The Red Skelton Show is an American
variety show that was a television staple for two decades, from 1951 to 1971.
It was second to
Gunsmoke (1955–1975) and third to
The Ed Sullivan Show (1948–1971) in the
ratings during that time.
The host of the show,
Richard Bernard "Red" Skelton, who had previously been a
radio star, had appeared in several
motion pictures as well.
[1]
Although his
television series is largely associated with
CBS, where it appeared for more than fifteen years, it actually began and ended on
NBC.
During its run, the program received three
Emmy Awards,
for Skelton as best comedian and the program as best comedy show during
its initial season, and an award for comedy writing in 1961.
In 1959
Skelton also received a
Golden Globe for Best TV Show.
| The Red Skelton Show |
|---|
Red Skelton and Mickey Rooney at dress rehearsal for The Red Skelton Show at studio 33, January 15, 1957.
|
| Also known as |
The Red Skelton Hour |
| Genre |
Variety |
| Directed by |
Seymour Berns
Jack Donohue
John Gaunt
Ed Hiller
Bill Hobin
Terry Kyne
Howard A. Quinn
Martin Rackin |
| Presented by |
Red Skelton |
| Voices of |
Art Gilmore |
| Theme music composer |
David Rose |
| Composer(s) |
David Rose
Jack Lloyd
Alan Copeland
Nelson Barclift |
| Country of origin |
United States |
| Original language(s) |
English |
| No. of seasons |
20 |
| No. of episodes |
672 |
| Production |
| Executive producer(s) |
Guy Della-Cioppa |
| Producer(s) |
Cecil Barker
Seymour Berns
Ben Brady
Dee Caruso
Perry Cross
Gerald Gardner
Red Skelton
Douglas Whitney |
| Running time |
22–24 minutes
(1951–1962; 1970–1971)
45–48 minutes
(1954; 1962–1970) |
| Production company(s) |
Van Bernard Productions
Sursum Productions |
| Release |
| Original channel |
NBC
(1951–1953; 1970–1971)
CBS
(1953–1970) |
| Picture format |
Black-and-white
(1951–1955; 1958–1965)
Color
(1955–1958; 1965–1971) |
| Audio format |
Monaural |
| Original release |
September 30, 1951 – August 1, 1971 |
Origins: 1950s
Red Skelton's network television program began at the start of the 1951 fall season on NBC (for sponsor
Procter & Gamble).
[2][3]
The MGM agreement with Skelton for television performances did not allow him to go on the air before September 30, 1951.
[4][5][6][7]
After two seasons on Sunday nights, the program was picked up by CBS in
the fall of 1953 and moved to Tuesday night, the time slot with which
it would become primarily associated during most of its run.
[8]
After his first CBS season the program was moved to Wednesday night and
expanded to an hour for the summer of 1954 only; it was then reduced
back to a half hour for a time, later expanded again, returning to
Tuesday night, where it would remain for the next sixteen years
(co-sponsored by
Johnson's Wax and
Pet Milk between 1955 and 1962).
[1][9]
The program was produced at
Desilu Productions and
CBS Television City in
Hollywood, and over five years, from 1955 through 1960, was
telecast in color approximately 100 times.
[10]
In 1960, Skelton purchased the Chaplin studios, with plans to continue
using the facility for his television show and for making films.
[11][12] It was the most colorcast of the few programs CBS aired in color during this period.
[13]
By 1960, CBS no longer manufactured television sets (unlike its rival
NBC's parent company, RCA) and pulled the plug on colorcasts. With the
exception of a few specials and some yearly broadcasts of
The Wizard of Oz,
CBS would not colorcast again on a regular basis until the 1965-66 fall
season when the network could no longer avoid public demand and rising
sales in color television sets.
Skelton was infatuated with his appearance on color television, and
he cajoled CBS to colorcast the program (In 1961, Skelton also invested
in three rental remote vans which had full live, film, and color
videotape capability).
Although visionary, the venture in color was
premature and when it failed, CBS bought Skelton's facilities (formerly
Charlie Chaplin Studios) as part of renewing Skelton's contract.
