Billy Sands

{{short description|American character actor (1911–84)}} {{Infobox person |image = Billy Sands Phil Silvers Paul Ford Bilko 1958.JPG |caption = Sands at left with Phil Silvers and Paul Ford in ''The Phil Silvers Show'', 1958 |birth_date = {{birth date|1911|1|6}} |birth_place = Bergen, New York, US |death_date = {{death date and age|1984|8|24|1911|1|6}} |death_place = Los Angeles, California, US |resting_place = Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery, Culver City, California |occupation = Television actor |spouse = Marsha{{Citation needed|date=September 2020}} |children = 2 }}

'''Billy Sands''' (January 6, 1911 – August 24, 1984) was an American character actor who appeared as a regular on ''The Phil Silvers Show'' (''Sgt Bilko'') as Pvt. Dino Papparelli and was a regular on ''McHale's Navy'' as Harrison "Tinker" Bell (named after Tinker Bell). He also made guest-starring roles on many other television series, including ''Car 54, Where Are You?'', ''All in the Family'', ''Here's Lucy'', ''Happy Days,'' and ''The Odd Couple''. Sands also appears in one of the opening scenes of ''Rocky'' as a booker for the fighters and season 1 episode 22 of Alice.

== Personal life and death == Born William F. Sands in Bergen, New York to Samuel & Henrietta Epstein, he began his professional career in 1946 when he appeared on Broadway with Spencer Tracy in Robert E. Sherwood's ''Rugged Path''.

Sands died of lung cancer at age 73 at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, on August 24, 1984, and was buried at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/174194082/|access-date=8 July 2023|url-access=subscription|title=The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Page 40|work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|date=31 August 1984|page=40}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/08/31/obituaries/billy-sands.html|title=BILLY SANDS|newspaper=The New York Times|date=31 August 1984|access-date=8 July 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/401250852/|url-access=subscription|access-date=8 July 2023|title=Billy Sands, 73, Popular TV Comedy Series Actor|newspaper=The Los Angeles Times|date=30 August 1984|page=B22}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZraJCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA110|title=Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory|page=110|date=May 1, 2001|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0786450190}}</ref> He was survived by his wife Marsha, daughter Susan, son Eugene, two sisters and a brother.<ref>{{Cite web|website=UPI|date=30 August 1984|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/08/30/Actor-Billy-Sands-best-known-for-roles-on-such/2686462686400/|title=Actor Billy Sands, best known for roles on such...|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200412130546/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/08/30/Actor-Billy-Sands-best-known-for-roles-on-such/2686462686400/|access-date=8 July 2023|archive-date=2020-04-12|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Partial filmography == *''McHale's Navy'' (1964) - Motor Machinist Mate Harrison Bell *''McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force'' (1965) - Motor Machinist Mate Harrison Bell *''The Reluctant Astronaut'' (1967) - Airport Announcer / Man Mopping Floor in Film (uncredited) *''P.J.'' (1968) - Barber (uncredited) *''The Love God?'' (1969) - Barber (uncredited) *''How to Frame a Figg'' (1971) - Bowling Alley Manager *''Another Nice Mess'' (1972) - Interpreter *''The Harrad Experiment'' (1973) - Jack *''Rocky'' (1976) - Club Fight Announcer *''The World's Greatest Lover'' (1977) - Guard *''High Anxiety'' (1977) - Customer *''Serial'' (1980) - Bartender

== References == {{reflist}}

== External links == *{{IMDb name|0762294}} *{{TCMDb name|169608%7C22048}} *{{find a Grave|2066}} *[https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/billy_sands/ Rotten Tomatoes profile]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sands, Billy}} Category:1911 births Category:1984 deaths Category:American male television actors Category:20th-century American male actors Category:Burials at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery Category:Deaths from lung cancer in California Category:Jewish American male actors Category:People from Bergen, New York Category:Male actors from New York (state) Category:20th-century American Jews