Richard Kinard Sanders (born August 23, 1940) is a retired American actor and screenwriter. He played quirky news anchorman

Les Nessman Lester "Les" Nessman Jr. is a fictional character on the television situation comedy ''WKRP in Cincinnati'' (1978–82) played by Richard Sanders. He reprised his role in the sequel series, '' The New WKRP in Cincinnati''. Background and appear ...

on the

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 ...

sitcom ''

WKRP in Cincinnati ''WKRP in Cincinnati'' is an American sitcom television series about the misadventures of the staff of a struggling fictional radio broadcasting, radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio. The show was created by Hugh Wilson (director), Hugh Wilson ...

'' (1978–1982).

Early life and education

Sanders was born in

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...

, the son of Thelma S. and Henry Irvine Sanders. After graduating from Leavenworth High School in

Leavenworth, Kansas Leavenworth () is the county seat and largest city of Leavenworth County, Kansas, United States and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 37,351. It is located on the west bank of t ...

, he was enrolled in the Fine Arts Department at

Carnegie Institute of Technology Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

(now known as

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

) as an acting major. There, he was a classmate of

René Auberjonois René Murat Auberjonois (; June 1, 1940 – December 8, 2019) was an American actor and director. He was best known for portraying Odo on '' Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' (1993–1999). He first achieved fame as a stage actor, winning the Tony Aw ...

and Aubrey Wilson, among others.

Career

After graduating from college, Sanders studied

Shakespearean theatre William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

on a

Fulbright Scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

, and served a stint with the

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John F. ...

in the states of Paraiba and

Rio Grande do Norte Rio Grande do Norte (, , ) is one of the states of Brazil. It is located in the northeastern region of the country, forming the northeasternmost tip of the South American continent. The name literally translates as "Great Northern River", ref ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. Sanders joined

Gordon Jump Alexander Gordon Jump (April 1, 1932 – September 22, 2003) was an American actor best known as the clueless, yet occasionally wise, radio station manager Arthur "Big Guy" Carlson in the TV series ''WKRP in Cincinnati'' and the incompetent Ch ...

and

Frank Bonner Frank Bonner (born Frank Woodrow Boers Jr.; February 28, 1942 – June 16, 2021) was an American actor and television director widely known for his role as sales manager Herb Tarlek on the television sitcom ''WKRP in Cincinnati''. Personal li ...

in reprising his original ''WKRP'' role on ''

The New WKRP in Cincinnati ''The New WKRP in Cincinnati'' is an American sitcom television series that aired in first-run syndication from September 7, 1991, to May 22, 1993, as a sequel to the original CBS sitcom ''WKRP in Cincinnati'' (1978–82). As with the original ' ...

'' in the early 1990s. He has guest-appeared on other television shows, including ''

Lou Grant Lou Grant is a fictional character played by Ed Asner in two television series produced by MTM Enterprises for CBS. The first was ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (1970–1977), a half-hour light-hearted situation comedy in which the character ...

'', ''

Kojak ''Kojak'' is an American action crime drama television series starring Telly Savalas as the title character, New York City Police Department Detective Lieutenant Theodopolis "Theo" Kojak. Taking the time slot of the popular ''Cannon'' series, it ...

'', ''

The Rockford Files ''The Rockford Files'' is an American detective drama television series starring James Garner that aired on the NBC network from September 13, 1974 to January 10, 1980, and remains in syndication. Garner portrays Los Angeles private investigator ...

'', '' Alice'', ''

Newhart ''Newhart'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on CBS from October 25, 1982, to May 21, 1990, with a total of 184 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons. The series stars Bob Newhart and Mary Frann as an author and his wife, ...

'', ''

Murder, She Wrote ''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The series f ...

'', ''

Designing Women ''Designing Women'' is an American television sitcom created by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason that aired on CBS from September 29, 1986, to May 24, 1993, producing seven seasons and 163 episodes. It was a joint production of Bloodworth/Thomason M ...

'', and '' Married... with Children'', and has also acted in the mini-series '' Roots: The Next Generations'', the animated series ''

Inhumanoids ''Inhumanoids'' is the title of an animated series and the name of a Hasbro toy property that were both released in 1986. In the tradition of other Hasbro properties such as ''Transformers'', and '' G.I. Joe'', the show was produced by Sunbow Ent ...

'', the horror film '' Lovers Lane'', and the

Robert De Niro Robert Anthony De Niro Jr. ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor. Known for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese, he is considered to be one of the best actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of various accolades ...

Cuba Gooding Jr. Cuba Mark Gooding Jr. (born January 2, 1968) is an American actor. He is the recipient of an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and an Emmy nomination. After his breakthrough role as Tre Styles in ''Boyz n the Hood'' (1991), he appear ...

film ''

Men of Honor ''Men of Honor'' (released in the UK and Ireland as ''Men of Honour'') is a 2000 American drama film directed by George Tillman Jr. and starring Robert De Niro and Cuba Gooding Jr. The film is inspired by the true story of Master Chief Petty O ...

''. Besides being an actor, Sanders is a

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

, having written, among other works, several episodes of ''

''. In 1993, he starred in the computer game ''

Day of the Tentacle ''Day of the Tentacle'', also known as ''Maniac Mansion II: Day of the Tentacle'', is a 1993 graphic adventure game developed and published by LucasArts. It is the sequel to the 1987 game ''Maniac Mansion''. The plot follows Bernard Bernoulli a ...

'' as the voice of Bernard Bernoulli.

Personal life

Sanders resides in

Woodinville, Washington Woodinville is a city in King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. It is a part of the Seattle metropolitan area. There is also a much larger population with Woodinville mailing addresses in adjacent uni ...

. He is married to Marilynn Marko-Sanders.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* 1940 births Living people American male film actors American male television actors American male voice actors Actors from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Male actors from Pennsylvania 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors Carnegie Mellon University College of Fine Arts alumni Peace Corps volunteers {{US-tv-actor-1940s-stub