[14]
From 1956 to 1962,
Sherwood Schwartz (later widely known for creating the popular sitcoms
Gilligan's Island and
The Brady Bunch, among others) was head writer of Skelton's show, for which Schwartz won an
Emmy Award in 1961.
[15]
Format during the 1960s
In September 1962, the program was again expanded to a full hour (becoming
The Red Skelton Hour)
and remained in this longer format for the balance of its CBS run. The
format of the program itself during this period was quite simple.
Opening monologue
Skelton opened with a monologue. The monologue often lapsed into
character humor, with two of the recurring bits being "George Appleby", a
perennially henpecked husband into whom Red transformed by donning
heavy black-rimmed spectacles and a misshapen derby hat, and "Gertrude
and Heathcliff, the Two Seagulls", which he performed by crossing his
eyes and sticking his thumbs into his armpits for "wings". (
Johnny Carson, who was a writer on this program for a period, reminisced about writing for this spot.)
Guest stars
This was followed by a guest-star performance, often a singer.
Musical accompaniment was generally provided by the show's orchestra and
led by its well-known bandleader,
David Rose. He was also the composer of the show's familiar signature tune, "
Holiday for Strings"
[1](U.S. Copyright Registration Date 26-3-1942).
The guest then appeared with Skelton in a comedy sketch
.
Among the notable guest stars on the program were western film stars
Amanda Blake and
Roscoe Ates, who played a
sheriff in the 1961 episode "Candid Clem".
John Wayne,
Jack Benny,
Phyllis Diller,
George Raft and
Carol Channing were other luminaries who made appearances.
In 1965
Diana Ross & the Supremes were musical guests on the show and that same year
The Rolling Stones made their American television debut on the Skelton show.
Popular television actress
Phyllis Avery appeared twice in "Clem's Watermelons" (1961) and "Nothing But the Tooth" (1962).
Billy Gray, who played Bud Anderson Jr. on "
Father Knows Best" guest starred after the former show ended its six-year run.
Comedy sketches
Skelton as Deadeye with actress Terry Moore, 1959.
The sketches were usually built around one of Red's many characters, including "Deadeye", an incredibly inept
sheriff in the
Old West; "San Fernando Red", a shady
real estate agent (named for the
San Fernando Valley, which was still a largely
rural area well at the time that the show began); "Cauliflower McPugg", a punchdrunk
boxer, Clem Kadiddlehopper, a
hick who was identified in at least one sketch as being from Cornpone County,
Tennessee,
and "Freddie the Freeloader".
Freddie was a bum with a heart of gold,
who was played by Skelton (and in one episode in 1961, by
Ed Sullivan) in
clown makeup reminiscent of
Emmett Kelly but somehow not as sad. Freddie could be either a speaking character or totally
pantomimed.
While many of Skelton's other characters originated on his radio shows, Freddie was created for television in 1952.
[16]
Skelton's father, Joseph, who died two months before his youngest son, Richard, was born, was once a clown for the
Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus.
[17]
Skelton, who had spent some time working for the same circus as a youth, copied his father's clown makeup for Freddie.
[16]
In its later years the show generally finished with "The Silent
Spot", with Skelton pantomiming Freddie or another silent character. (It
was hard for some younger viewers to accept that such an overwhelmingly
visual, physical performer had once been a staple of radio.)
After "The
Silent Spot", the show closed with Red looking into the camera and
saying sincerely, "Good night and may God bless."
[17]
While the vast majority of Skelton's skits were comedy, there were a
few serious segments. One memorable segment came in 1969, when Skelton
performed a self-written monologue about the
Pledge of Allegiance,
providing commentary on the meaning of each phrase of the Pledge.
CBS
received 200,000 requests for copies; the company subsequently released
the monologue as a single recording by Columbia Records.
[18]
Skelton television characters
Clem Kadiddlehopper
San Fernando Red
George Appleby
|
|
Final years: 1970–1971
CBS ended its association with the program in early 1970.
This
apparently marked the beginning of one of several attempts by CBS to
downplay programming whose primary appeal was to "
Middle America", an audience more rural and also somewhat older than that generally desired by network television
advertisers.
