Acting seemed to be his vocation. Luke Halpin (72) starred in his first play, Broadway hit Take Me Along, at just twelve years old. Only two years later, he was cast as "Sandy" in Flipper and achieved international fame.
Thanks to the great success of the first film, which was certainly also down to Halpin's great acting, a spin-off TV series was produced 1964 to 1967, which was not only a hit with children, but with adults, too.
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Halpin's acting career was long from over, in 1964 the sequel New Adventures with Pinball was released, in which the then seventeen-year-old actor once again dazzled.
Luke Halpin remained true to acting after Flipper
After the Flipper hype subsided, Luke Halpin appeared in a number of other films, including If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium. He took a break from acting, but returned to screens in 1977 in Shock Waves. He also starred in Miami SuperCops, and once again had women all over the world swooning.
He couldn't quite emulate the success he had enjoyed as a younger actor and so became a stuntman, diving or racing speedboats in films such as Speed and Miami Vice.
Luke Halpin last worked as an actor in 1996
Luke Halpin last appeared on the silver screen in 1996, in the Flipper remake. Elijah Wood (37) played "Sandy Ricks", but Halpin made a guest appearance as a fisherman in the sequel. Halpin retired after this last performance. The legendary actor was diagnosed with cancer in 2015.
In 2016, it was announced that Halpin was in remission. Unfortunately, also in 2016, Halpin was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's. These days, Luke Halpin lives in Florida with his third wife Deborah.
One of the best Western performers of all time!
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"Amarillo by Morning"
