Sandy Baron

Sandy Baron, originally born as Sanford Irving Beresofsky on May 5, 1936, was an accomplished American actor and comedian renowned for his expansive work on stage, in films, and on television. The role that brought him into the limelight was his recurring portrayal of Jack Klompus on the popular NBC sitcom, Seinfeld. His birthplace is Brooklyn, New York, where he grew up in the Brownsville neighborhood. There, he was primarily raised by his Yiddish-speaking Russian Jewish immigrant parents, his mother Helen Farberman, a waitress, and his father Max Beresofsky, a house painter. He officially launched his career in humor at the renowned Catskill Mountains resorts, delivering their signature 'Borscht Belt' style of Jewish humor, and eventually joined the Compass Players Improv Comedy group in the late 1950s. This actor, Sanford Beresofsky, later became widely known as Sandy Baron, the name he adopted drawing inspiration from his local Barron's Bookstore.

Sandy Baron made his Broadway debut in Tchin-Tchin in 1962, and appeared in many other Broadway productions, spanning from hits to flops, including Arturo Ui, Generations, and Lenny. His talent was first recognized nationwide in 1964 after becoming part of the weekly television program That Was The Week That Was and performed as the opening act for Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme at the Copacabana in New York City. He also made regular appearances on talk shows and acted in various television programs, including Seinfeld, Law & Order, and The Munsters. His feature film appearances include Sweet November (1968), Targets (1968), The Out-of-Towners (1970), and Birdy (1984). Besides acting, Sandy had an affinity for music and began to write songs in 1961, with hit songs such as Flying Blue Angels and The Writing on The Wall to his credit. Despite having no children, Sanford was thrice married to model/actress Geraldine Baron, writer/activist Mary Jo Webster Baron, and writer/screenwriter Stephanie Ericsson. His time was cut short on earth as he passed away due to emphysema on January 21, 2001, in Van Nuys, California, at the age of 64.