Sparky Marcus
Encyclopedia
Sparky Marcus is an American actor born December 6, 1967 in Hollywood, California. He had a prolific career as a child actor.
(1973–1975). He also appeared on The Nancy Walker Show
(1976), Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman
(1976–77), Grandpa Goes to Washington
(1978), The Bad News Bears
and Goodtime Girls
(1980).
(1982–1984), Space-Stars (1981), Saturday Supercade
as the voice of Dexter on Space Ace
(1984), Challenge of the GoBots
(1984), The Puppy's New Adventures (1984), The Reluctant Dragon
(1981), Cabbage Patch Kids: First Christmas (1984), Banjo the Woodpile Cat
(1979), CBS Library (1980–1982) and The Get-Along Gang
(1984–86).
, Happy Days
, WKRP in Cincinnati
, What's Happening!!
, Maude
, Emergency!
, The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries
, The Bob Newhart Show
, Eight Is Enough
and Starsky and Hutch
.
(1976) and The Pinballs
(1977), as well as in many TV movies, including The Stableboy's Christmas (1978) and Goldie and the Boxer (1979). His last movie role was a brief cameo as a bellboy in the 1983 Steve Martin
comedy The Man with Two Brains
.
Career
Marcus was well-known for playing the role of the precocious child but also worked extensively as a voice actor for Hanna-Barbera throughout the 1980s. He started acting at five playing Shelby on Sigmund and the Sea MonstersSigmund and the Sea Monsters
Sigmund and the Sea Monsters was an American children's television series that ran from 1973 to 1975, produced by Sid and Marty Krofft and aired on Saturday mornings...
(1973–1975). He also appeared on The Nancy Walker Show
The Nancy Walker Show
The Nancy Walker Show was a short-lived situation comedy produced by Norman Lear and starring Nancy Walker. It aired for half a season on ABC, premiering on September 30, 1976 and running until December 23, 1976. The series was a starring vehicle provided to Ms...
(1976), Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman
Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman
Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman is an American soap opera parody that aired in daily syndication from January 1976 to May 1977. The series was produced by Norman Lear, directed by Joan Darling and starred Louise Lasser...
(1976–77), Grandpa Goes to Washington
Grandpa Goes to Washington
Grandpa Goes to Washington is an American sitcom that aired on NBC on Tuesday night from September 7, 1978 to January 16, 1979.-Plot:The series centered on Joe Kelley, a political science teacher who was forced to retire when he turned 66, who then got himself elected to the U.S senate.-Cast:*Jack...
(1978), The Bad News Bears
The Bad News Bears (1979 TV series)
The Bad News Bears is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from March 24, 1979 until July 26, 1980, consisting of 23 episodes. It was based on the 1976 hit movie of the same name, that was followed by two sequels in 1977 and 1978.-Synopsis:...
and Goodtime Girls
Goodtime Girls
Goodtime Girls was a short-lived situation comedy produced by Garry Marshall and his associates, Thomas L. Miller, Edward K. Milkis, and Robert L. Boyett, which ran on ABC from January 22, 1980 to August 29, 1980...
(1980).
Voice acting
As a voice actor for cartoons he is probably best known for his role as Richie Rich on the series from Hanna Barbera (1980–1982). He later had regular roles as a voice actor on Shirt TalesShirt Tales
Shirt Tales are characters that were created in 1980 by greeting card designer Janet Elizabeth Manco and were featured on Hallmark Cards greeting cards...
(1982–1984), Space-Stars (1981), Saturday Supercade
Saturday Supercade
Saturday Supercade is an animated television series produced for Saturday mornings by Ruby-Spears Productions. It ran for two seasons on CBS beginning in 1983...
as the voice of Dexter on Space Ace
Space Ace
Space Ace is a laserdisc video game produced by Don Bluth Studios, Cinematronics, and Advanced Microcomputer Systems...
(1984), Challenge of the GoBots
Challenge of the GoBots
Challenge of the GoBots is an American animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera, based on the Gobots toy-line released from Tonka. Most of the toys were imported from the Japanese Machine Robo toy line. The show originally debuted in animated form as a five-part miniseries, which aired in...
