Sam Snyders (also known as "Sammy Snyders"), is a former television and film
child actor
The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage, television, or in film, movies. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associa ...
from Canada.
He is best known for his role as
Tom Sawyer
Thomas "Tom" Sawyer () is the title character of the Mark Twain novel '' The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' (1876). He appears in three other novels by Twain: '' Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' (1884), '' Tom Sawyer Abroad'' (1894), and '' Tom Sawy ...
in the 1979 Canadian television series, ''
Huckleberry Finn and His Friends
''Huckleberry Finn and His Friends'' is a 1979 television series documenting the exploits of Huckleberry Finn (character), Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, based on the novels ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' (1876) and ''Adventures of Huckleberr ...
'', alongside
who played
Huckleberry Finn
Huckleberry "Huck" Finn is a fictional character created by Mark Twain who first appeared in the book ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' (1876) and is the protagonist and narrator of its sequel, '' Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' (1884). He is 12 ...
, and for his role as Jamie Benjamin in the 1981 horror film ''
The Pit''.
In 1980, Snyders starred on the second season of the
nationally syndicated
Broadcast syndication is the practice of content owners leasing the right to broadcast their content to other television stations or radio stations, without having an official broadcast network to air it on. It is common in the United States whe ...
American situation comedy, ''
The Baxters
''The Baxters'' is a sitcom that aired in broadcast syndication from September 1979 to August 1981. The original American incarnation of the series aired locally from 1977 to 1979 on the Boston, Massachusetts, Boston station WCVB-TV; in 1979, N ...
''.
On the series, Snyders played Gregg Baxter, the son of an average middle-class family living in a suburb of
St. Louis
St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...
.
Originally produced by
Norman Lear
Norman Milton Lear (July 27, 1922December 5, 2023) was an American screenwriter and producer who produced, wrote, created, or developed over 100 shows. Lear created and produced numerous popular 1970s sitcoms, including ''All in the Family'' (1 ...
in its first season, the series was the first "
interactive
Across the many fields concerned with interactivity, including information science, computer science, human-computer interaction, communication, and industrial design, there is little agreement over the meaning of the term "interactivity", but mo ...
sitcom
A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...
" of its kind, wherein the first half of each 30-minute episode presented a vignette dramatizing the events in the lives of the Baxter family, and the second half was an "instant analysis"
talk show
A talk show is a television programming, radio programming or podcast genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show', pp.3-4Erler, Robert (201 ...
segment, giving a live studio audience and guests an opportunity to express their opinions about the topic being presented that week.
Snyders also produced specials for the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...
, and performed on stage in ''
A Chorus Line
''A Chorus Line'' is a 1975 musical conceived by Michael Bennett with music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Edward Kleban, and a book by James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante.
Set on the bare stage of a Broadway theater, the musical is cent ...
'' and ''
Oliver Twist
''Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress'', is the second novel by English author Charles Dickens. It was originally published as a serial from 1837 to 1839 and as a three-volume book in 1838. The story follows the titular orphan, who, ...
''.
Snyders is a dance teacher. Since November 2006, he has been the elected president of union local 1996 of
Unifor
Unifor is a Canadian general trade union founded in 2013 as a merger of the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) and Communications, Energy and Paperworkers unions. It consists of 310,000 workers, and associate members in industries including manufactu ...
(formerly the Communication, Energy, and Paper workers Union).
References
External links
*
Sam Snyders website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Snyders, Sam
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Canadian male television actors
Canadian male film actors
Canadian male child actors