Helberg was born in Frankfurt, Germany, the son of Tonia (née Altman) and Sam Helberg. His parents were both Holocaust survivors from Poland who met in a concentration camp. They emigrated to the United States in 1950, where his father, originally a barber, eventually became a real estate developer in Toledo, Ohio, where Sandy and his brothers Ted and Tom were raised.
Helberg has been married to the former Harriet Birnbaum, a casting Director by her own trade, since April 6, 1975, and has two sons, Mason and actor Simon.
Helberg wrote and starred in the short-lived 1977 syndicated TV series The Lorenzo and Henrietta Music Show and the 1979 CBS TV series Flatbush. He has made numerous guest appearances on TV shows, including Trapper John, M.D., Remington Steele, Newhart, The Jeffersons, M*A*S*H, Married... with Children, The Wonder Years, Night Court, Fernwood Tonight, Knight Rider, Too Close for Comfort, Get a Life, House Calls, Cybill, and Days of Our Lives among others.
