Sandy Helberg
Encyclopedia
Sandy Helberg is an American actor.
Born in Frankfurt
, Germany
, grew up in Toledo
, Ohio
, he moved to New York
where he studied acting with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse. Sandy did stand-up and was part of an improv group that worked clubs in Greenwich Village
. He later moved to Los Angeles
, becoming an original member of the Los Angeles improv group, The Groundlings. Acting in several comedy films, in particular three Mel Brooks
films High Anxiety
, History of the World: Part 1 and Spaceballs
, he starred in the comedy films The Hollywood Knights
and Up the Creek.
Sandy wrote and starred in short lived 1977 TV series The Lorenzo and Henrietta Music Show and the 1979 CBS TV series Flatbush
. He has made numerous guest appearances on tv shows, including Trapper John, M.D.
, Remington Steele
, Newhart
, The Jeffersons
, M*A*S*H, Married... with Children
, The Wonder Years
, Night Court
, Fernwood Tonight, Knight Rider
, Too Close for Comfort
, Get a Life
, House Calls
, Cybill
, and Days of our Lives
among others.
Sandy also co-starred in the NBC miniseries, Harold Robbins' 79 Park Avenue and CBS movie of the week, More Wild Wild West.
Sandy was the original Gopher Smith in The Love Boat
pilot.
He has been married to Harriet Helberg since April 6, 1975, and has 2 sons, Mason and actor Simon Helberg
.
Writer of TV episodes for "The Golden Girls," (100th episode) "Perfect Strangers," "Dear John," "Harry and the Hendersons," with wife/writing partner Harriet Helberg
Co-producer of "USO Salute to the Troops" for HBO/TBS
Born in Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, grew up in Toledo
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, he moved to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
where he studied acting with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse. Sandy did stand-up and was part of an improv group that worked clubs in Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
. He later moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, becoming an original member of the Los Angeles improv group, The Groundlings. Acting in several comedy films, in particular three Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer. He is best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. He began his career as a stand-up comic and as a writer for the early TV variety show Your Show of Shows...
films High Anxiety
High Anxiety
High Anxiety is a 1977 comedy film produced and directed by Mel Brooks, who also plays the lead. This is Brooks' first film as a producer and first "speaking" lead role...
, History of the World: Part 1 and Spaceballs
Spaceballs
Spaceballs is a 1987 American science fiction comedy parody film co-written by, directed by, Mel Brooks and starring Bill Pullman, John Candy, Mel Brooks & Rick Moranis. It also features, Daphne Zuniga, Dick Van Patten, and the voice of Joan Rivers. The film was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on...
, he starred in the comedy films The Hollywood Knights
The Hollywood Knights
The Hollywood Knights is an American motion picture comedy written and directed by Floyd Mutrux depicting the crass and mischievous antics and practical jokes of the remaining members of a 1950s-era car club turned social fraternity in and around Beverly Hills and Hollywood in 1965...
and Up the Creek.
Sandy wrote and starred in short lived 1977 TV series The Lorenzo and Henrietta Music Show and the 1979 CBS TV series Flatbush
Flatbush
Flatbush or Flat Bush can refer to a number of places:*Flatbush, Brooklyn, a community of Brooklyn, New York City, United States*Flatbush, New Zealand, a suburb of Manukau City, New Zealand...
. He has made numerous guest appearances on tv shows, including Trapper John, M.D.
Trapper John, M.D.
Trapper John, M.D. is an American television medical drama and spin-off of the film MASH, concerning a lovable surgeon who became a mentor and father figure in San Francisco, California. The show ran on CBS from September 23, 1979, to September 4, 1986....
, Remington Steele
Remington Steele
Remington Steele is an American television series, co-created by Robert Butler and Michael Gleason. The series, starring Stephanie Zimbalist and Pierce Brosnan, was produced by MTM Enterprises and first broadcast on the NBC network from 1982 to 1987. The series blended the genres of romantic...
