Sandy Howard

Prolific producer Sandy Howard was born in the Bronx, New York on August 1, 1927. Soon afterwards his parents moved to Yonkers, where he spent his early childhood harboring dreams to set the world on fire. He broke into show business as a teenager, working as a publicist for Broadway shows for Lee Solters. During the infancy of television, Sandy, at the age of 19, started directing Howdy Doody. He continued in this new medium as the producer and director of Captain Kankaroo. On a more serious note, Howard produced Author Meets the Critics. For many years he was the executive producer of "The Barry Gray Radio Show," the forerunner of all the talk show hosts and formats that followed. On movie sets around the globe, Sandy was often mistaken for on camera talent because of his dashing good looks. He produced a total of 72 films, among them A Man Called Horse. His heroic stands on behalf of vulnerable people were multiple. While in South Africa filming he took a stand against apartheid by refusing to separate the black cast and crew members from the whites. When the government stepped in to enforce their political agenda, he moved a sleeping bag into the African compound and stayed with the segregated cast and crew. Another example was his imprisonment in Greece for an explosion of the set of Sky Rider, when he offered himself up to anti-American military officials (at the time) to save a crew member from any consequences. Many stars worked with Howard, including Jodie Foster, who got her film break in Howard's Echoes of Summer, a young Sean Connery in Meteor and famed silent screen actress Lillian Gish. He was most proud of working with Ms. Gish, who gave him an autographed photo that he always treasured. Howard married very late in life (at the age of 65) to Arlene Howard (Noel.) She was his PA in the early days of his career. He struggled with the ravages of Alzheimer's disease, to which he succumbed in on May 16, 2008. A classic gentleman, Sandy Howard was always dashing and cavalier to the very end.