# Producer Sandy Frank Dies at 97. Death Not Caused by Forklifts or Giant Flying Turtles **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 30, 2026, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/producer-sandy-frank-dies-at-97-death-not-caused-by-forklifts-or-giant-flying-turtles/1034248 "2026-10-30T00:59:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats2)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2026, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/producer-sandy-frank-dies-at-97-death-not-caused-by-forklifts-or-giant-flying-turtles/1034248/1 "2026-10-30T00:59:03Z")
Sandy Frank is the man who brought Gamera to the USA, and thus gave MST3K a giant boost in its early Joel years. Truly a legacy to cherish. Rest well Mr Frank. Not TV’s Frank, but a Frank just the same. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2026, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/producer-sandy-frank-dies-at-97-death-not-caused-by-forklifts-or-giant-flying-turtles/1034248/2 "2026-10-30T01:09:08Z")
So if it wasn’t flying turtles or forklifts… The cause of his death is just a complete mystery, then? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats2)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2026, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/producer-sandy-frank-dies-at-97-death-not-caused-by-forklifts-or-giant-flying-turtles/1034248/3 "2026-10-30T01:26:11Z")
Well, 97 years old…I mean, I could hazard a guess .. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2026, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/producer-sandy-frank-dies-at-97-death-not-caused-by-forklifts-or-giant-flying-turtles/1034248/4 "2026-10-30T03:17:02Z")
“Sandy Frank, Sandy Frank, he’s the source of all our pain” Without his work, we’d have been deprived of some of the greatest MST3K episodes. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2026, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/producer-sandy-frank-dies-at-97-death-not-caused-by-forklifts-or-giant-flying-turtles/1034248/5 "2026-10-30T03:42:15Z")
Far too true. Plus, I would have never seen _Battle of the Planets_ without him. He really knew how to cheaply re-package Japanese TV for American children. For the curious: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dy4tYtbMHpE/hqdefault.jpg "Classic MST3K Moment - He Tried To Kill Me With a Forklift. - scene and song.") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy4tYtbMHpE) [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/IvN10-n1NBc/hqdefault.jpg "MST3K Sandy Frank Song") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvN10-n1NBc) [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/acOnskcyrtA/hqdefault.jpg "Battle of the Planets intro (high DVD quality)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acOnskcyrtA) ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2026, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/producer-sandy-frank-dies-at-97-death-not-caused-by-forklifts-or-giant-flying-turtles/1034248/6 "2026-10-31T18:57:29Z")
Sandy Frank was an American television producer and distributer, handling game shows, travel shows, and Japanese programs. I remember his name from _Battle of the Planets_, a sanded down version of _Science Ninja Team Gatchaman._ Many of the movies he brought over from Japan also made in on MST3K. > **[Sandy Frank](https://mst3k.fandom.com/wiki/Sandy_Frank)** > > For the song, see Sandy Frank Song. Sandy Frank (1929-2026), born Sundel Francous, was an American television producer and film distributor. He is best known for importing the many Gamera films to the United States. Sandy Frank began working for... [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/acOnskcyrtA/hqdefault.jpg "Battle of the Planets intro (high DVD quality)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acOnskcyrtA) ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2026, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/producer-sandy-frank-dies-at-97-death-not-caused-by-forklifts-or-giant-flying-turtles/1034248/7 "2026-10-31T22:43:22Z")
I heard that he’s the source of all our pain and he gads about house all day. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2026, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/producer-sandy-frank-dies-at-97-death-not-caused-by-forklifts-or-giant-flying-turtles/1034248/8 "2026-10-31T22:51:33Z")
Already have a thread. > [@Producer Sandy Frank Dies at 97. Death Not Caused by Forklifts or Giant Flying Turtles](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/producer-sandy-frank-dies-at-97-death-not-caused-by-forklifts-or-giant-flying-turtles/1034248): > > Sandy Frank is the man who brought Gamera to the USA, and thus gave MST3K a giant boost in its early Joel years. Truly a legacy to cherish. Rest well Mr Frank. Not TV’s Frank, but a Frank just the same. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2026, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/producer-sandy-frank-dies-at-97-death-not-caused-by-forklifts-or-giant-flying-turtles/1034248/9 "2026-10-31T23:13:06Z")
[Moderating] Merged threads ---
**Author:** ![Mavis\_Topholese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7feea3/32.png) [@Mavis\_Topholese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mavis_Topholese)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2026, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/producer-sandy-frank-dies-at-97-death-not-caused-by-forklifts-or-giant-flying-turtles/1034248/10 "2026-11-02T20:57:15Z")
just chiming in to say as much as I enjoy some of the shows and films Sandy Frank localized, the Gamera films had American releases in theaters and on television before Sandy Frank acquired the home video rights, and of course before somebody was forced to watch the movies while trapped in outer space. I will, however, totally give Sandy Frank credit for introducing Mighty Jack, Saru no Gundan, and Star Wolf to America.