(1984), The Puppy's New Adventures (1984), The Reluctant Dragon
The Reluctant Dragon
The Reluctant Dragon is an 1898 children's story by Kenneth Grahame , which served as the key element to the 1941 feature film with the same name from Walt Disney Productions. The story has also been set to music as a children's operetta by John Rutter, with words by David Grant...
(1981), Cabbage Patch Kids: First Christmas (1984), Banjo the Woodpile Cat
Banjo the Woodpile Cat
Banjo the Woodpile Cat is a 1979 animated short television film directed by Don Bluth. It follows the story of Banjo, an overly curious and rebellious kitten who, after getting into trouble for falling from a house to see if he could land on his feet, runs away from his woodpile home in his owners'...
(1979), CBS Library (1980–1982) and The Get-Along Gang
The Get-Along Gang
The Get Along Gang were characters created in 1983 by American Greetings' toy design and licensing division, "Those Characters from Cleveland" , for a series of greeting cards...
(1984–86).
Television guest appearances
Marcus has also made several TV guest appearances, 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....
, Happy Days
Happy Days
Happy Days is an American television sitcom that originally aired from January 15, 1974, to September 24, 1984, on ABC. Created by Garry Marshall, the series presents an idealized vision of life in mid-1950s to mid-1960s America....
, WKRP in Cincinnati
WKRP in Cincinnati
WKRP in Cincinnati is an American situation comedy that featured the misadventures of the staff of a struggling fictional radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio. The show was created by Hugh Wilson and was based upon his experiences working in advertising sales at Top 40 radio station WQXI in Atlanta...
, What's Happening!!
What's Happening!!
What's Happening!! is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from August 5, 1976 to April 28, 1979. The show premiered as a summer series. With good ratings and reviews, and after the failure of several other shows on the network, What's Happening!! returned in November 1976 as a weekly...
, Maude
Maude (TV series)
Maude was an American television sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS network from September 12, 1972 until April 22, 1978.Maude starred Beatrice Arthur as Maude Findlay, an outspoken, middle-aged, politically liberal woman living in suburban Tuckahoe, Westchester County, New York with...
, Emergency!
Emergency!
Emergency! is an American television series that combines the medical drama and action-adventure genres. It was produced by Mark VII Limited and distributed by Universal Studios...
, The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries
The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries
The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries is a television series which aired for three seasons on ABC...
, The Bob Newhart Show
The Bob Newhart Show
The Bob Newhart Show is an American situation comedy produced by MTM Enterprises, which aired 142 original episodes on CBS from September 16, , to April 1, . Comedian Bob Newhart portrayed a psychologist having to deal with his patients and fellow office workers...
, Eight Is Enough
Eight Is Enough
Eight Is Enough is an American television comedy-drama series which ran on ABC from March 15, 1977 until August 29, 1981. The show was modeled after syndicated newspaper columnist Thomas Braden, a real-life parent with eight children, who wrote a book with the same name...
and Starsky and Hutch
Starsky and Hutch
Starsky and Hutch is a 1970s American cop thriller television series that consisted of a 90-minute pilot movie and 92 episodes of 60 minutes each; created by William Blinn, produced by Spelling-Goldberg Productions, and broadcast between April 30, 1975 and May 15, 1979 on the ABC...
.
Film roles
Marcus also appeared in the feature films Freaky FridayFreaky Friday (1976 film)
Freaky Friday is a 1976 American comedy film starring Jodie Foster as Annabel Andrews and Barbara Harris as her mother.The film is based on the novel of the same name by Mary Rodgers, in which mother and daughter switch bodies and get a taste of each others' lives. The cause of the switch is left...
(1976) and The Pinballs
The Pinballs
The Pinballs is a 1976 young adult novel by American author Betsy Byars. The story is about three foster children, Carlie, Harvey and Thomas J., who have been taken in by the Masons, a couple who have cared for many other foster children in the past in also have some personal problems . Carlie...
(1977), as well as in many TV movies, including The Stableboy's Christmas (1978) and Goldie and the Boxer (1979). His last movie role was a brief cameo as a bellboy in the 1983 Steve Martin
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn "Steve" Martin is an American actor, comedian, writer, playwright, producer, musician and composer....
comedy The Man with Two Brains
The Man with Two Brains
The Man with Two Brains is a 1983 American science fiction comedy film directed by Carl Reiner and starring Steve Martin and Kathleen Turner....
.