Tommy Ivo (born April 18, 1936), also known as "TV Tommy" and "Instant Ivo" is an American

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

and

drag racer Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, most c ...

, who was active in the 1960s racing community.

Acting

Ivo was born in

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

. His acting career began in the early 1940s, with notable performances including Cousin Arne in '' I Remember Mama'' (1948), Joey in ''

Prejudice Prejudice can be an affect (psychology), affective feeling towards a person based on their perceived In-group and out-group, social group membership. The word is often used to refer to a preconceived (usually unfavourable) evaluation or classifi ...

'' (1949), David in '' The Lost Volcano'' with

Johnny Sheffield Johnny Sheffield (born John Matthew Sheffield Cassan, April 11, 1931 – October 15, 2010) was an American child actor who, between 1939 and 1947, portrayed Boy in the Tarzan film series and, between 1949 and 1955, played Bomba, the Jungle Boy. ...

. and William Button in '' Plymouth Adventure'' (1952). In 1955 Ivo appeared as Shelby in the "Heart of a Cheater" episode of the ''

Lone Ranger The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture. He first appeared in 1933 in a ...

'' TV show. He also appeared in ''

Make Room for Daddy ''The Danny Thomas Show'' (titled ''Make Room for Daddy'' for its first three seasons) is an American sitcom that ran from 1953 to 1957 on ABC and from 1957 to 1964 on CBS. Starring Danny Thomas as a successful night club entertainer, the sho ...

'' as daughter Terry's boyfriend Walter in "Terry Goes Steady" in 1958. The teenage Hot Rod film entitled

Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow ''Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow'' is a 1959 AIP horror comedy film. It was a sequel to their film '' Hot Rod Gang''. American International Pictures released the film in July 1959 as a double feature with '' Diary of a High School Bride''. The film ...

(1959), features a brief appearance of Tommy Ivo as a dragster racer and race car builder. From 1959 to 1961, Ivo appeared as Herbie Bailey on ''

The Donna Reed Show ''The Donna Reed Show'' is an American sitcom starring Donna Reed as the middle-class housewife Donna Stone. Carl Betz co-stars as her Pediatrics, pediatrician husband Dr. Alex Stone, and Shelley Fabares and Paul Petersen as their teenage childr ...

''. In 1961 Ivo appeared as William, the young son of Motel owner Mrs Prattle -‘Praytell’- in the American ‘neo noir’ crime Film “The Cat Burglar” written by actor and former criminal Leo Gordon, starring Jack Hogan, June Kenney and John Baer. Ivo guest starred in an episode of the syndicated adventure

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

, ''

Rescue 8 ''Rescue 8'' is a syndicated American action adventure drama series about Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACFD) Rescue Squad 8. It premiered in 1958 and originally ran for two seasons with syndicated reruns continuing for almost a deca ...

'' and in two episodes of ''

Leave It to Beaver ''Leave It to Beaver'' is an American television sitcom that follows the misadventures of a suburban boy, his family and his friends. It starred Barbara Billingsley, Hugh Beaumont, Tony Dow and Jerry Mathers. CBS first broadcast the show ...

'' (one being S3E37’s “Wally’s Play” as “The Duke”). He also guest starred on the ABC/

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

western series, ''

Sugarfoot ''Sugarfoot'' is an American Western television series that aired for 69 episodes on ABC from 1957-1961 on Tuesday nights on a "shared" slot basis – rotating with ''Cheyenne'' (first season); ''Cheyenne'' and '' Bronco'' (both second and fo ...

'' and on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

western series '' The Tall Man''. In several episodes of ''

Father Knows Best ''Father Knows Best'' is an American sitcom starring Robert Young (actor), Robert Young, Jane Wyatt, Elinor Donahue, Billy Gray (actor), Billy Gray and Lauren Chapin. The series, which began on radio in 1949, aired as a television show for six ...

'', he played one of the Bud Anderson's friends. During the 1961–62 TV season, Ivo played the role of Haywood Botts in another ABC sitcom, ''

Margie Margie is a feminine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of the related names Margaret, Marjorie, or Margarita, all of which mean "pearl". Margie may refer to: People * Margie Abbott (born 1958), Australian businesswoman * Margie Ac ...

