Tommy Sands

Biography

Formerly lauded (by his press agents) as the next Elvis Presley, Tommy Sands started out as a juvenile actor on television. As a youth, he recorded a few hit rock & roll singles; he made his feature-film acting debut as the same in Sing, Boy, Sing (1958). His film career lasted in a similar vein through the late '60s until a liver disease coupled with mental breakdowns forced him to leave acting. He did, however, make a few guest appearances on the television crime drama Hawaii Five-O. Sands was formerly married to singer/actress Nancy Sinatra. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

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Tommy Sands

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Genres: Rock

Biography

The multi-talented Tommy Sands was born August 27, 1937, in Chicago, IL, to show-business parents. His entry into the business was no mistake, surprise, or happenstance, but genetic and inevitable. His father played piano and his mother sang. He took guitar lessons when he was eight years old and became an adequate axeman. By this time the Sands had moved to Houston, TX, where Sands got the acting bug. He moved to Los Angeles after high school and landed a job on Cliffie Stone's country & western television show. The exposure led to regular appearances on Tennessee Ernie Ford's weekly televison program and nightclub gigs.

He got a big break in 1957 when he got the lead role in The Singin' Idol, a television drama on rock & roll. The producer's first choice was Elvis Presley but he wasn't available, so a search went on and Sands won. A single from the show Teenage Crush on Capitol Records went to number two on Billboard's pop chart and Sands became an overnight sensation. He appeared on many Kraft Theater shows and nearly every network variety show on television. No one-hit wonder, he also hit the charts with "Goin' Steady," "The Worryin' Kind," "Blue Ribbon Baby," "Sing Boy Sing," "The Old Oaken Bucket," and "The Parent Trap." The release of "I'll Be Seeing You," marked a new musical direction for Sands. He cut two albums with Nelson Riddle and continue to release singles for a variety of labels, but none in the teen rock format that made him famous.

From the late '50s to the '70s he appeared in more than 150 television programs, and many movies including Sing Boy Sing (his first), Babes in Toyland, The Longest Day, Ensign Pulver, None but the Brave, Mardi Gras, and The Violent One. He married Nancy Sinatra in 1960; the union lasted five years. Where is he now? Still performing and thrilling fans all over the world. What else? It's in his genes. ~ Andrew Hamilton, Rovi

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Tommy Sands

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For the politician from Iowa, see Tom Sands.

For the Irish folk singer, see Tommy Sands (Irish folk singer).

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (April 2011)

Tommy Sands
Born	Tommy Adrian Sands August 27, 1937 (1937-08-27) (age 74) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation	Actor, Singer
Spouse	Nancy Sinatra (1960–1965) (divorced)

Tommy Adrian Sands (born August 27, 1937^[1]) is an American pop music singer and actor.

Contents

1 Early life
2 Career
- 2.1 Acting
3 Personal life
4 References
5 External links

Early life

Born into a musical family in Chicago, Illinois, Sands' father was a pianist and his mother a big-band singer.^[1] While still young, he moved with his family to Shreveport, Louisiana. Sands began playing the guitar at age eight and within a year had a job performing twice weekly on a local radio station.^[1] He was only 15 when Colonel Tom Parker heard about him and signed him to RCA Records.

Career

Sands' 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. He played the part of a singer who was very similar to Elvis Presley, with guitar, bouffant hair, and excitable teenage fans. 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 45 rpm single by Capitol Records, it went to No.3 on the Billboard Hot 100 record chart.^[1] His track, "The Old Oaken Bucket", peaked at #25 in the UK Singles Chart in 1960.^[2]

Sands' sudden fame brought an offer to sing at the Academy Awards show and his teen idol looks landed him a motion-picture contract to star in a 1958 musical drama called Sing, Boy, Sing. About this time, he also appeared on an episode of The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford. Sands' pioneering contribution to the genre has been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.

Acting

Sands performed in several films including Mardi Gras (1958),^[1] Babes in Toyland (1961), The Longest Day (1962), Ensign Pulver (1964), and None But the Brave (1965), playing a Marine Second Lieutenant, but both his singing and film career had faded by the 1970s. Sands later had a guest role in the 1968 episode "No Blue Skies" of the police drama Hawaii Five-O.

Personal life

In 1960, Sands married Nancy Sinatra. He was divorced from Sinatra in 1965 and has a daughter from another relationship.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 95/6. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 481. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.

External links

Persondata
Name	Sands, Tommy
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	August 27, 1937
Place of birth	Chicago, Illinois
Date of death
Place of death

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