Sandy Duncan: Early Life, Net Worth, How She Lost Her Eye

Sandy Duncan is a star from the sitcom “The Hogan Family”. She is more than this sitcom, more than just an actress even as she is a singer, a dancer, and also a comedian. Also, she has a rich story in the non-fiction side of her. Here are facts you need to know about the star.

Birth and early life

Sandy Duncan was born Sandy Kay Duncan. She was born in Henderson, Texas to Mr. and Mrs. Sylvia and Mancil Ray Duncan. She has a sister Robyn and the siblings were raised in the big red state.

For most girls growing in the 1950s, the issues they cared about were school, dolls, and, maybe, boys. Not Sandy Duncan who at the age of 12 was already making 150 dollars per week working in the local production of the popular “The King and I” musical. 150 dollars per week for a 12-year-old today is a big deal. It was even a bigger deal when you earn this in 1958.

Sandy Duncan career

Sandy traveled to Los Angelos to try her hand in acting having made relative success in musicals aged 12. Progress is not usually measured by age and she struggled to rise above obscurity in Hollywood. It was so bad that her best known what was a commercial for a bank.

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Duncan made small appearances in “Search for Tomorrow”, a soap opera. By 1970, things began to turn around for the better for the Texas-born actress. First, she was named “most promising faces for tomorrow” by Time, then she got a role in “The Boy Friend” on Broadway. From here, Duncan made her film debut and went on to make more movies.

It was around this time that she lost the vision of one eye. This delayed her work but didn’t stop her from going ahead to star in movies including as lead role in the TV musical adaptation of “Pinocchio” and the lead voice in “Sandy Duncan’s Jekyll and Hyde”. She also had guest appearances in important TV series in the 1970s and early 1980s.

While Sandy Duncan has had relative success in films, acting and voicing on television, including getting nominations in important awards, her cornerstone is the theatre where she has more than forty credits to her name and for which many regard her as a legend.

In October 2021, the producers of the award-winning show “The Inheritance” and “Menopause the Musical” announced a play “Middletown” to be shown at Charles W. Eisemann Center for Performing Arts in February 2022. They mentioned Sandy Duncan as a lead in the play.

Marriages and divorces

Sandy Duncan got married three times. Her first marriage was to Bruce Scott. She got married to him aged just 22, in 1968. Scott was a singer-actor she met on the set of one of her countless shows. She was a budding star when she met him. At the turn of the decade, she was named a promising star by Time and made her film debut.

According to Sandy, her success was a threat to Scott who wasn’t exactly what you can term a pop star. Tension rose and the marriage didn’t survive it. After her surgery and recovery, the couple divorced.

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Then Duncan got married her consulting doctor, Thomas Calcaterra. They got married in 1973. The doctor wanted Sandy to be a housewife. To appease him, Sandy made few appearances on shows throughout the duration of their marriage. The marriage ended in 1973.

Sandy finally found a lasting soulmate in Don Correia the actor and choreographer most known for the musical “Singin’ in the Rain”. Mr. and Mrs. Correia are blessed with two sons, Jeffrey and Michael, all in their thirties today. Correia is five years younger than his wife. The two have celebrated their 33 years wedding anniversary which is what matters most.

Sandy Duncan’s net worth

Sandy Duncan is worth five million dollars. This is a lot of money but if you divide this by her more than her 100 show appearances, it comes at less than 50 thousand dollars per show. It is still big or not depending on how what eye you chose to see it with.

To put this in a perspective, the average salary of a Hollywood star according to Payscale.com is 51 thousand dollars. And Sandy Duncan is not your average Joan in Hollywood. Another perspective: Sandy Duncan is 73 years old in 2019, more than 33 years older than the peak age in Hollywood.

One last perspective: Sandy Duncan is richer than you are and we do not need Celebrity Net Worth to tell us that.

How Sandy Duncan Lost Her Eye

In 1971, Sandy Duncan was diagnosed with a brain tumor on an optic nerve. She went under the knife to remove the tumor viewed as “benign” but there is nothing benign about the tumor which left her with a blind eye.

A strong woman, Ms. Duncan didn’t let this derail her career as she went on to bag roles, awards, and millions.

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