Sandy Ferra: Inside the Life of Wink Martindale's Wife

Sandy Ferra is the wife of iconic game show host Wink Martindale. Sandy Ferra’s husband is a disc jockey, radio personality, game show host, and television producer. He is best known for hosting Gambit from 1972 to 1976 (and again from 1980 to 1981), Tic-Tac-Dough from 1978 to 1985, High Rollers from 1987 to 1988, and Debt from 1996 to 1998 during his six-decade career. Aside from being a beloved gameshow host, Wink is also a family man- a husband and a father.

Sandy Ferra: Bio Summary

Who is Wink Martindale’s wife?

Sandy Ferra is the second wife of Wink Martindale. Before they meet, he was married to Madelyn Leech for almost 2 decades and they had 4 children before they called their marriage a quit. Martindale was friends with Elvis Presley and ironically, Sandy had also dated Elvis for six years. Sandy Martindale has fond memories of Elvis: ‘My mother came with us on our first dates‘, chuckles Sandy in an interview. ‘I was so embarrassed I cried‘.

Sandy’s romance with the King of Rock and Roll began at age 14 when Elvis was bowled over by the photo, which he spotted hanging in the office of her dad, a Los Angeles nightclub owner. Elvis told Mr. Ferra he’d like to meet his daughter, so the man called her at home. Sandy’s Mother got on the line and told Elvis she would not drive Sandy back to the club because she was only fourteen and it was a school night.

Elvis told he would be back the next week and will like to meet the daughter when he comes. In the meantime, Mr Ferra came home and told her that Elvis was a ‘gorgeous guy,’ because at the time, she didn’t even know who Elvis Presley was.

ALSO, READ; Madelyn Leech: Where is Wink Martindale’s ex-wife now?

speaking about how it all started, Sandy said – “He called me to go out, but I had to tell him I had school the next day“, Wink Martindale’s wife recalls. “The next night Mom drove me to the club to meet him. Elvis had a date with a gorgeous actress that night and there I was, with my little ponytail. He was 24. He held my hand, kissed me on the cheek and I was a goner“

Later Elvis called and told Sandy’s mother he wanted to date her daughter, and her mother said, “I don’t care if you’re King Farouk; my daughter’s only fourteen and she can’t go out with you.” So Elvis said to her mother, “Well, you can come on the date.” In fact, she came on their first three dates.

Elvis promised her mother that he’d be a ‘gentleman’ and ‘take good care’ of her if she said it was okay for Sandy to go out with him unchaperoned. According to Sandy, “He stuck to his word and was a perfect gentleman.”

Sandy Ferra who was a dancer in the 1960s had the opportunity to dance in some of his films. “I danced in six of his movies because I was going with him‘, she recalls. ‘In Viva Las Vegas that’s me with Ann-Margret and Elvis dancing at the roulette table” Sandy Ferra and Elvis Presley were an item, on and off, for the next six years — right up until Elvis tied the knot with Priscilla.

Elvis and Sandy remained friends even after Elvis married Priscilla. The former dancer says she was heartbroken the last time she saw him, backstage at one of his final Las Vegas shows.

Sandy Ferra later met Game show host Wink Martindale and the two kicked it off and got married on August 2, 1975. It is unclear if the couple had any children, but Wink has four children from his previous marriage to Madelyn Leech. Ferra and Martindale have been married for more than 45 years and are still in love. Sandy Ferra is the stepmother of Wink’s children-Lisa Martindale, Lynn Martindale, Laura Martindale, and Wink Martindale Jr.

ALSO, READ; Wink Martindale Children: Wink Martindale Jr., Lisa Martindale, Lynn Martindale, Laura Martindale

Talking about her marriage to Wink, Sandy said- “It was a wonderful time in my life,” she said. “But marrying Wink is the most perfect thing on earth because we’ve been married for 47 years. …  I mean, God knew I couldn’t have Elvis. Because when I was young, I prayed for somebody I could grow old with. And he knew Elvis was going to leave the planet. So I guess he gave me Wink, and we got together.“

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