Marketers were moving towards a younger, "hipper", and more
urban audience (see the
Rural Purge).
[17]
The move to NBC: 1970
At least in part due to Skelton's iconic status, the program was picked up by NBC in late 1970.
[19]
However, the program that aired was quite different from the one that
Skelton's CBS audience was used to seeing.
The new set was dark, devoid
of the backdrops that viewers had seen on CBS. The show was cut back to
its original half-hour length and it was moved from Tuesday to Monday
nights.
But perhaps the biggest change was that the show began to incorporate
"regulars" for the first time along with Skelton, Rose, and Rose's
orchestra.
A repertory company of young, comic
actors and
actresses was added as well as veteran performers such as
Eve McVeagh and The Burgundy Street Singers (previously seen after an abortive comeback on network television by 1950s folk singing star
Jimmie Rodgers on
ABC two years earlier.)
The new format never really worked; the audience sensed that there
was little chemistry between Skelton and his repertory company.
The
program ended in March 1971, although selected programs from this final
season were rerun on NBC on Sunday nights during mid-1971, so it could
be said that Skelton's network television career had ended exactly where
it had begun.
[17][19]
Skelton's later TV career
Skelton continued to make appearances for many years afterwards, increasingly as a
nostalgic figure, but was never again a regular feature of network television programming.
[20]
He was awarded the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Governors Award, a lifetime achievement award, in 1986.
[21][22]
Skelton was inducted into the
Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Television Hall of Fame in 1989.
[17][23]
Richard Bernard "
Red"
Skelton (July 18, 1913 – September 17, 1997) was an American entertainer best known for his national
radio and television acts between 1937 and 1971 and as host of the television program
The Red Skelton Show. Skelton, who has stars on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in radio and television, also appeared in
vaudeville, films,
nightclubs, and
casinos, all while he pursued an entirely separate career as an artist.
Skelton began developing his comedic and pantomime skills from the age of 10, when he became part of a traveling
medicine show.
He then spent time on a
showboat, worked the
burlesque circuit, then entered into vaudeville in 1934.
The Doughnut Dunkers, a
pantomime
sketch of how different people ate doughnuts written by Skelton and his
wife launched a career for him in vaudeville, in radio and in films.
Skelton's radio career began in 1937 with a guest appearance on
The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour which led to his becoming the host of
Avalon Time in 1938.
He became the host of
The Raleigh Cigarette Program
in 1941 where many of his comedy characters were created and had a
regularly scheduled radio program until 1957.
Skelton made his film
debut in 1938 alongside
Ginger Rogers and
Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. in
Alfred Santell's
Having Wonderful Time, and he went on to appear in numerous musical and comedy films throughout the 1940s and early 1950s, such as
I Dood It (1943),
Ziegfeld Follies (1946) and
The Clown (1953). He was most eager to work in television, even when the medium was in its infancy.
The Red Skelton Show
made its television premiere on September 30, 1951, on NBC. By 1954,
Skelton's program moved to CBS, where it was expanded to one hour and
renamed
The Red Skelton Hour in 1962.
Despite high ratings, his
television show was canceled by CBS in 1970 as the network believed more
youth-oriented programs were needed to attract younger viewers and
their spending power.
Skelton moved his program to NBC, where he
completed his last year with a regularly scheduled television show in
1971.
After he no longer had a television program, Skelton's time was
spent making up to 125 personal appearances a year and on his artwork.
Skelton's artwork of clowns remained a hobby until 1964, when his
wife, Georgia, convinced him to have a showing of his work at the
Sands Hotel in
Las Vegas
while he was performing there. Sales of his originals were successful
and Skelton also sold prints and lithographs of them, earning $2.5
million yearly on lithograph sales.
At the time of his death, his art
dealer believed that Skelton had earned more money through his paintings
than from his television work.
Skelton believed his life's work was to make people laugh and wanted
to be known as a clown, because he defined it as being able to do
everything.
