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For Tommy Sands, show business came naturally.
His mother was a dance-band singer, his grandfather a concert pianist. In 1945, when he was 8, he was strumming a guitar and singing folk songs on a Shreveport, La., radio station. Four years later, Tommy Sands was on the air as a 12-year-old radio deejay. That brought him to the attention of Col. Tom Parker, Elvis Presley's manager.
The result was a contract with RCA and appearances throughout the South with the Presley show. His big break came in 1957, when, at Parker's suggestion, Sands substituted for Presley in a NBC television special, The Singin' Idol.
He won instant acclaim and an Emmy nomination for his performance. Teenage Crush, which he sang on the show, sold a million copies for Capitol Records.
In late 1957, The Singing' Idol was made into a film, retitled Sing Boy Sing, and Sands played the lead. That, in turn, led to performances in other films and television dramas, appearances on TV variety shows and engagements in major nightclubs throughout the nation.
Among his films was None But the Brave, in...