Tommy Sands
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| Tommy Sands | |
|---|---|
| Born | Tommy Adrian Sands August 27, 1937 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.
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[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.
[edit] Personal life
In 1960, Sands married Nancy Sinatra. He was divorced from Sinatra in 1965 and has a daughter from another relationship.
[edit] 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.
