Writer, producer, performer on WGN’s ‘Bozo’s Circus’
Sandburg played a key role in the early success of WGN-Ch. 9’s popular children’s program “Bozo’s Circus” the 1960s, as a writer and producer as well as a performer.
Sandburg played Sandy the Tramp, a clown who never spoke.
“I couldn’t have gotten a word in edgewise anyway,” Sandburg joked to the Tribune in 1984, referring to his decision to make Sandy a character of action, not words, on the often madcap telecast.
Sandburg, 87, died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease on Oct. 6 at his home in Springfield, Ore., said his son, Doug. He had been an Oregon resident for more than two decades. He had lived in Glenview during his time working for Channel 9.
Born in Rocky River, Ohio, outside of Cleveland, Sandburg graduated from Withrow High School in Cincinnati. He attended Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where he studied psychology. Years later, he returned to college, earning a bachelor’s degree from California State University, Northridge.
Sandburg worked as a salesman, but was interested in acting and appeared in a production in Sandusky, Ohio, where he met his first wife, an actress. Sandburg soon joined the staff of WLWT-TV in Cincinnati, where he started out as a prop master and quickly began directing locally produced TV programs.
While at WLWT, Sandburg worked alongside two future Chicago broadcasting icons: Wally Phillips, who worked on the sister radio station, WLW, and Bob Bell. In 1961, WGN hired all three, with Phillips going on to become a toprated morning host at WGN-AM, and Bell and Sandburg joining Channel 9.
Sandburg began working on “Bozo’s Circus” with its debut in 1961. He worked behind the scenes as a producer and writer, and he also came up with the character of Sandy. He worked alongside Bell, who played Bozo; Ray Rayner, who played a country clown named Oliver O. Oliver; and Ned Locke, who played Ringmaster Ned.
In 1964, Sandburg wrote an essay in the Tribune extolling the benefits of watching a circus show on color TVs.
“The circus world always has been a world of gay uninhibited color,” Sandburg wrote. “Bozo’s Circus has made every effort to incorporate this much desired concept to sharpen the public’s interest in color television and usher in a new adventure in TV viewing.”
Despite Sandburg’s success on “Bozo” — the waiting list for tickets grew to several years — he yearned for bigger stages. In January 1969, Sandburg left Channel 9 and Chicago to move to the West Coast to seek larger opportunities in the entertainment world.
Through legendary TV executive Fred Silverman, Sandburg found behindthe-scenes jobs in HollyDon wood. He produced segments on Sid and Marty Krofft’s children’s show “The Banana Splits” and produced “The Virginia Graham Show.” He also produced the animated children’s TV series “Cattanooga Cats” and some episodes of “Star Trek: The Animated Series,” his son said.
Sandburg’s final work in Los Angeles was in the late 1970s, producing a CBS comedy-variety show, “The Shields and Yarnell Show.” By that time, however, he was finding TV work hard to come by.
With a longstanding interest in boating — Sandburg loved sailing — he began working as a yacht broker. He left Hollywood in 1978 to move to Saint Croix, where he oversaw a theater, called Island Center, and he filled it with a variety of acts, including reggae bands and his old “Bozo’s Circus” colleague Marshall Brodien. And Sandburg even put on the clown suit again, reprising his role as Sandy for audiences at the Island Center.
Around 1982, Sandburg moved to Fort Lauderdale to work again as a yacht broker. Some years later, he and his second wife bought an RV and traveled the country before settling in Oregon about 21 years ago, his son said.
Outside of TV projects and boat-related work, Sandburg enjoyed building HO-scale model railroads, his son said.
Sandburg was the final living member of the original cast of “Bozo’s Circus.”
A first marriage to Elizabeth “Bette” Sandburg ended in divorce. In addition to his son, Sandburg is survived by his second wife, Gabrielle; three grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
Services were held.