Sandy Baron (May 5, 1937—January 21, 2001) was an American comedian who acted on stage, in films, and on television.

Baron was born Sanford Beresofsky in Brooklyn, New York. He cut his teeth working in the Catskill Mountains resorts. The Catskills were, and still are, synonymous with the "Borscht Belt" brand of Jewish humor on which Baron made his mark. He then moved on to the Compass Players Improv Comedy group in the late 1950's.

He made his Broadway debut in Tchin-Tchin in 1962. He also appeared in many other Broadway plays, hits as well as flops, including Generations and Lenny (Los Angeles production); he later replaced Cliff Gorman in the lead role of Lenny Bruce in Lenny on Broadway.

In the 1966-1967 season, Baron costarred with Will Hutchins in the NBC sitcom Hey, Landlord about an apartment complex in Manhattan.

He appeared in countless television programs, including a notable role in Seinfeld as Jack Klompus. He also starred in Law & Order and as Grandpa in a 1996 TV-movie revival of The Munsters. He also starred in the short-lived television sitcom, "Hey Landlord!" (1967). Along with several other of his contemporaries, Baron played himself in the opening scene of Woody Allen's Broadway Danny Rose; he also narrated the film.

Baron died of emphysema in Van Nuys, Van Nuys in the San Fernando Valley of southern California.

Sandy Baron was born Sanford Beresofsky in Brooklyn, New York on May 5, 1937. Raised in Brooklyn's Brownsville neighborhood, the young Sandy attended public schools and participated in accelerated classes. A graduate of Brooklyn College, he spent his early years working summers in the Catskill Mountain resorts that were the breeding grounds of many Jewish comedians. Baron made his Broadway debut in "Tchin-Tchin" on Oct 25, 1962. His next play, Bertolt Brecht's "Arturo Ui" with _Christopher Plummer' in the title role, was a flop, lasting but eight performances in November 1963. His next appearance on the Great White Way, in the comedy "Generation," was more successful, playing for over half a year in the 1965-1966 season. In 1964, Sandy -- already a seasoned Catskill comic and nightclub performer -- released a 13-track album on Roulette Records, "The Race! Race!" The album jacket pronounced it a "rollicking comedy album about hate, prejudice, bigotry and other such nonsense." He established a national reputation that year on the television comedy series "That Was the Week That Was" (1964), the American version of the hit British TV show, both of which starred David Frost. He followed it up with a lead role in the TV series _"Hey, Landlord" (1966), playing a stand-up comedian. In the 1970s, he made regular appearances on the _Mike Douglas (1970)_ and _Merv Griffin (1970)_ talk shows. Baron played Lenny Bruce in the show "Lenny" at Hollywood's Aquarius Theater in 1972, and eventually replaced Cliff Gorman in New York in what would prove to be his last Broadway appearance. Baron appeared as himself in Woody Allen's Broadway Danny Rose (1984), the director's homage to borscht-belt comedy. In the 1990s, he appeared as Jack Klompus, the nemesis of Jerry Seinfeld's father on the hit TV series "Seinfeld" (1990). He replaced Al Lewis as Grandpa Munster in the TV movie Munsters' Scary Little Christmas, The (1996) (TV). His last movie appearance was in Stephen Frears' Hi-Lo Country, The (1998). Sandy Baron died of emphysema on January 21, 2001 in a nursing home in Van Nuys, California. A memorial celebration was held on July 22, 2001 at Hollywood's Ivar Theater.