He had a 70-year career as a performer and entertained three
generations of Americans during this time. Many of Skelton's personal
and professional effects, including prints of his artwork, were donated
to
Vincennes University by his widow, where they are part of the Red Skelton Museum of American Comedy.
| Red Skelton |
|---|
Skelton, 1960
|
| Birth name |
Richard Bernard Skelton |
| Born |
July 18, 1913
Vincennes, Indiana, U.S. |
| Died |
September 17, 1997 (aged 84)
Rancho Mirage, California, U.S. |
| Years active |
1923–93 |
| Spouse |
- Edna Marie Stillwell (m. 1931; div. 1943)
- Georgia Davis (m. 1945; div. 1971)
- Lothian Toland (m. 1973–97)
|
| Children |
- Valentina Marie (b. 1947)[1]
- Richard Freeman (1948–1958)[2][3]
|
|
| Emmy Awards |
- Emmy
1952 Best Comedy Program
- Emmy
1952 Best Comedian
- Emmy
1961 Outstanding Writing-Comedy Series
- Emmy
1986 Governors' Award
[4]
- Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
1989 Television Hall of Fame
[5] |
| Golden Globe Awards |
Cecil B. DeMille
1978 Outstanding contributions to the entertainment industry
[6] |
| American Comedy Awards |
American Comedy Awards
1989 Lifetime achievement |
Biography
Early years, the medicine show and the circus (1913–29)
Born July 18, 1913, in
Vincennes, Indiana,
Richard Skelton was the fourth son of Ida Mae (née Fields) and Joseph
E. Skelton.
Joseph, a grocer, died two months before his last child was
born; he had once been a
clown with the
Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus.
[8][9]
In Skelton's lifetime there was some dispute about the year of his
birth. Author Wesley Hyatt suggests that since he began working at such
an early age, he may have had to say he was older than he actually was
in order to work.
[10][note 1][note 2]
Vincennes neighbors described the Skelton family as being extremely
poor; a childhood friend remembered that her parents broke up a youthful
romance between her sister and Skelton, because he was thought to have
no future.
[13]
Because of the loss of his father, Skelton went to work at the age of
seven, selling newspapers and doing other odd jobs to help his family,
who had lost both the family store and home.
[13][14]
He quickly learned the
newsboy's patter and would keep it up until a prospective buyer bought a copy of the paper just to quiet him.
[8]
In 1923, a man came up to the newsboy, purchased every paper he had and
asked him if he wanted to see the show in town, giving him a ticket.
The man, comedian
Ed Wynn,
was part of the show and later took the boy backstage.
Skelton, who had
already shown comedic tendencies, then realized what he wanted to do
with his life.
[9][13][note 3]
He discovered at an early age that he could make people laugh. At the age of ten, Skelton auditioned to be part of a
medicine show
and was hired by "Doc" Lewis as an errand boy who sold bottles of
medicine to the audience during the show.
When he accidentally fell from
the stage, breaking bottles of medicine as he fell, people laughed.
Both Lewis and Skelton realized one could earn a living with this
ability and the fall was worked into the show.
He also told jokes and
sang in the medicine show during his four years there.
[16]
The pay was ten dollars a week and he sent all of it home weekly to his
mother telling her, "We get plenty to eat, and we sleep in the wagon."
[17]
By age 14, Skelton had left school and was already a veteran performer, working in local
vaudeville and on a
showboat, "The Cotton Blossom", that traveled the
Ohio and
Missouri rivers.
[8]
He enjoyed his work on the riverboat, moving on only after he realized that showboat entertainment was coming to an end.
[11]
Young Skelton was interested in all forms of acting. He won a dramatic role with a
stock theater company, but was unable to deliver his lines in a serious manner; the audience laughed instead.
While performing in
Uncle Tom's Cabin,
Skelton was on an unseen treadmill; when it malfunctioned and began
working in reverse, the frightened young actor called out, "Help! I'm
backing into heaven!" He was fired before completing a week's work in
the role.
[8][11][18]
At age 15, he was on the
burlesque circuit.
[19]
The next year Skelton spent some time with the same circus with which his father had been a clown.
[20]
Ida Skelton, who held two jobs to support her family after the death of
her husband, never said that her youngest son had run away from home,
but that "his destiny had caught up with him at an early age".
