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PAQ«U "WKRP's" Gary Sandy takes role seriously by Lynn VaracaW Although he gets top billing in CBS-TVs "WKRP in Cincinnati," Gary Sandy insists that not he, nor any one of his co-stars, is the star of the show. Sandy feels that the "star" of the show is the show itself. "I think that it's an ensemble piece. I think that any one character could leave the show and it would survive," comments Sandy. "Ac­ tually, if anything carries it, it's the genius, I think, of a fellow by the name of Hugh Wilson who is the creator of the show and who is the head writer for fan­ tastic scripts most of the time." As far as ratings and share points go, "WKRP" has been a modest success in the three seasons it has been on the air. It has been juggled around the program schedule (in the fall, it will air Wednes­ days at 8:30 ED but it is a survivor. Sandy, too, is a survivor. Growing up in Kettering, Ohio (a suburb of Dayton), he spent a good deaf of time thinking about how he would one day become an actor. "I remember saying to Mom once," Sandy reminisces, "as she was ironing clothes or something and wat­ ching the soaps, 'I can do that.' And I remember at the time thinking, 'Really! I really could.'" In fact, one of Sandy's first jobs as an actor after studying at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York was a role in the soap opera, "As The World Turns." He played a malicious dope-pusher who hooked his college roommate on drugs. From there he went to "Somerset" and played a disreputable manager of a gambling casino, and then to "The Secret Storm" where he played a troubled youth. Sandy delights in talk­ ing about his "Secret Storm" character because the role was created specifical­ ly for him. "He was a bad guy but at the same time very much of a momma's boy. So there were interesting scenes that I had with my mother that were somewhat strange, you know, when it came to hugs and stuff." Because of roles like these, he almost didn't get the part of program director Andy Travis in "WKRP." "I had con­ vinced some people that I was basically a heavy and a creep," he says. "Now, I think that everybody has forgotten about that other stuff and they can't see me as anything other than this nice Westernish program director or something." No contest Of all his roles, Sandy feels that play­ ing Andy Travis has been his toughest act. He comments, "Ifs very tough to play the straight man and set everybody etse up. Ifs tough on your ego because most of the attention goes elsewhere ... It's tough on your ego because basically night-time television, I think, forces you to become a personality, which I don't like. And it forces you to get into the contest of who can be the most popular. That's not what television is all about, but that's what it forces you into. It's a contest. It's like: Am I more popular than Loni [Andersonl? Is Loni more popular than me? Is she more popular than Howard [Hesseman]? .. . Well, that's bull. That's not what it's all about. Just playing the play is what it should be." • In "WKRP," the laugh lines may go elsewhere, but Sandy is not concerned about that because he feels his talent will be appreciated, if not now, then whenttie show goes into syndication. "If I have to see this thing on the afternoon for years to come," says Sandy, "I'm not going to embarass myself with being the kind of actor ^who stood sometimes in the backgroynd Of the scenes waving his hands, trying *5 get attention and everything like this. I'm doing my job the same as the Andy character does his job." But paradoxically, it's possible for Gary Sandy to do his job so well that An­ dy Travis is eclipsed by the colorful shenanigans of the other characters. Since the program director's job is to make sure everything runs smoothly at the station, Andy comes across as always in control, thereby taking atten­ tion away from him. "Thece's a fine line between being laid back- running the station--and being boring as an actor," comments Sandy. "And yet I don't want to caricature the character by doing things to draw attention to the character and make him funny. So there's a subtlety I've had to learn to play." Sandy envisions himself in many roles after "WKRP" has run its course, and he asserts, "It's just a matter of convincing a lot of casting people that there's other things to be done. That's not, in my case, it seems, an easy matter." But easy or not, Sandy has confidence that he can do it because he has always believed in his acting ability. "I'm f nowhere compared to what I want to > her' philosophizes Sandy, "and what I will be." TV COMPULOO SCRVICfS. INC.