Sunday, July 04, 1999
Hollywood not kind to Sandy
BY JOHN KIESEWETTER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
When WKRP in Cincinnati left CBS in 1982, Gary Sandy left television to be a serious stage actor.
Five hundred plays later, he questions the decision.
“I thought Hollywood would come beckoning because I was a serious actor trying to give it a shot. I thought Hollywood would care. But nobody in Hollywood cared,” says Mr. Sandy, 53, who played program director Andy Travis on the sitcom.
“Had I to do it over again, I'd probably have gone into another TV show immediately, so somebody in Idaho would say, "Oh, he's an actor!'
“I totally miscalculated. I could have taken the money and run, and played the divorced dad with three kids,” he says by phone from his 800-acre retreat near Louisville.
Mr. Sandy isn't bitter. He's proud of his work on WKRP. He's just surprised that he can't escape the shadow of Andy Travis, an experience that seems like a million years ago.
“When we did that series, it was a fantastic time and a fabulous gem. Everybody was like a family, and we still are,” says Mr. Sandy, who keeps in touch with WKRP co-stars.
“But since then, it's gotten a little strange. It never occurred to me that the show would remain on the air (in reruns) for 20 years.”
The road from WKRP has taken him to Broadway three times, on four national theatrical tours, and to Cincinnati for Streetcar Named Desire (1991). He has starred in Barnum, Pirates of Penzance, Sweet Bird of Youth, Damn Yankees, The Music Man, Grease and Teahouse of the August Moon.
But movie casting directors can't see beyond amiable Andy Travis.
“I have worked my butt off for 20 years, but I don't have anything on film or on tape to show for it.”
Playing Andy wasn't as easy as it looked. It was frustrating being the straight man, the only sane person at a radio station filled with eccentrics.
“It was easier for them to write for the funny people. That's no slam on (creator) Hugh Wilson. He just knew (how to be) funny,” he says.
“But I don't want to come off as negative. I've had a great, great life.”
His next gig is rebuilding his old Kentucky home, while waiting for another role.
“Somewhere along the line, something big is going to happen. I don't know what it's going to be, but I know it's going to happen.”
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