Bruce Samuel Sedley
Bruce Samuel Sedley (April 19, 1925- January 21, 2012) was an American puppeteer, actor, television show host, and inventor who is best known for his role as the host “Skipper Sedley” of “The Popeye Show” which aired on KRON-TV in 1957 and as “Sir Sedley”, host of the “New Three Stooges” which aired on KTVU from 1962 to 1964.[1] as well as his variety of inventions such as the magnetic key card and a variety of other patents.
On January 21, 2012, Sedley died in his home in Hong Kong at the age of 86 due to bone cancer.
Early Life[edit]
Bruce Samuel Sedley was born on April 19th, 1925 in Alameda, California to parents Samuel Sedley and Bertha Furchgott.[2] He was raised in Berkeley, California for most of his childhood until his family was relocated by the military to Salt Lake City, Utah in 1941 during World War II. There, he attended Salt Lake High School East and participated as the lead actor in his class play of “The Man Who Came To Dinner” in 1942, playing the role of Sheridan Whiteside.[3] Once he was done with high school, Sedley and his family moved back to San Francisco where he was able to acquire a job working as the announcer for the “Wells Fargo Musical Hour” on the local radio station KJBS, which lasted from April 1945 until April 1946 when he was was drafted to fight in World War II.[3]
Before he was set to ship out, a friend of Sedley’s, who also worked at KJBS, was able to “pull some strings” and have him instead sent to the Armed Services Radio Service in Hollywood, where he provided “broadcast news and introduced transcribed recorded programs taken from live broadcasts with the commercials removed. These were beamed to troops on ships and in remote locations in the various war zones.”.[3] Sedley was discharged in May 1947, and upon his return to San Francisco, he was offered a job at the radio station KTIM in San Rafael, California. After one year, Sedley auditioned to work at the radio station KROW in Oakland, California in May 1948, where he would serve as an announcer and disc jockey, eventually replacing Don Sherwood and getting his own “morning wake-up show” called “Nick and Noodnick”.[3]
Transition to Puppeteering[edit]
While at KROW, Sedley was given the opportunity to host a late night spot lasting from 11pm to 2am for “Sedley’s Medley’s.” He created a variety of voices he would refer to as “friends” developing them into full personalities.
During his time at KITM, Sedley had created a character by the name of “Professor B. Fuddle”, who became an integral part of “Sedley’s Medley’s” Soon as Sedley’s characters continued to develop, he would be in high demand to create voices for and participate in television and animated works.[3]
Due to the amount of free time he had available during the day, Sedley opened a recording studio and became involved in various recording projects, such as the “Mr. Sylvester Show” which served as advertising for the Sylvester Butter and Eggs Company.[1] In December of 1952, Sedley quit his job with KROW and joined Gene Walker Productions to serve as a recording engineer.[3] At Gene Walker Productions, Sedley would meet Al Dinsdale, a man who originally offered the use of miniature sets, but who would go on to show Sedley ventriloquist dummies he had made previously. The dummies garnered Sedley’s interest, and so he had Dinsdale make a puppet of his well-liked character Professor Fuddle. Dinsdale gave Sedley the puppet, free of charge, and Sedley then used the puppet to audition for a TV commercial for Laura Scudder Potato Chips, which was to air live on KGO-TV once a week.[3] He won the audition and the commercial was aired for several weeks, and in 1953 Sedley would return to KROW for four years.
The Popeye Show (1957)[edit]
In 1957, KRON purchased the rights for the Popeyes cartoons in an effort to compete with the popular children’s program Mickey Mouse Club which was also airing at the time. The station needed someone to host the Popeyes cartoons as they aired, and so Sedley auditioned and was given the opportunity to host the show as “Skipper Sedley” of “The Popeye Show”.
The Three Stooges (1962)[edit]
| Bruce Samuel Sedley | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 19, 1925 Oakland, California |
| 💀Died | January 21, 2012 Hong KongJanuary 21, 2012 |
| 💼 Occupation | |
In 1960, Sedley would once again leave KROW, however; two years later in 1962 would make his return to TV as the host for another kids show: The Three Stooges comedy shorts, which aired on KTVU. With him, Sedley also brought back his beloved puppet “King Fuddle”, and with his return he cemented himself as a popular children’s show tv host.[1]
Inventions and Patents[edit]
Magnetic Keycard[edit]
In 1965, Sedley left the agency he was a part of for the sake of working on the reactivation of talking storybooks in zoos; during this process Sedley utilized his knowledge of tape playback machines to invent one of the first instances of the modern magnetic key card. Sedley was inspired by the plastic keys used in the playback machines and decided to create a reusable plastic card which would work with a corresponding card-operated switch lock. He initially planned to use card locks that were operated via paper cards from Cardkey Systems, but after noticing that the costs for the locks and cards were too close to the selling price he had in mind, Sedley begun experimenting with Plastiform in order to design a less expensive lock and card.[3] Using the Plastiform's primary component of barium ferrite powder, Sedley was able to create thin strips that he would try to magnetize, and he was able to make something that worked with a card lock containing a code made of magnet pins. With this, Sedley went on to acquire a patent for both the magnetic card as well as the lock that worked with it.
List of Patents[4][edit]
| Patent | Date of Filing | Date of Patent |
|---|---|---|
| Magnetic card reader | March 10, 1975 | December 21, 1976 |
| Magnetic card key operated door lock structure | May 30, 1975 | December 7, 1976 |
| Magnetic card reader | June 30, 1976 | May 2, 1978 |
| Magnetic key operated door lock | December 2, 1976 | January 9, 1979 |
| Metal magnetic key | December 15, 1976 | March 7, 1978 |
| Hand held magnetic card encoder | April 29, 1977 | December 5, 1978 |
| Magnetic key operated hotel door lock | August 9, 1979 | January 26, 1982 |
| Locking mechanism with actuator | March 7, 1986 | June 30, 1987 |
| Magnetic key operated lock | October 3, 1991 | December 7, 1993 |
| Magnetic key operated lock | May 6, 1993 | February 14, 1995 |
| Magnetic key operated code-change lock | June 3, 1993 | April 18, 1995 |
| Mechanical device to encode magnetic cards | March 2, 2006 | September 5, 2006 |
| Key card with frame | March 1, 2010 | August 17, 2010 |
Awards[edit]
- 1977: Inducted into the Silver Circle of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences’ San Francisco/Northern California Chapter[1]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Sedley, Bruce | NATAS SF/NorCal". emmysf.tv. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
- ↑ "FamilySearch.org". ancestors.familysearch.org. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 "Bruce Sedley ... By Bruce Sedley". Bay Area Radio Museum. 2014-08-10. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
- ↑ "Bruce S. Sedley Inventions, Patents and Patent Applications - Justia Patents Search". patents.justia.com. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
External links[edit]
submitting article for review[edit]
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