Luke Austin Halpin (born April 4, 1947) is a former American actor, stuntman, marine coordinator, diver and pilot. He became a child actor at the age of eight and is widely known for his role as Sandy Ricks in the feature films Flipper and Flipper's New Adventure, as well as for reprising his role for the NBC television series adaptation, Flipper. Early life Halpin was born in Astoria, Queens, New York City, the son of Eugene A. Halpin and Helen Joan (Szczepanski) Halpin. His father was of Irish and German descent, and his maternal grandparents were Polish. He grew up with his family in Long Island City. He has an older brother, Eugene Jr., and an older sister, Joan. He and his siblings were reared as Roman Catholics. Career Early career Halpin's career began when a music teacher, impressed by Halpin's "all-American" look, encouraged him to try acting. In 1955 he co-starred with Natalie Wood in an episode of Studio One entitled "Miracle at Potter's Farm". Numerous roles followed, and by his mid-teens, Halpin had appeared on many of the major TV series of the day: Armstrong Circle Theatre, The United States Steel Hour, Kraft Television Theatre, Hallmark Hall of Fame, The Phil Silvers Show, Harbormaster, The Defenders, Route 66, Naked City, The Everglades, and had a recurring role for six months on the soap opera Young Doctor Malone. Halpin's early career also included several stage roles. He made his Broadway debut in Take Me Along starring Jackie Gleason, and appeared in Sunrise at Campobello, and with Mary Martin in both Annie Get Your Gun and Peter Pan. Halpin also acted in plays that were televised on The Play of the Week including starring with Broadway luminaries Burgess Meredith and Zero Mostel in the critically acclaimed avant-garde play Waiting for Godot. Flipper Halpin's most famous role came when at age 15 he was picked to play the 12-year-old Sandy Ricks in producer Ivan Tors' 1963 feature film Flipper (filmed in the Florida Keys and Miami), starring alongside Brian Kelly, who played Sandy's father and fisherman Porter Ricks. The successful film spawned a sequel, Flipper's New Adventure (filmed mainly in the Bahamas), released in 1964, and with new co-star Brian Kelly as Porter Ricks, a trainee Park Ranger who, after his training, is assigned to the fictitious Coral Key Park. Kelly played a widowed father to Sandy (although in reality Halpin