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

San Francisco State College San Francisco State University (San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It was established in 1899 as the San Francisco State Normal School and is part of the Califor ...

. 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

From 1944 through 1948 Sweeney teamed with comedy partner

Hal March Hal March (born Harold Mendelson; April 22, 1920 – January 19, 1970) was an American comedian, actor, and television quiz show emcee. Early career March entered show business as a straight man in the vaudeville act the Hollywood Rioteers, b ...

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'' was an American radio program and network television show. The original radio show, starring Lucille Ball, shaped into the famous sitcom ''I Love Lucy''. The series was based on the novels ''Mr. and Mrs. Cugat, the Recor ...

'' (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. Ear ...

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 series 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 Old Time Radio, radio show broadcast on CBS from 1948 to 1957. When the show was adapted to television (1952–56), it became ...

'' 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 an ...

Gale Gordon Gale Gordon (born Charles Thomas Aldrich Jr., February 20, 1906 – June 30, 1995) was an American character actor who was Lucille Ball's longtime television foil, particularly as cantankerously combustible, tightfisted bank executive Theodore J ...

, and

Richard Crenna Richard Donald Crenna (November 30, 1926 – January 17, 2003) was an American actor and television director. Crenna starred in such motion pictures as '' Made in Paris'' (1966), '' Marooned'' (1969), '' Breakheart Pass'' (1975), '' The Evil'' ...

. 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 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 ...

television series ''

Fibber McGee and Molly ''Fibber McGee and Molly'' (1935–1959) was a longtime American 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 popular ...

'' 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 t ...

. 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 televisio ...

'' set in

Tin Pan Alley Tin Pan Alley was a collection of History of music publishing, music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the American popular music, popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Originally ...

of New York City. His co-stars were

William Demarest Carl William Demarest (February 27, 1892 – December 28, 1983) was an American actor, known especially for his supporting roles in screwball comedies by Preston Sturges and as Uncle Charley in the sitcom ''My Three Sons'' from 1965-72. Demares ...

Stubby Kaye Bernard Shalom Kotzin (November 11, 1918 – December 14, 1997), known as Stubby Kaye, was an American actor, comedian, vaudevillian and singer, known for his appearances on Broadway and in film musicals. Kaye originated the roles of Nicely-Ni ...

Jeanne Bal Jeanne Bal (May 3, 1928 – April 30, 1996) was an American actress and model who worked primarily in 1960s television. Early years A Chicago native, Bal was an only child, the daughter of Joseph Peter Bal (1899–1981), a Monogram Pictures sc ...

, and

Murray Hamilton Murray Hamilton (March 24, 1923 – September 1, 1986) was an American stage, screen and television character actor who appeared in such acclaimed films as '' The Spirit of St. Louis'', ''Anatomy of a Murder'', '' The Hustler'', ''The Gradu ...

Movie roles

Sweeney's film credits as an actor include the role of the undertaker in

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), better known as John Ford, was an American film director and producer. He is regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers during the Golden Age of Hollywood, and w ...

's '' The Last Hurrah'' (1958), as manipulative circus manager Harry Tupper in the Disney film ''

Toby Tyler ''Toby Tyler or 10 Weeks with a Circus'', also known simply as ''Toby Tyler'', is a 1960 American drama film directed by Charles Barton and starring Kevin Corcoran, Henry Calvin, Gene Sheldon, and Richard Eastham. It was produced by Walt Disne ...

'' (1960), and as a humorously aggressive IRS agent Mr. Harker in another Disney film, ''

Son of Flubber ''Son of Flubber'' is a 1963 American science fiction comedy film directed by Robert Stevenson and produced by Walt Disney Productions. It is the sequel to ''The Absent-Minded Professor'' (1961) and the first sequel to a Disney film. Fred MacMu ...

'' (1963). Sweeney also appeared as Cousin Bob in

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...

's ''

Marnie Marnie may refer to: People * Marni, a given name, including a list of people named Marni and Marnie * Helen Marnie (born 1978), Scottish singer-songwriter known mononymously as Marnie Arts and entertainment * ''Marnie'' (novel), a 1961 novel by ...

'' (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 ''The Andy Griffith Show '' is an American sitcom television series that was aired on CBS from October 3, 1960, to April 1, 1968, with a total of 249 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons—159 in black and white and 90 in color. The series ...

'' and as producer and/or director of episodes of several other highly successful TV series including ''

That Girl ''That Girl'' is an American television sitcom that ran on ABC from September 8, 1966, to March 19, 1971. It starred Marlo Thomas as the title character, Ann Marie, an aspiring (but only sporadically employed) actress who moves from her hometo ...

'', ''

Hawaii Five-O Hawaii Five-O or Hawaii Five-0 may refer to: * ''Hawaii Five-0'' (2010 TV series), an American action police procedural television series * ''Hawaii Five-O'' (1968 TV series), an American police procedural drama series produced by CBS Productio ...

'', ''

The Love Boat ''The Love Boat'' is an American romantic comedy-drama television series created by Wilford Lloyd Baumes that originally aired on ABC from September 24, 1977, to May 24, 1986. In addition, three TV movies aired before the regular series pre ...

'', '' Matlock'', ''

Hogan's Heroes ''Hogan's Heroes'' is an American television sitcom created by Bernard Fein and Albert S. Ruddy which is set in a Prisoner-of-war camp, prisoner-of-war (POW) camp in Nazi Germany during World War II, and centers around a group of Allied prisoner ...

'', and ''

Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. H ...

''. He also directed

Gene Evans Eugene Barton Evans (July 11, 1922 – April 1, 1998) was an American actor who appeared in numerous television series, television films, and feature films between 1947 and 1989. Early life Evans was born in Holbrook, Arizona and raised i ...

's unsuccessful 1976

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

adventure series, ''

Spencer's Pilots ''Spencer's Pilots'' is an American Adventure (genre), adventure series that aired on CBS from September 17 to November 19, 1976. Created by Larry Rosen and developed by Alvin Sapinsley, the series stars Gene Evans.''The Tuscaloosa News'' (via As ...

''. He also directed ''

Accidental Family ''Accidental Family'' is an American sitcom broadcast on NBC during the first part of the 1967–68 U.S. television season. The show ran for sixteen episodes, from September 15, 1967, to January 5, 1968. The show aired on Fridays at 9:30pm, san ...

''. Sweeney was nominated for an Emmy Award once for ''The Love Boat'' (1983).

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

*
Biography
by

Yahoo Yahoo (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web portal that provides the search engine Yahoo Search and related services including My Yahoo, Yahoo Mail, Yahoo News, Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Sports, y!entertainment, yahoo!life, an ...

The Sweeney & March Show
by The Radio Gold Index
Biography
by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' {{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