Sam Menning

{{short description|American actor (1925-2010)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}}

Sam Menning (January 5, 1925 – March 29, 2010) was an American character actor and photographer.

Menning began his career in the 1950s as a photographer in New York City before switching to acting during the 1980s.{{cite news|title=Character actor Sam Menning dies at 85; Credits include 'My Name Is Earl,' 'The Prestige' |url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3i3ecdc15bacc281d2d8e34de7514adf2a |work=The Hollywood Reporter |date=April 5, 2010 |accessdate=April 17, 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100409111743/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3i3ecdc15bacc281d2d8e34de7514adf2a |archivedate=April 9, 2010 }} His talent agent, Bonnie Howard, made him her first professional client. Howard noted that Menning was the last person to photograph pin-up model Bettie Page before her retirement from the modelling industry.{{cite news|first=Roger|last=Catlin|title=Sam Menning: Photographer, Character Actor|url=http://blogs.courant.com/roger_catlin_tv_eye/2010/04/sam-menning-photographer-chara.html|work=Hartford Courant|date=April 6, 2010|accessdate=April 17, 2010|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100815212721/http://blogs.courant.com/roger_catlin_tv_eye/2010/04/sam-menning-photographer-chara.html|archivedate=August 15, 2010|url-status=dead}}

Before becoming a professional actor in the 1980s, Menning worked in a number of positions within the entertainment industry, including a still photographer, grip, gaffer and lighting technician. His television credits included Yes, Dear, Guideposts Junction, Sabrina the Teenage Witch (in the episode "Pancake Madness"), and In Case of Emergency, and he portrayed a homeless man called Pickled Egg Guy in My Name Is Earl. In film, Menning appeared in Mel Brooks' 1991 movie Life Stinks, portrayed another homeless man in Speedway Junky, and a blind stagehand in the 2006 thriller, The Prestige, directed by Christopher Nolan.

Sam Menning died of emphysema at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California, on March 31, 2010,{{cite news|title=Sam Menning – January 5, 1925 – March 29, 2010|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/latimes/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=141527748|work=Los Angeles Times|date=April 7, 2010|accessdate=April 17, 2010|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110610201855/http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/latimes/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=141527748|archivedate=June 10, 2011|url-status=live}} at the age of 85. He was survived by his daughter Sherree Casusol, and her four children; his brother, Rod Menning, and his nephew Garrett Menning. His memorial service was held at Angeleno Valley Mortuary in North Hollywood.