February 2019 16 Ididn't expect to be saying goodbye to “Ranger Bob" at this time. Neither did any of the friends of Sanford Lawrence Gibbons, aka “Ranger Bob" of the Wallace & Ladmo Show. Ranger Bob was a regular on this very popular kids TV show. The Wallace & Ladmo Show was a local hit in Phoenix for 35 years from 1953 to 1985. Kids that grew up watching it now tell their grandkids about coming home from school and tuning into the Wallace & Ladmo Show. Sandy Gibbons grew up in Kansas City, Missouri where he enjoyed performing in plays during his high school years. Sandy would continue doing plays and musicals all through college at Saint Benedict’s College in Atchison, Kansas. He studied for the priesthood and graduated in 1954. After joining the Army Sandy’s love for entertaining didn't change. He auditioned for the Armed Forces Radio Service while stationed in Anchorage, Alaska in 1956. Sandy kept busy playing piano or guitar at several nightclubs in the area while hosting a local Alaska TV show. Sandy went on to win the “All Alaska Talent Contest.” After leaving the Army and moving to Los Angeles, Sandy would continue looking for work in the entertainment industry. Searching Variety magazine and other entertainment papers kept Sandy busy in the tough and very competitive Hollywood entertainment world but it eventually paid off with an audition and getting a part in an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents. This was Sandy’s first SAG credit, opening the door for many more SAG movies and TV programs. He moved to Phoenix, in 1959 to take a job at the Sombrero Playhouse, an Equity Theatre, as a resident actor. Sandy also did other plays, musicals, and dinner theatre around Arizona. This led to getting into radio and TV as a news reporter, news anchor, and TV host. Add to that countless commercials and voice-overs. While working for KPHO channel 5 in downtown Phoenix, Sandy would make friends that would fill the rest of his life. KPHO was a small studio having a friendly atmosphere where everyone knew each other and helped one another. One of the shows was Gold Dust Charlie starring Ken Kennedy and when Ken left it became It’s Wallace? starring Bill Thomson. When cameraman Ladimir Kwiatkowski stepped around in front of the camera with “Wallace", it became the Wallace & Ladmo Show. Pat McMahon won a regular part when he was brought in as that brat kid “Gerald.” Sandy Gibbons offered to help with some character parts, at first as “the Safety Fireman”, and later as “Ranger Bob”. Sandy’s experience wearing many different hats and his engaging likable personality was perfect for hosting the very successful TV show Dialing for Dollars. By Bob Roloff, “The Arizona Duuude” You can follow Bob Roloff on Facebook. THE ARIZONA DUUUDE A Tribute to Sanford aka Sandy Gibbons By LeeAnn Sharpe Ifirst met Sandy Gibbons around 2009, when I attended the Wallace Luncheon, thus called because it was dedicated to the memory of Bill “Wallace” Thompson. Sandy had been Wallace’s best friend and was keen on keeping him busy, at least every Friday by getting him out of the house to a luncheon. Over the years it’d developed into quite a production, entertaining local celebrities such as Frank Kush, other sports figures, the Mayor, local politicians, Marshall Trimble, Bob Boze Bell, other writers and whoever else was in the news. I’d been invited to the Wallace Lunch by David Culling. Larry Chebowski, Sandy’s best friend, was a regular and soon became my tenant. It was on his recommendation that I was hired. I spent most of my time writing books for other people, so when Sandy needed an author, I was it! Sandy wanted to write a book that would help young people get into show business. He’d written the basic book, but it lacked a very important part. Everyone he was talking about would be totally unknown to the young people he was addressing. He needed footnotes to explain who these people were. That’s where I came in. Over the years Sandy had worked with almost everyone who had anything to do with entertainment. Movies, television, stage and commercial endeavors, he did it all. Not only was he an actor, but as the host of many entertainment shows he interviewed such people as Phyllis Diller, Amanda Blake, Lawrence Welk, Johnny Mathis, Red Foxx, Danny Kaye, Mickey Rooney, Rex Allen, and many others and he got to know them in a different way. He said that they each taught him something and he explains each lesson in his book Show Biz Voice & Talent Work Anywhere! subtitled: Working with the Hollywood Greats: Lessons Learned from the Stars: An Actors Workbook. It can be purchased online at azphm.com. The highlight of his career was his time on the movie Tombstone. When he went to the audition there were about 40 men. He asked one of the guys who just come out of the audition who was in the room? When he learned who the director was, he directed his audition to him and did it in Latin, and it got him the part. In that movie, he appeared with Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer. He talked about how Kilmer always stayed in character but Russell was fun, always wanting to learn everything. Over the course of 50 years, he shared the screen with a lot of stars including Barbra Streisand, Kris Kristofferson, James Arness, Kevin Costner, Michael Landon, Lee Majors, Michael J Fox, Josh Brolin, Susan Lucci, Cuba Gooding, Rod Taylor, Robert Mitchum, Sidney Poitier and many more. Movies like A Star is Born, Tin Cup, Hanky Panky, The Gambler and Terminal Velocity made for an exciting career. Television with shows like Little House on the Prairie and Gunsmoke provided a steady living. At the same time, Sandy was hosting radio shows like Bill Haywood's and stage productions like Brigadoon. At the end of his book, he offered this final advice. Always maintain a positive attitude. That was Sandy through and through. Rest in peace, my good friend. Dialing for Dollars