Bob Sweeney (October 19, 1918 – June 7, 1992) was an American actor, director and producer of radio, television and film.
Early years
Bob Sweeney was a graduate of
Balboa High School in San Francisco and
San Francisco State College
San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different b ...
. In the early part of World War II, he and college classmate
George Fenneman
George Watt Fenneman (November 10, 1919 – May 29, 1997) was an American radio and television announcer. Fenneman is best remembered as the show announcer and straight man on Groucho Marx's '' You Bet Your Life''. Marx, said of Fenneman in 1976, ...
formed a stand-up comedy team and entertained troops at military bases.
Early career on radio and television
Sweeney began his career on radio as an announcer and then became a comedian. From 1944 through 1948 he teamed with comedy partner
Hal March in ''The Bob Sweeney-Hal March Show'' on
CBS Radio.
[ He went on to appear as a supporting character in various sitcoms in the early days of television including the role of Gilmore Cobb in the television version of '']My Favorite Husband
''My Favorite Husband'' is the name of an American radio program and network television series. The original radio show, starring Lucille Ball, evolved into the groundbreaking television sitcom '' I Love Lucy''. The series was based on the novels ...
'' (1953–54) with co-stars Joan Caulfield
Beatrice Joan Caulfield (June 1, 1922 – June 18, 1991) was an American actress and model. After being discovered by Broadway producers, she began a stage career in 1943 that eventually led to signing as an actress with Paramount Pictures. In th ...
and Barry Nelson
Barry Nelson (born Robert Haakon Nielsen; April 16, 1917 – April 7, 2007) was an American actor, noted as the first actor to portray Ian Fleming's secret agent James Bond.
Early life
Nelson was born in San Francisco, the son of Norwegian imm ...
. Sweeney made appearances on ''The Rifleman
''The Rifleman'' is an American Western television program starring Chuck Connors as rancher Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his son Mark McCain. It was set in the 1880s in the fictional town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory. The show ...
'' and ''Our Miss Brooks
''Our Miss Brooks'' is an American sitcom starring Eve Arden as a sardonic high-school English teacher. It began as a radio show broadcast on CBS from 1948 to 1957. When the show was adapted to television (1952–56), it became one of the medi ...
'' during its last two seasons of production (1955–1956) working alongside Eve Arden
Eve Arden (born Eunice Mary Quedens, April 30, 1908 – November 12, 1990) was an American film, radio, stage and television actress. She performed in leading and supporting roles for nearly six decades.
Beginning her film career in 1929 ...
, Gale Gordon
Gale Gordon (born Charles Thomas Aldrich Jr., February 20, 1906 – June 30, 1995) was an American character actor perhaps best remembered as Lucille Ball's longtime television foil—and particularly as cantankerously combustible, tightfiste ...
, and Richard Crenna
Richard Donald Crenna (November 30, 1926 – January 17, 2003) was an American film, television and radio actor.
Crenna starred in such motion pictures as ''The Sand Pebbles'', ''Wait Until Dark'', ''Un Flic'', ''Body Heat'', the first three ' ...
.
From 1956 to 1957, Sweeney starred with Gordon in the TV sitcom '' The Brothers''. In 1959, he landed the lead role on the short-lived NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
television series ''Fibber McGee and Molly
''Fibber McGee and Molly'' (1935–1959) was a longtime highly popular husband-and-wife team radio comedy program.
The situation comedy was a staple of the NBC Red Network from 1936 on, after originating on NBC Blue in 1935. One of the most p ...
'' opposite Cathy Lewis
Catherine Lee Lewis (December 27, 1916 – November 20, 1968) was an American actress on radio, film, and television. She is remembered best for numerous radio appearances but also noted for making a number of film and television appearances in ...
. Unlike its radio counterpart, ''Fibber McGee'' failed on television and was cancelled after less than one season. During that same season, Sweeney directed the 18-week NBC sitcom ''Love and Marriage
"Love and Marriage" is a 1955 song with lyrics by Sammy Cahn and music by Jimmy Van Heusen. It is published by Barton Music Corporation ( ASCAP).
Frank Sinatra versions
"Love and Marriage" was introduced by Frank Sinatra in the 1955 televi ...
'' set in Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley was a collection of music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It originally referred to a specific place: West 28th Street ...
of New York City. His co-stars were William Demarest, Stubby Kaye, Jeanne Bal, and Murray Hamilton.
Movie roles
Sweeney's most notable film credits as an actor include the role of the undertaker in John Ford's ''The Last Hurrah (1958 film), The Last Hurrah'' (1958), as manipulative circus manager Harry Tupper in the Disney film ''Toby Tyler'' (1960), and as smarmy advertising executive Mr. Harker in another Disney film, ''Son of Flubber'' (1963). Sweeney also appeared as Cousin Bob in Alfred Hitchcock's ''Marnie (film), Marnie'' (1964).
Directing and producing
Sweeney is best known for his successes as a television director and producer, most notably as the director of 102 episodes of ''The Andy Griffith Show'' and as producer and/or director of episodes of several other highly successful TV series including ''That Girl'',
Personal details
Sweeney and his wife, Bev, had one child, a daughter, Bridget.
Death
Sweeney died of cancer in Westlake Village, California, on June 7, 1992.
Filmography
References
External links
*
*
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Biography
by Yahoo
The Sweeney & March Show
by The Radio Gold Index
Biography
by ''The New York Times''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sweeney, Bob
1918 births
1992 deaths
American male radio actors
Television producers from California
American television directors
American male film actors
Deaths from cancer in California
20th-century American male actors
Male actors from San Francisco
San Francisco State University alumni
20th-century American businesspeople
People from Westlake Village, California