Don Sandburg
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Don Sandburg (1930-) is an American writer, actor, and producer who has worked in television, most notably as producer of The Banana Splits for Hanna-Barbera as well as WGN-TV's Bozo's Circus.
Sandburg had started in television on WCPO in Cincinnati, Ohio when he was just 21 in 1951. He was initially a prop manager but later became production supervisor for The Paul Dixon Show. He left after a year, hoping to get work in Denver, Colorado but ended up doing a series of other jobs until returning to Cincinnati with WLW Radio and WLWT-TV in 1953, where he joined Wally Phillips and Bob Bell to produce, direct and write The Walt Phillips Show. When WLW and WLWT's executive vice president moved to WGN Radio and Television, he brought Phillips, Bell and Sandburg along.
When WGN-TV started Bozo in 1960, Sandburg was not involved with the show until after it went to an hour format as Bozo's Circus in 1961. He was approached by station management to write for the program - he already wrote material for a morning program that evolved into Ray Rayner and His Friends - but refused unless he was allowed to appear as a character on the show at no extra charge. WGN agreed, and the character Sandy the Tramp was born. Eventually, Sandburg would be the show's producer as well.
Sandburg left the show in 1969, deflated by the pace of four jobs on the show as performer, writer and producer. He left for Los Angeles hoping to find work at the Disney studios, where he had a friend. When the Disney job didn't pan out, he called on an old friend and former WGN-TV programming executive, Fred Silverman, who got him the job as producer of The Banana Splits. Afterwards, Sandburg worked as a writer on New Zoo Revue, and for various stations and studios in Los Angeles, including Paramount where he worked on the Star Trek animated series. He also worked at Marineland and as a theater director in the U.S. Virgin Islands. In 2001, he appeared as Sandy on the final episode of Bozo.
Today, Sandburg and his wife live in retirement in Oregon.
