Burt Boyar (November 30, 1927 – April 4, 2018) was a Broadway columnist, voice actor, and author. He voiced the title character of

Archie Andrews Archibald "Archie" Andrews, created in 1941 by publisher John L. Goldwater and artist Bob Montana in collaboration with writer Vic Bloom,

for NBC Radio in 1945 and co-wrote ''Yes I Can: The Story of Sammy Davis, Jr.'' with wife Jane Boyar and Davis himself. Boyar's work as a columnist was featured in ''The Morning Telegraph'', ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', and ''TV Guide''. He reached out to Davis for an interview after Mr. Wonderful opened on Broadway in 1956. They became close friends and after almost a year they began working on the best-selling memoir. Later a follow-up book, ''Why Me?'', was published in 1989. Boyer also compiled a book of photographs taken by Davis, entitled ''Photo by Sammy Davis Jr'', which was published in 2007. Boyer's collection of material relating to Sammy Davis Jr. can be found at the Library of Congress.

Biography

Burton Anselm Boyar was born in New York City. He was the middle son of Lillian and Benjamin Boyar. His father a theatrical general manager known as the "Mayor of Broadway." Boyar was a child actor; he starred in numerous radio series, among them he played Billy Batson on "Captain Marvel" and Archie Andrews in "Archie." Despite not graduating from high school or attending college, Boyar was adept at English composition. Boyar was an equestrian. He served in the

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. After completing his service, Boyar became a Broadway press agent, then a nationally syndicated columnist.

Personal life and death

Boyar married Jane (née Feinstein -1997) in 1954 and they were married for 44 years. He never married

Betsy Bloomingdale Betty Lee "Betsy" Bloomingdale (née Newling; August 2, 1922 – July 19, 2016), was an American socialite and philanthropist. She was considered a fashion icon, first appearing on the International Best Dressed List in 1962, and in 1970 was nam ...

but was her close companion from 2001 until her death in 2016. Boyar died in his sleep at his home in Los Angeles, California on April 4, 2018. He was 90.

Bibliography

Books by Jane and Burt Boyar

*''Yes I Can: The Story of Sammy Davis Jr.'' (1965; coauthor

Sammy Davis Jr. Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, dancer, actor, comedian, film producer and television director. At age three, Davis began his career in vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the ...

) *''World Class'' (1975) *''Why Me? The Sammy Davis Jr. Story'' (1989; coauthor

) *''H.L. and Lyda: Growing Up in the H L Hunt and Lyda Bunker Hunt Family as Told by Their Eldest Daughter'' August House Publishers. (1994; as collaborators, primary author Margaret Hunt Hill) *''Sammy: An Autobiography'' (2000; coauthor

) *''Hitler Stopped by Franco''. (2001) *''Invisible Scars'' (2012; released after Jane's death)

Books by Burt Boyar

*''Photo by Sammy Davis, Jr.'' (2007; cover reads "Photo by Sammy Davis, Jr. Text by Burt Boyar)Elliott, David
"Book review: Photo by Sammy Davis Jr,"
''Bend Weekly''. *''Blessed'' (2012) *''Low Society: Fables of the 50s’ and 60s’ Café Society New York City'' (2013)

References

External links

Burt Boyar.com

Official Twitter Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyar, Burt 1927 births 2018 deaths 20th-century American male actors American male radio actors Male actors from New York City