Sandy Duncan

For other people named Sandy Duncan, see Sandy Duncan (disambiguation).

Sandy Duncan
Duncan in 1972
Born	Sandra Kay Duncan (1946-02-20) February 20, 1946 New London, Texas, U.S.
Occupations	Actress comedian dancer singer
Years active	1958–present
Spouse(s)	Bruce Scott ​ ​ (m. 1968; div. 1972)​ Dr. Thomas Calcaterra ​ ​ (m. 1973; div. 1979)​ Don Correia ​ (m. 1980)​
Children	2

Sandra Kay Duncan (born February 20, 1946) is an American actress, comedian, dancer and singer. She is known for her performances in the Broadway revival of Peter Pan and in the sitcom The Hogan Family. Duncan has been nominated for three Tony Awards, two Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards.

Early life

Duncan was born on February 20, 1946 in New London, Texas to Sylvia and Mancil Ray Duncan, a gas-station owner. She spent her early years there before moving to Tyler, Texas when she was in third grade. She performed in her first dance recital at the age of five.

Career

Duncan as Pinocchio with Flip Wilson as Fox and Liz Torres as Cat (TV musical, 1976)

Duncan started her entertainment career at age 12, working in a local production of The King and I for $150 a week. In the late 1960s, she appeared in a commercial for United California Bank and in the soap opera Search for Tomorrow for a brief period in 1968.

In 1970, Duncan was named one of the "most promising faces of tomorrow" by Time magazine. Also that year, she starred in the Broadway revival of The Boy Friend, for which she received favorable reviews. Duncan made her feature-film debut costarring with Dean Jones in the Walt Disney family comedy The Million Dollar Duck. She was then cast as Amy Cooper in the Paramount film version of Star Spangled Girl, based on the Broadway play by Neil Simon. Both films performed poorly at the box office. In autumn 1971, Duncan starred as Sandy Stockton on the CBS sitcom Funny Face. The program was placed in the Saturday-night prime-time schedule between All in the Family and The New Dick Van Dyke Show. Critics dismissed the show but praised Duncan, especially TV Guide columnist Cleveland Amory, who described her as "a wonderful comedienne."

Shortly after the premiere of Funny Face, Duncan underwent surgery to remove a benign brain tumor behind her left optic nerve. As a result, she lost vision in the eye, but it was not replaced with a prosthetic eye as some urban myths claim. She lost vision in her left eye, but because the eye still tracked with her right eye, Duncan and her doctors elected to leave her natural eye in place. Though Duncan's recovery from the operation was rapid, CBS suspended production on Funny Face until the following year after the 12th installment had been filmed; the original series pilot served as the 13th (and final) episode. At first, Nielsen ratings for Funny Face were low, ranking in the lower 50s, but they eventually climbed to #17, and the show was called the best-liked new show of that television season. Duncan was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Comedy Series. In September 1972, Funny Face returned as The Sandy Duncan Show, with a revised format, new writers and a new time slot, Sundays at 8:30 p.m. Critical reaction to the show was similar to that for Funny Face, but without the strong Saturday night lead-in of All in the Family, the ratings sank. After 13 episodes, CBS canceled the series.

In 1976, Duncan played the title role in a television musical adaptation of Pinocchio that featured Danny Kaye as Geppetto and Flip Wilson as the Fox. She also guest-starred in a first-season episode of The Muppet Show. For her performance as Missy Anne Reynolds in the miniseries Roots, she earned another Emmy nomination.

Duncan then returned to the Broadway stage for many years. In 1979, her run as the title role in Peter Pan won her many accolades. She also had replacement roles in My One and Only and Chicago. She was nominated for a Tony Award three times: in 1969, for Featured Actress (Musical) for Canterbury Tales, in 1971, as Best Actress (Musical) for The Boy Friend and in 1980, as Best Actress (Musical) for Peter Pan.

In 1972, an animated version of Duncan (who contributed her own voice) appeared in the "Sandy Duncan's Jekyll and Hyde" episode of the CBS Saturday-morning cartoon The New Scooby-Doo Movies. In 1976, she guest-starred on The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman playing the role of Gillian in "The Return of Bigfoot" episodes.

In 1978, Duncan starred in Disney's The Cat from Outer Space along with Ken Berry, Harry Morgan and Roddy McDowall. From the mid-1970s through the 1980s, Duncan was the commercial spokesperson for Nabisco's Wheat Thins crackers.

