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 Carl William Demarest (February 27, 1892 – December 27, 1983) was an American character actor, known especially for his roles in screwball comedies by Preston Sturges and for playing Uncle Charley in the sitcom '' My Three Sons'' Demarest, ...

Stubby Kaye Bernard Solomon 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.

Movie roles

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

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...

's ''

The Last Hurrah ''The Last Hurrah'' is a 1956 novel written by Edwin O'Connor. It is considered the most popular of O’Connor's works, partly because of a 1958 movie adaptation starring Spencer Tracy. The novel was immediately a bestseller in the United Stat ...

'' (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 Disney ...

'' (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 ''Marnie'' is an English crime novel, written by Winston Graham and first published in 1961. It has been adapted as a film, a stage play and an opera. Plot ''Marnie'' is about a young woman who makes a living by embezzling her employers' funds, ...

'' (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 situation comedy television series that 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 ...

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

That Girl ''That Girl'' is an American 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 hometown of Brewste ...

'', ''

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 that aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986; in addition, four three-hour specials aired in 1986, 1987, and 1990. The series was set on the luxury passenger cruise ship MS ''Pa ...

'', '' Matlock'', '' Hogan's Heroes'', and ''

Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...

''. 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. Background Evans was born in Holbrook, Arizona and raised i ...

's unsuccessful 1976

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

adventure series, ''

Spencer's Pilots ''Spencer's Pilots'' is an American 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 Associated Press ...

''. 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, sandwi ...

''. Sweeney was nominated for an Emmy Award three times, twice for ''Hawaii Five-O'' (1971 and 1973) and 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 services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds managed by Apollo Global Manage ...

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

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' {{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