''. In 1963 he appeared in the "Honeymoon Hotel" episode of the ''

Petticoat Junction ''Petticoat Junction'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from September 1963 to April 1970. The series takes place at the Shady Rest Hotel, which is run by Kate Bradley; her three daughters Billie Jo, Bobbie Jo, an ...

''.

Racing

In the late 1950s, Ivo raced a twin (side by side) Buick nailhead-engined dragster which was the first gasoline-powered dragster to break the nine-second barrier. The car held the ''Drag News'' AA/GD et record at 8.69. The Twin Buick also was the first gas dragster to record speeds of 170, 175 and 180 mph which were Standard 1320 records as well. It was unique in appearance and won numerous races, including NASCAR's first National Drag Race. Later he designed a four-engine, four-wheel-drive dragster he called ''Showboat'' (with a quartet of Nailheads), but

NHRA The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is a governing body which sets rules in drag racing and hosts events all over the United States and Canada. With over 40,000 drivers in its rosters, the NHRA claims to be the largest motorsport sanction ...

ruled it the first "exhibition" dragster, and he was unable to race it. In 1963, Ivo's Barnstormer, a

nitro Nitro may refer to: Chemistry *Nitrogen, a chemical element and a gas except at very low temperatures, with which many compounds are formed: **Nitro compound, an organic compound containing one or more nitro functional groups, -NO2 **Nitro ligand ...

-burning 392 Hemi-powered

slingshot A slingshot or catapult is a small hand-powered projectile weapon. The classic form consists of a Y-shaped frame, with two tubes or strips made from either a natural rubber or synthetic elastic material. These are attached to the upper two ends ...

, purchased to replace the failed ''Videoliner'',) became one of only two seven-second

Top Fuel Top Fuel is a type of drag racing whose dragsters are the quickest accelerating racing cars in the world and the fastest sanctioned category of drag racing, with the fastest competitors reaching speeds of and finishing the runs in 3.641 second ...

dragsters, so he staged a Seven Second Match Race with the other, the Greer Black Prudhomme dragster, driven by

Don Prudhomme Don Prudhomme (born April 6, 1941, in San Fernando, California), nicknamed "the Snake", is an American drag racer. He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1991. Racing career Prudhomme crewed for "TV Tommy" Ivo on Ivo's ...

Prudhomme won. During 1964, Ivo traveled to England, with

Don Garlits Donald Glenn Garlits (born January 14, 1932) is an American race car driver and automotive engineer. Born in Tampa, Florida, Garlits is considered the father of drag racing, he is known as "Big Daddy" to drag racing fans around the world. A pion ...

and other racers, to participate in the First International Drag Festival, a six-event series that did much to promote drag racing in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. During 1972 and 1973, Ivo attended 100 race meets; this record was matched only by "Jungle Jim" Liberman and Ed "The Ace" McCulloch.Motorsport.com
(retrieved 14 September 2018) He retired from the circuit in 1982.
at the

Motorsports Hall of Fame of America The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA) is a hall of fame that honors motorsports competitors and contributors from the United States from all disciplines, with categories for Open Wheel, Stock Cars, Powerboats, Drag Racing, Motorcycles ...

Awards

*He was inducted in the

Tommy Ivo
at the

in 2005 for his drag racing career. *Ranked No.25 on the National Hot Rod Association Top 50 Drivers, 1951–2000.No. 25: Tommy Ivo
NHRA; written in 2001; Retrieved March 6, 2008

References

Sources

* * Holmstrom, John (1996). ''The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995''. Norwich: Michael Russell, p. 197. * Scherr, Elana. "Tommy Ivo's Treasures", in ''Hot Rod'', 8/2014, p75-83. *Taylor, Thom. "Beauty Beyond the Twilight Zone" in ''Hot Rod'', April 2017, pp. 30–43.

External links

*
Tommy Ivo Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ivo, Tommy 1936 births Living people Dragster drivers International Motorsports Hall of Fame inductees Racing drivers from Denver Male actors from Denver Male actors from Burbank, California 20th-century American male actors Racing drivers from California American male child actors