In 1981, Duncan voiced Vixey in The Fox and the Hound. In 1984, she starred in a song and dance revue titled 5-6-7-8...Dance! at Radio City Music Hall and provided voice work for the My Little Pony television special Rescue at Midnight Castle as Firefly and Applejack. From 1986 to 1987, she reprised her role as Firefly in the My Little Pony 'n Friends series. In 1987, she joined the cast of NBC's Valerie's Family (previously known as Valerie, later to be retitled The Hogan Family) after Valerie Harper was dismissed. Duncan starred as the matriarch's sister-in-law Sandy Hogan, who moves in with her brother Mike (Josh Taylor) and his three sons to help raise the family after Valerie Hogan's death. Duncan remained with the series through its cancellation in 1991. In 1988, she worked on the first three Barney and the Backyard Gang children's videos. Duncan was asked to take part in the Barney & Friends television series, but declined the offer. In 1991, she voiced Peepers the mouse in the Don Bluth film Rock-a-Doodle. In 1994, she voiced Queen Uberta in the Richard Rich film The Swan Princess.

In 2003, Duncan appeared in the rotating cast of the Off-Broadway staged reading of Wit & Wisdom. In May 2008, she performed one of the lead roles in the musical No, No, Nanette, a production of the City Center's annual Encores! series. In April 2009, she performed the lead role in the play Driving Miss Daisy at Casa Mañana Theatre in Fort Worth, Texas. In September 2009, she played the lead role in Tennessee Williams' play The Glass Menagerie at the Mountain Playhouse in Jennerstown, Pennsylvania. She has also participated in many traveling stage productions, including The King and I.

On February 12, 2016, Duncan took the role of Madame du Maurier in the Broadway production of Finding Neverland. On February 17, the show's producers announced that she would take a temporary leave of absence because of family obligations.

Personal life

Duncan in 1999

Duncan met singer-actor Bruce Scott (born Bruce Scott Zaharaides) during the Off-Broadway production of Your Own Thing, and they were married in September 1968. Their divorce, finalized in October 1972, was caused by tensions resulting from Duncan's success and rise to stardom. Duncan told People magazine in 1979 that "It was very threatening to Bruce."

Her second marriage was to Dr. Thomas Calcaterra on January 10, 1973; it lasted until 1979. Duncan met Calcaterra when he was a consulting surgeon for her brain-tumor surgery. This marriage also failed, according to Duncan, because of the demands of her 1978 nightclub act and her refusal to remain at home to be a good "doctor's wife."

Since July 21, 1980, Duncan has been married to Don Correia. They have two sons, born in 1982 and 1984. She and her husband, who performed together on stage before they wed, live in Connecticut.

Taylorville, Illinois (near Springfield) named a street in her honor, Sandy Duncan Drive. Her character in Funny Face and The Sandy Duncan Show, Sandy Stockton, is from Taylorville.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1969	Midnight Cowboy	Woman in TV Montage	uncredited
1971	The Million Dollar Duck	Katie Dooley
1971	Star Spangled Girl	Amy Cooper
1978	The Cat from Outer Space	Liz
1981	The Fox and the Hound	Vixey	Voice Role
1988	The Backyard Show	Mom	Short Film
1989	Three Wishes	Mom	Short Film
1989	A Day at the Beach	Mom / Molly the Mermaid	Short Film
1991	Rock-a-Doodle	Peepers	Voice Role
1994	The Swan Princess	Queen Uberta	Voice Role
1998	The Swan Princess: Sing Along	Queen Uberta (Voice Role)	Short Film
2001	Never Again	Natasha
2001	G Spots?	The Queen	Short Film
2016	Life is Funny	N/A	Short Film (Co-Producer)

