release of The Parent Trap. Sands had married Nancy Sinatra whose father Frank offered Sands a role in Come Blow Your Horn but he turned it down. Sands studied acting in New York. Sands appeared alongside Fred Astaire in "Blow High, Blow Clear" for Alcoa Theatre. Later in 1963, Sands made several appearances on Wagon Train including "The Davey Baxter Story", "The Gus Morgan Story" (with Peter Falk), and "The Bob Stuart Story". Sands guest starred on Kraft Suspense Theatre, Combat!, Valentine's Day), Mr Novak, Branded, and Hawaii Five-O.

Series20

  • TV7.0

    What's My Line?

    1950 · 29 votes

  • TV7.5

    Bonanza

    1959 · 500 votes

  • TV7.9

    Combat!

    1962 · 119 votes

  • TV6.6

    Wagon Train

    1957 · 31 votes

  • TV7.2

    Hawaii Five-O

    1969 · 164 votes

  • TV5.4

    Studio One

    1948 · 13 votes

  • TV6.8

    The Ed Sullivan Show

    1948 · 23 votes

  • TV6.2
  • TV7.0

    The Oscars

    1953 · 84 votes

  • TV6.2

    The Steve Allen Show

    1956 · 6 votes

  • TV7.8
  • TV6.5

    Kraft Suspense Theatre

    1963 · 4 votes

  • TV7.3

    Mr. Novak

    1963 · 3 votes

  • TV7.9
  • TV6.8

    Startime

    1959 · 4 votes

  • TV6.7

    The Dick Clark Show

    1958 · 3 votes

  • TV6.8

    Branded

    1965 · 18 votes

  • TV6.5

    This Is Your Life

    1952 · 13 votes

  • TV7.1
  • TV7.8

    The Ford Show

    1956 · 4 votes

Movies10

  • Movie7.6

    The Longest Day

    1962 · 1.1K votes

  • Movie5.9

    Babes in Toyland

    1961 · 110 votes

  • Movie6.4

    None But the Brave

    1965 · 38 votes

  • Movie7.0

    Backstage Party

    1961 · 1 votes

  • Movie7.3

    The Wrecking Crew

    2008 · 86 votes

  • Movie6.5

    Ensign Pulver

    1964 · 20 votes

  • Movie6.1

    Mardi Gras

    1958 · 8 votes

  • Movie5.5
  • Movie7.0

    The Violent Ones

    1967 · 3 votes

  • Movie5.0

    Sing Boy Sing

    1958 · 3 votes