, Newhart
Newhart
Newhart is a television situation comedy starring comedian Bob Newhart and actress Mary Frann as an author and wife who owned and operated an inn located in a small, rural Vermont town that was home to many eccentric characters. The show aired on the CBS network from October 25, 1982 to May 21, 1990...
, The Jeffersons
The Jeffersons
The Jeffersons is an American sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from January 18, 1975, through June 25, 1985, lasting 11 seasons and a total of 253 episodes. The show was produced by the T.A.T. Communications Company from 1975–1982 and by Embassy Television from 1982-1985...
, M*A*S*H, Married... with Children
Married... with Children
Married... with Children is an American surrealistic sitcom that aired for 11 seasons that featured a dysfunctional family living in Chicago, Illinois. The show, notable for being the first prime time television series to air on Fox, ran from April 5, 1987, to June 9, 1997. The series was created...
, The Wonder Years
The Wonder Years
The Wonder Years is an American television comedy-drama created by Carol Black and Neal Marlens. It ran for six seasons on ABC from 1988 through 1993. The pilot aired on January 31, 1988 after ABC's coverage of Super Bowl XXII....
, Night Court
Night Court
Night Court is an American television situation comedy that aired on NBC from January 4, 1984, to May 20, 1992. The setting was the night shift of a Manhattan court, presided over by the young, unorthodox Judge Harold T. "Harry" Stone...
, Fernwood Tonight, Knight Rider
Knight Rider
Knight Rider is an American television series that originally ran from September 26, 1982, to August 8, 1986. The series was broadcast on NBC and starred David Hasselhoff as Michael Knight, a high-tech modern-day knight fighting crime with the help of an advanced, artificially intelligent and...
, Too Close for Comfort
Too Close for Comfort (TV series)
Too Close for Comfort is an American television sitcom which ran on the ABC network and later in first-run syndication from November 11, 1980 to September 27, 1986. It was modeled after the British series Keep It in the Family, which debuted nine months before Too Close for Comfort debuted in the U.S...
, Get a Life
Get a Life (TV series)
Get a Life is a television sitcom that was broadcast in the United States on the Fox Network from September 23, 1990, to March 8, 1992. The show starred Chris Elliott as a 30-year-old paperboy named Chris Peterson. Peterson lived in an apartment above his parents' garage...
, House Calls
House Calls
House Calls might refer to:* Housecall, a visit at home from a doctor*House Calls , a 1978 motion picture that starred Walter Matthau, Glenda Jackson, Art Carney and Richard Benjamin...
, Cybill
Cybill
Cybill is an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre, which aired on CBS from January 2, 1995 to July 13, 1998. Starring Cybill Shepherd, the series revolves around Cybill Sheridan, a twice-divorced single mother of two and struggling actress in her 40s, who has never gotten her show...
, and Days of our Lives
Days of our Lives
Days of our Lives is a long running daytime soap opera broadcast on the NBC television network. It is one of the longest-running scripted television programs in the world, airing nearly every weekday in the United States since November 8, 1965. It has since been syndicated to many countries around...
among others.
Sandy also co-starred in the NBC miniseries, Harold Robbins' 79 Park Avenue and CBS movie of the week, More Wild Wild West.
Sandy was the original Gopher Smith in The Love Boat
The Love Boat
The Love Boat is an American television series set on a cruise ship, which aired on the ABC Television Network from September 24,1977, until May 24,1986.The show starred Gavin MacLeod as the ship's captain...
pilot.
He has been married to Harriet Helberg since April 6, 1975, and has 2 sons, Mason and actor Simon Helberg
Simon Helberg
Simon Maxwell Helberg is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Howard Wolowitz in the sitcom The Big Bang Theory. In its fourth season, he also appeared on the sketch comedy series MADtv for five episodes...
.
Filmography
- School for ScoundrelsSchool for Scoundrels (2006 film)School for Scoundrels is a 2006 American comedy film, starring Billy Bob Thornton and Jon Heder, and directed by Todd Phillips. The film is based on the 1960 British film of the same name...