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1964	Search for Tomorrow	Helen	2 episodes
1970	The Jackie Gleason Show	Herself (Guest)	"#4.15"
1970–1971	What's My Line?	Herself (Panelist)	2 episodes
1971	Bonanza	Angeline	"An Earthquake Called Callahan"
1971	Funny Face	Sandy Stockton	series regular (13 episodes)
1972	The New Scooby-Doo Movies	Herself (Voice Role)	"Sandy Duncan's Jekyll and Hyde"
1972	The Sandy Duncan Show	Herself	series regular (13 episodes)
1972	The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour	Herself (Guest)	"#2.11"
1972–1973	Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In	Herself (Guest Performer)	2 episodes
1972–1976	The Hollywood Squares	Herself (Panelist)	21 episodes
1972–1979	The Hollywood Squares	Herself (Panelist)	130 episodes
1972–1990	The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson	Herself (Guest)	38 episodes
1973–1979	The $10,000 Pyramid	Herself (Celebrity Contestant)	45 episodes
1974	Password	Herself (Celebrity Contestant)	"11.26.1974"
1974–1978	The $25,000 Pyramid	Herself (Celebrity Contestant)	6 episodes
1975	The Bob Hope Show	Herself (Guest)	1 episode
1975–1980	Dinah!	Herself (Guest)	10 episodes
1976	Pinocchio	Pinocchio	TV Movie
1976	Good Heavens	Patti	"The Big Break"
1976	The Six Million Dollar Man	Gillian	"The Return of Bigfoot: Part 1"
1976	The Bionic Woman	Gillian	"The Return of Bigfoot: Part 2"
1976	Christmas in Disneyland	Tour Guide / Snow White	TV Movie
1976	The Muppet Show	Herself (Special Guest Star)	"Sandy Duncan"
1977	Roots	Missy Anne Reynods	Miniseries (2 episodes)
1977	The Love Boat	Sharon Barker	"Lost and Found / The Understudy / Married Singles"
1980	Omnibus	Peter Pan	"06.15.1980"
1984	My Little Pony	Firefly / Applejack / Medley (Voice Role)	TV Short
1986	Miss Universe Pageant	Herself (Judge)	TV Special
1987	Act II	Meg Madison	TV Movie
1987–1991	Valerie's Family / The Hogan Family	Sandy Hogan	main cast (season 3 onwards)
1988	ALF	Herself	"We Are Family"
1989	My Boyfriend's Back	Chris Henry	TV Movie
1993	Miracle on Interstate 880	Lorrie Helm	TV Movie
1995	Law & Order	Defense Attorney Michelle "Shelly" Kates	"Paranoia"
1999	Jeopardy!	Herself (Celebrity Contestant)	"1999-B Celebrity Jeopardy! Game #5"
2014–2015	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Trial Judge Virginia Farrell	2 episodes
2020	Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?	Herself (Voice Role)	"The Dreaded Remake of Jekyll & Hyde!"

Theater

• The King and I (1958)
• Billion Dollar Baby (1961)
• South Pacific (1962)
• Show Boat (1963)
• Apollo and Miss Agnes (1963)
• My Fair Lady (1964)
• The Sound of Music (1964)
• Brigadoon (1965)
• The Music Man (1965)
• Carousel (1966)
• Peter Pan (1966)
• The Sound of Music (1967)
• Finian's Rainbow (1967)
• Life with Father (1967)
• Wonderful Town (1967)
• The Ceremony of Innocence (play) (1968)
• Your Own Thing (1968)
• Canterbury Tales (1969)
• Love Is a Time of Day (1969)
• The Boy Friend (1970)
• Vanities (1976)
• Peter Pan (1979–1981)
• 5-6-7-8... Dance! (1984)
• My One and Only (1985–1986)
• Waitin' in the Wings (1986)
• Chicago (1996–1997)
• Jubilee (1998)
• Two for the Show (1999)
• The Witches of Eastwick (1999) (reading)
• Anything Goes (2002)
• The Fourth Wall (2002)
• The Grass Harp (2003)
• The King and I (2004)
• Mame (2006)
• Mud Donahue's Eccentric Son (2007)
• No, No, Nanette (2008)
• Driving Miss Daisy (2009)
• The Glass Menagerie (2009)
• Driving Miss Daisy (2014)
• Finding Neverland (2016)
• Love Letters (2018)

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
1970	Drama Desk Awards	Outstanding Performance	The Boy Friend	Won
1980		Outstanding Actress in a Musical	Peter Pan	Nominated
1971	Golden Globe Awards	Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy	Star Spangled Girl	Nominated
		Most Promising Newcomer – Female	The Million Dollar Duck	Nominated
1972	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Comedy Series	Funny Face	Nominated
1977		Outstanding Single Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Comedy or Drama Series	Roots	Nominated
1968	Theatre World Awards	—	Ceremony of Innocence	Won
1969	Tony Awards	Best Featured Actress in a Musical	Canterbury Tales	Nominated
1971		Best Leading Actress in a Musical	The Boy Friend	Nominated
1980			Peter Pan	Nominated

External links

• Sandy Duncan at IMDb
• Sandy Duncan at the TCM Movie Database
• Sandy Duncan at the Internet Broadway Database
• Sandy Duncan at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Interview with Sandy Duncan – Tyler Morning Telegraph, September, 2016.