Tommy Sands

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.

Known For: Acting

Born: Chicago, Illinois, USA, 1937-08-27

Died: null

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1958	Sing Boy Sing	Virgil Walker	60
2	1958	Mardi Gras	Barry Denton	56
3	1961	Love in a Goldfish Bowl	Gordon Slide	20
4	1961	Babes in Toyland	Tom Piper	58
5	1961	Backstage Party	Self	70
6	1962	The Longest Day	U.S. Army Ranger	76
7	1964	Ensign Pulver	Bruno	66
8	1965	None But the Brave	2nd Lt. Blair	64
9	1967	The Violent Ones	Mike Marain	60
10	2000	Frank Sinatra Memorial	Self	0
11	2003	Juke Box Revival - Rock'n'Roll Vol. 2	Sänger	0
12	2008	The Wrecking Crew	Self (archive footage) (uncredited)	73

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1947	Kraft Television Theatre	Vito Sorrano	75
2	1948	The Ed Sullivan Show	Self	68
3	1948	Studio One	Buck Slater	50
4	1950	What's My Line?	Self - Mystery Guest	69
5	1952	This Is Your Life	Self	64
6	1953	The Oscars	Self	71
7	1954	The Wonderful World of Disney	Self	78
8	1956	The Steve Allen Show	Self - Singer	56
9	1956	The Ford Show	Self	73
10	1956	Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre	Jace Rawlins	55
11	1957	Wagon Train	Ethan Morgan	63
12	1957	Wagon Train	Keith Lance	63
13	1957	Wagon Train	Larry Hanify	63
14	1958	The Dick Clark Show	Self	55
15	1959	Bonanza	Wiley Kane	75
16	1962	Combat!	Carey	77
17	1963	Mr. Novak	Ray Wilson	65
18	1963	Mr. Novak	Gary Lewin	65
19	1963	Kraft Suspense Theatre	Eddie Riccio	53
20	1965	Branded	Cadet Richard Bain	64
21	1968	Hawaii Five-O	Joey Rand	71
22	1968	Hawaii Five-O	Joey	71
23	1968	Hawaii Five-O	Edward Ross	71
24	1977	The Hardy Boys / Nancy Drew Mysteries		71

Tommy Sands

Film

Television