Character actor Allan Melvin died of cancer 17 January 2008. Born 18 February 1922 in Kansas City, Missouri, he played Alice’s boyfriend Sam the butcher on The Brady Bunch, Archie’s friend Barney on All in the Family, and appeared in only one movie (the 1968 Doris Day comedy With Six You Get Eggroll).
He majored in journalism at Columbia University before beginning his show business career in the sound effects department of New York’s NBC Radio in 1944. He then moved on to acting in radio soap operas and then to live television. He also made commercials and appearead on stage as both an actor and a stand-up comedian.
His genre appearances (many of them animation voice-over work) include Scooby-Doo in Arabian Nights (1994), Challenge of the GoBots (1984), Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (1981), Smurfs (1981), The New Animated Adventures of Flash Gordon (1979), Dynomutt Dog Wonder (1978), Fred Flintstone and Friends (1977), The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour (1976), Pufnstuf (1970), The Banana Splits Adventure Hour (1968), Lost in Space (1966), Alice in Wonderland or What’s a Nice Kid Like You Doing in a Place Like This? (1966), The Flintstones (1963-66), My Favorite Martian (1964, 1966), The Secret Squirrel Show (1965), and The Magilla Gorilla Show (1965).
Melvin retired from acting about ten years ago, and is survived by his wife Amalia (whom he married in 1944, daughter Jennifer Hanson, and a grandson.