[9][21]
Burlesque to vaudeville (1929–37)
Red and Edna Skelton at home, 1942
As burlesque comedy material became progressively more
ribald, Skelton moved on. He insisted that he was no prude; "I just didn't think the lines were funny".
He became a sought-after
master of ceremonies for
dance marathons (known as "walkathons" at the time), a popular fad in the 1930s.
[11][22]
The winner of one of the marathons was Edna Stillwell, an
usher at the old Pantages Theater.
[23][24][note 4] She approached Skelton after winning the contest and told him that she did not like his jokes; he asked if she could do better.
[28]
They married in 1931 in
Kansas City,
and Edna began writing his material. At the time of their marriage
Skelton was one month away from his 18th birthday; Edna was 16.
[11][29]
When they learned that Skelton's salary was to be cut, Edna went to see
the boss; he resented the interference, until she came away with not
only a raise, but additional considerations as well.
Since he had left
school at an early age, his wife bought
textbooks and taught him what he had missed. With Edna's help, Skelton received a
high school equivalency degree.
[28][note 5]
The couple put together an act and began booking it at small midwestern theaters.
[31]
When an offer came for an engagement in
Harwich Port, Massachusetts,
some 2,000 miles from Kansas City, they were pleased to get it because
of its proximity to their ultimate goal, the vaudeville houses of New
York City.
To get to Massachusetts they bought a used car and borrowed
five dollars from Edna's mother, but by the time they arrived in St.
Louis they had only fifty cents. Skelton asked Edna to collect empty
cigarette packs; she thought he was joking, but did as he asked.
He then
spent their fifty cents on bars of soap, which they cut into small
cubes and wrapped with the tinfoil from the cigarette packs. By selling
their products for fifty cents each as fog remover for eyeglasses, the
Skeltons were able to afford a hotel room every night as they worked
their way to Harwich Port.
[17]
The "Doughnut Dunkers"
Skelton and Edna worked for a year in
Camden, New Jersey, and were able to get an engagement at
Montreal's Lido Club in 1934 through a friend who managed the chorus lines at New York's
Roxy Theatre.
[17]
Despite an initial rocky start, the act was a success, and brought the couple theater dates throughout Canada.
[11][note 6]
While in Montreal, they ran into a New York vaudeville producer, who promised the pair a booking at
Loew's State Theatre
if they could come up with a new routine for the engagement. Edna had
an idea as they were having breakfast in a hotel coffee shop as she and
Skelton watched how those around them ate doughnuts and coffee.
They
devised the "Doughnut Dunkers" routine, with Skelton's visual
impressions of how different people ate
doughnuts.
[note 7]
The skit won them the Loew's State engagement and a handsome fee.
[31][34]
The couple viewed this engagement as Skelton's big chance. They hired
New York comedy writers to prepare material for the Loew's engagement,
believing they needed more sophisticated jokes and skits than the
material Skelton normally performed.
His New York audience did not laugh
or applaud until he abandoned the newly written material and began
performing his "Doughnut Dunkers" and other older routines.
[11][note 8]
In 1937, while he was entertaining at the Capitol Theater in Washington, D.C., President
Franklin D. Roosevelt invited Skelton to perform at a
White House
luncheon.
During one of the official toasts, Skelton grabbed
Roosevelt's glass, saying, "Careful what you drink, Mr. President. I got
rolled in a place like this once." His humor appealed to FDR and
Skelton became the master of ceremonies for Roosevelt's official
birthday celebration for many years afterward.
[35]
Film work
Skelton's first contact with Hollywood came in the form of a failed 1932 screen test.
In 1938 he made his film debut for
RKO Pictures in the supporting role of a camp counselor in
Having Wonderful Time.
[36]
He appeared in two short subjects for
Vitaphone in 1939:
Seeing Red and
The Broadway Buckaroo.
[8][37]
Actor
Mickey Rooney
contacted Skelton, urging him to try for work in films after seeing him
perform his "Doughnut Dunkers" act at President Roosevelt's 1940
birthday party.