(2006) - Meet Wally SparksMeet Wally SparksMeet Wally Sparks is a comedy film released in 1997 by Trimark Pictures. It stars Rodney Dangerfield and was directed by Peter Baldwin.-Plot:...
(1997) - Mortal KombatMortal Kombat (film)Mortal Kombat is a 1995 American action and adventure film directed by Paul Anderson. Based on the Mortal Kombat series of fighting games, the film was the first part of the Mortal Kombat film series...
(1995) - The GrannyThe GrannyThe Granny is a 1995 American horror comedy directed by Luca Bercovici and co-written by Bercovici and Sam Bernard. The film stars Stella Stevens as a grandmother who comes back from her grave to seek revenge on her greedy family. After a limited release at drive-in theaters, the film was printed...
(1995) - I'll Do AnythingI'll Do AnythingI'll Do Anything is a 1994 American dramedy film written and directed by James L. Brooks. Its primary plot concerns a down-on-his-luck actor who suddenly finds himself the sole caretaker of his six-year-old daughter.-Synopsis:...
(1994) - SpaceballsSpaceballsSpaceballs is a 1987 American science fiction comedy parody film co-written by, directed by, Mel Brooks and starring Bill Pullman, John Candy, Mel Brooks & Rick Moranis. It also features, Daphne Zuniga, Dick Van Patten, and the voice of Joan Rivers. The film was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on...
(1987) - Up the Creek (1984)
- This Is Spinal TapThis Is Spinal TapThis Is Spinal Tap is an American 1984 rock musical mockumentary directed by Rob Reiner about the fictional heavy metal band Spinal Tap...
(1984) - Modern ProblemsModern ProblemsModern Problems is a 1981 comedy film written and directed by Ken Shapiro and starring Chevy Chase, Patti D'Arbanville and Dabney Coleman. The film grossed $26,154,211 in the United States. A DVD release of the film was issued in 2005.-Plot:...
(1981) - History of the World: Part 1 (1981)
- Loose ShoesLoose ShoesLoose Shoes is a 1980 comedy film directed by Ira Miller and featuring Bill Murray. The film is presented as a series of movie trailers with titles such as The Howard Huge Story, Skate-boarders from Hell and The Invasion of the Penis Snatchers...
(1980) - The Hollywood KnightsThe Hollywood KnightsThe Hollywood Knights is an American motion picture comedy written and directed by Floyd Mutrux depicting the crass and mischievous antics and practical jokes of the remaining members of a 1950s-era car club turned social fraternity in and around Beverly Hills and Hollywood in 1965...
(1980) - The Jazz SingerThe Jazz SingerThe Jazz Singer may refer to:* The Jazz Singer , a 1925 Broadway play* The Jazz Singer , a film version of the play, and the first feature-length motion picture with talking sequences...
(1980) - High AnxietyHigh AnxietyHigh Anxiety is a 1977 comedy film produced and directed by Mel Brooks, who also plays the lead. This is Brooks' first film as a producer and first "speaking" lead role...
(1977) - American RaspberryAmerican Raspberry (film)American Raspberry is a 1977 parody film that lampoons various films of the 1970s, much like The Groove Tube, Tunnel Vision, The Kentucky Fried Movie and Amazon Women on the Moon.-Plot:American Raspberry tells the story of what happens when some strange unknown sources takes over the air waves and...
(1977) - A Star Is BornA Star Is Born (1976 film)A Star Is Born is a 1976 American rock music musical film telling the story of a young woman, played by Barbra Streisand who enters show business, and meets and falls in love with an established male star, played by Kris Kristofferson, only to find her career ascending while his goes into decline...
(1976) - Sheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New YorkSheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New YorkSheila Levine Is Dead and Living in New York is a 1975 film directed by Sidney J. Furie. The film was written by Kenny Solms, based on the novel by Gail Parent...
(1975) - Terror in the Wax Museum (1973)
Writer of TV episodes for "The Golden Girls," (100th episode) "Perfect Strangers," "Dear John," "Harry and the Hendersons," with wife/writing partner Harriet Helberg
Co-producer of "USO Salute to the Troops" for HBO/TBS