| Sandy Duncan |
| Born |
Sandra Kay Duncan
February 20, 1946 (1946-02-20) (age 63)
Henderson, Texas, U.S. |
| Occupation |
Actress/Singer |
| Years active |
1958–present |
| Spouse(s) |
Don Correia (1980–present)
Dr. Thomas Calcaterra (1973–1979)
Bruce Scott (1968–1972) |
Sandra Kay "Sandy" Duncan (born February 20, 1946) is an American singer and actress of stage and television. Her most notable trademarks are her pixie cut blonde hairdo and her perky demeanor. Among her most prominent roles are the title role in the Broadway production of Peter Pan, and Sandy Hogan on the sitcom The Hogan Family.
Career
She started her entertainment career at age 12, working in a local production of The King and I for $150/week.[1]
In the mid-1960s, Duncan was one more unknown actress in Los Angeles, when she was selected for a part in a TV commercial for United California Bank (which years later became part of Wells Fargo Bank). Portraying a bank teller who finds it impossible to pronounce the name of customer "Nickolas Janopoparopolis," despite several tries, she apologetically asks "Do you mind if I just call you 'Nick'?"
She performed for a short while on the soap opera Search for Tomorrow, in 1968. In 1970, she was named one of the "most promising faces of tomorrow" by Time magazine. She subsequently starred in the television series Funny Face (later renamed The Sandy Duncan Show). Her performance as Missy Anne Reynolds in the miniseries Roots earned her an Emmy Award nomination.
In 1976, Duncan played the title role in a television musical adaptation of Pinocchio, which featured Danny Kaye as Geppetto and Flip Wilson as the Fox. Also that year she was a guest star in an episode of the first season of The Muppet Show. It was then that she went back to Broadway for many years. Notable performances include her 1979 stint as the title role in Peter Pan, and replacement roles in My One and Only and Chicago.
She has also been nominated for a Tony Award three times: as Best Supporting or Featured Actress (Musical), in 1969 for Canterbury Tales, and as Best Actress (Musical), in 1971 for a revival of The Boy Friend, and in 1980 for Peter Pan.
In 1972, an animated version of Sandy (providing her own voice) appeared in "Sandy Duncan's Jekyll and Hyde", an episode of The New Scooby-Doo Movies.
An eye tumor led to the cancellation of Funny Face, but during the following season, she returned to her character of Sandy Stockton in The Sandy Duncan Show. She also had a stint as the commercial spokesperson for the introduction of Nabisco's Wheat Thins during the 1980's.
In 1984, she starred in a song and dance review called 5-6-7-8...Dance! at Radio City Music Hall.
In 1987, she joined the cast of Valerie's Family (which was previously titled Valerie, and soon to be retitled The Hogan Family) after Valerie Harper left the show. Sandy filled the "mother" role as "aunt" Sandy Hogan, the patriarch's sister.
In 1988 and 1989, she did the first three Barney and the Backyard Gang videos as Michael and Amy's mother.She left Barney because she thought the videos were not going to go popular then she quit, then when the show Barney & Friends came out she was surprised. She has been in many traveling stage productions, including The King and I.
She has also lent her voice talents to animated characters; Vixey in the 1981 Disney animated film The Fox and the Hound, in 1984 she was the speaking and singing voice of Firefly in the pilot episode of My Little Pony, in 1994 she was the voice of Queen Uberta in The Swan Princess, and in 1999 she was the singer and narrator in episodes of Mickey Mouse Works.[citation needed]
In May 2008 she performed one of the lead roles in the musical No, No, Nanette; a production of the City Center's annual Encores! series in New York City. In April 2009 she performed the lead role in the play Driving Miss Daisy at Casa Mañana Theatre in Fort Worth, Texas.
In September 2009 she played the lead role in Tennessee William's play "The Glass Menagerie" at the Mountain Playhouse in Jennerstown, PA.
Personal
She was born in Henderson, Texas, and grew up in Tyler, Texas.
In the fall of 1971, during her first season of the television series Funny Face, she was treated for a tumor behind her left eye, which damaged the optic nerve.[citation needed] She lost sight in the eye, but is still able to move it normally.
She met singer-actor Bruce Scott in Your Own Thing, and from either 1968-72 or 1969-71 they were married.
Her second marriage was to Dr. Thomas Calcaterra from 10 January 1973-79. Dr. Thomas Calcaterra is a head/neck oncologist who practices at UCLA Medical Center Division of Head and Neck Surgery and teaches surgery at UCLA Medical School. They met when Duncan had the tumor removed from behind her left eye.
Since 21 July 1980 she has been married to Don Correia. They have sons Jeffrey (b. 1983) and Michael (b. 1984). "I gained 60 pounds with each baby—it's just the way I do pregnancy" she said.[citation needed]
In Taylorville, Illinois (about 30 miles southeast of Springfield, Illinois) a street was named "Sandy Duncan Drive" in her honor, due to the fact that her character, Sandy Stockton, from Funny Face and The Sandy Duncan Show was from Taylorville, Illinois.
References
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