Sanford Jay Frank

"Sandy Frank, Sandy Frank, he's the source of all our pain." So began the famous "Sandy Frank Song" made popular by the spoof television program "Mystery Science Theater 3000" (Comedy Central/Sci-Fi 1988-1999) and sung during the episodes featuring films he produced. Sandy Frank was indeed easily parodied, from his low-budget work in TV syndication and production to his tumultuous love life. Though MST3K was targeting his most famous offerings, several poorly dubbed Japanese films, that was only one aspect of his interesting career. Frank was born in Mount Kisco, New York. His career started at Paramount Pictures, where he worked as a sales executive. He later moved from studio to studio, eventually becoming the senior vice president of worldwide sales at the Wrather Corporation. In 1964, he started his first company, called Sandy Frank Program Sales, Inc., where he distributed syndication packages for such television shows as family drama "Lassie" (CBS/syndicated 1954-1973), game show "You Asked For It" (DuMount/ABC 1950-1959), and Bill Cosby's sitcom "The Bill Cosby Show" (NBC 1969-1971). He also distributed many poorly dubbed Japanese monster films, such as the infamously low-budget Gamera franchise. In 1978, he changed the company's name to Sandy Frank Productions, in addition to expanding to include original productions. This included "Battle of the Planets" (syndicated 1978), an adaptation of the animated Japanese series "Gatchaman" (Fuji 1972-74) and a number of reality TV programs. The aging Frank was involved in a variety of personal scandals, including a domestic violence incident involving his wife Brenda, in which they were both arrested for attacking each other with drinking glasses; the couple subsequently divorced.