Actor and Comedian Allan Melvin was everyone’s neighbor and best friend. To this day, the man waltzes across our television screens in a wide variety of sitcoms dating back to the 1950s. He always knew how to make us laugh as a comedian or make us quake in our shoes as a threatening street wise bully. He was Archie Bunker’s best friend and Barney Fife’s worst enemy. He was Alice’s long-time boyfriend in The Brady Bunch as Sam the butcher.
Everyone knew his name.
Melvin had a face everyone could remember yet no one really knew who he was. He was always “that guy…you know….that guy…”
Allan John Melvin was born in Kansas City, Missouri on February 18, 1923 and spent 84 years on this apple – passing January 17, 2008 at age 84 from cancer. He spent most of his younger years in New York and portrayed a “New York” kind of attitude in his characters long after leaving New York. Melvin married Amalia Faustina Sestero in New York in 1944 toward the end of World War II.
Melvin never once had a starring role, yet he appeared in hundreds of television roles too numerous to name. Melvin was endearing to us all as Sam the Butcher – one of his most memorable characters. Seems he always gave Alice the best deals on meat. Who could ever forget him as Sergeant Hacker in Gomer Pyle USMC in the 1960s and Corporal Henshaw in The Phil Silvers Show early on in the 1950s. He had a natural bend for military characters.
If you spent time in front of the TV as a kid in the 1960s, you knew Melvin by his Hanna-Barbera voiceovers such as Magilla Gorilla as one example of his great professionalism. He could articulate his voice to any character.
Melvin attended Columbia University and got his start in the entertainment business by making nightclub appearances. His first big break was as Corporal Steve Henshaw in the Phil Silvers Show in the 1950s. The Silvers Show was not only a terrific acting opportunity, but a chance to work with great talent and mold his craft.
He grew to be a character we loved.
Melvin’s career took off when he made the acquaintance of Sheldon Leonard and Desilu – which led to opportunities in Andy Griffith, Dick Van Dyke, Gomer Pyle and others. He also appeared in Perry Mason and Lost In Space. You will also remember Allan Melvin for his television commercials – such as Al the Plumber for Liquid Plumer, Kelloggs cereals, and a host of others.
Melvin became a regular on “All In The Family” and “Archie Bunker’s Place” as best friend Barney Hefner whose dog always left Bunker a “pyramid” on his doorstep or played practical jokes on Bunker via Pinky Peterson (actor Eugene Roche).
Barney Hefner can be considered Melvin’s final bow before his health deteriorated and he retire from acting.
Boomer Journey... 