“Unfortunately, the night before, Farrington partied too hard and didn’t show up for the live show. We panicked,” Grimm recalls. “The program director, Bob Smith, said he had an Air Force flight jacket and cap, and we sent him home to get it.
“We decided he would be Sgt. Sacto and substitute for Captain Honolulu, who was chasing criminals on Mars. The name Sacto may have come from the acronym of SAC – the Strategic Air Command.
“Farrington was fired and never appeared as ‘Captain Honolulu,’ leaving sidekick Sgt. Sacto to host the show. It ran for years.”
The show aired in the 1960s when television was black and white. Sgt. Sacto chatted with kids between cartoons (such as “Popeye,” “Mickey Mouse” and “Bugs Bunny”).
“Sacto was famous for creating a mask with his thumb and fingers, turned inside out in a way that few could mimic. Kids at every elementary school tried, and those that could earned a special status.”
