Sam Ayers: Memphis Magazine

From Memphis Magazine, Special Collector's Issue -- Volume XXIV, Number 8, November 1999

City Beat

Mascot Makes Good

By Frank Murtaugh

You'd be hard-pressed to find an entertainer with a more eclectic career than that of Sam Ayers. One of his first strides up the ladder of fame was taken in Memphis in 1980, when he contorted his body to spell "Chicks" above the minor-league baseball dugout. Today Ayers can be seen regularly on Saturday nights as "Sam the Sweeper" on the NBC series The Pretender.

As a student at the University of Memphis in 1976, Ayers (nee Bielich) created a character for a fraternity skit that, with a horned headpiece and a little gumption, evolved into "Sam the Medicine Man." Redefining the word "cheerleader," Sam could easily be seen regularly in the early 1980s at Tim McCarver Stadium supporting the Chicks. "I began simply by leading cheers in the leftfield bleachers," remembers Ayers. "Charlie Lea was pitching and the Chicks were behind. By the end of the game -- which the Chicks won, by the way -- I had made it all around the stadium and out to the pitcher's mound for a postgame celebration. [General Manager] Allie Prescott threw me the game ball, and [owner] Avron Fogelman offered me a job at $40 a night."

The Medicine Man also took to the gridiron, behind the U of M Tiger football team and the Showboats of the United States Football League. And between ballgames, Ayers managed to squeeze in a few modeling gigs.

In 1984, Ayers, who was raised in New Hampshire, was called to major-league duty as mascot for the Texas Rangers, a move that allowed him to pursue his passion for acting by landing bit roles on the TV series, Dallas, and a few low-budget movies. His career also included hosting a road show called "Hollywood Lingerie Girls on Tour." (We're not making this up.) Says Ayers, "We had five ex-strippers in a 48-foot Winnebago, driven by a gay truck-driver nicknamed T-Bird."

After stints as the entertainment director on a cruise line, supporting actor on three soap operas, and the start of a moonlighting gig as a stuntman, Ayers moved to Los Angeles for good in 1995. Married to actress Robin Trapp, he recently became a father to Alexis Ann.

About his acting career and the role he's had as "Sam the Sweeper" since 1996, Ayers says, "It took me 16 years to get to L.A., but I made it, and I'm thankful for being able to do what I do. The great thing about entertainment is that you never stop learning. I'm just a co-star, so I'm still climbing the ladder. I've still got a lot of life to bring to my craft."

As for Memphis, Ayers remembers it fondly. "Memphis was very much a part of what I've become...it was a stepping stone."