[38][39]
For his MGM screen test, Skelton performed many of his more popular
skits, such as "Guzzler's Gin", but added some impromptu pantomimes as
the cameras were rolling. "Imitation of Movie Heroes Dying" were
Skelton's impressions of the cinema deaths of stars like
George Raft,
Edward G. Robinson and
James Cagney.
[35]
Skelton began appearing in numerous films for MGM.
In 1940 he provided
comic relief as a lieutenant in
Frank Borzage's war drama
Flight Command, opposite
Robert Taylor,
Ruth Hussey and
Walter Pidgeon.
[40]
In 1941 he also provided comic relief in
Harold S. Bucquet's
Dr. Kildare medical dramas,
Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day and
The People vs. Dr. Kildare.
Skelton was soon starring in comedy features as inept radio detective "The Fox", the first of which was
Whistling in the Dark
(1941) in which he began working with director
S. Sylvan Simon, who would become his favorite director.
[41]
He reprised the same role opposite
Ann Rutherford in Simon's other pictures, including
Whistling in Dixie (1942) and
Whistling in Brooklyn (1943).
[42][43][44]
In 1941, Skelton began appearing in musical comedies, starring opposite
Eleanor Powell,
Ann Sothern and
Robert Young in
Norman Z. McLeod's
Lady Be Good.
[45] In 1942 Skelton again starred opposite Eleanor Powell in
Edward Buzzell's
Ship Ahoy, and alongside Ann Sothern in McLeod's
Panama Hattie.
[46]
In 1943, after a memorable role as a nightclub hatcheck attendant who becomes King
Louis XV of France in a dream opposite
Lucille Ball and
Gene Kelly in
Roy Del Ruth's
Du Barry Was a Lady,
[47][48] Skelton starred as Joseph Rivington Reynolds, a hotel valet besotted with Broadway starlet Constance Shaw (Powell) in
Vincente Minnelli's romantic musical comedy,
I Dood It.
The film was largely a remake of
Buster Keaton's
Spite Marriage;
Keaton, who had become a comedy consultant to MGM after his film career
had diminished, began coaching Skelton on set during the filming.
Keaton worked in this capacity on several of Skelton's films, and his
1926 film
The General was also later rewritten to become Skelton's
A Southern Yankee (1948), under directors S. Silvan Simon and
Edward Sedgwick.
[49][50][51]
Keaton was convinced enough of Skelton's comedic talent that he approached MGM studio head
Louis B. Mayer
with a request to create a small company within MGM for himself and
Skelton, where the two could work on film projects.
Keaton offered to
forgo his salary if the films made by the company were not box office
hits; Mayer chose to decline the request.
[52]
In 1944, Skelton starred opposite
Esther Williams in
George Sidney's musical comedy
Bathing Beauty,
playing a songwriter with romantic difficulties.
He next had a
relatively minor role as a "TV announcer who, in the course of
demonstrating a brand of gin, progresses from mild inebriation through
messy drunkenness to full-blown stupor" in the "When Television Comes"
segment of
Ziegfeld Follies, which featured
William Powell and
Judy Garland in the main roles.
[53]
In 1946, Skelton played boastful clerk J. Aubrey Piper opposite
Marilyn Maxwell and
Marjorie Main in
Harry Beaumont's comedy picture
The Show-Off.
[54]
His wife, Edna, is on his left. Skelton also imprinted "Junior's" shoes along with the message, "We Dood It!".
Skelton's contract called for MGM's approval prior to his radio shows and other appearances.
[56]
When he renegotiated his long-term contract with MGM, he wanted a
clause that permitted him to remain working in radio and to be able to
work on television, which was then largely experimental.
At the time,
the major work in the medium was centered in New York; Skelton had
worked there for some time and was able to determine that he would find
success with his physical comedy through the medium.
[40][note 9]
By 1947, Skelton's work interests were focused not on films, but on
radio and television. His MGM contract was rigid enough to require the
studio's written consent for his weekly radio shows, as well as any
benefit or similar appearances he made; radio offered less restrictions,
more creative control and a higher salary.
[56][58]
Skelton asked for a release from MGM after learning he could not raise
the $750,000 needed to buy out the remainder of his contract.
[56]
He also voiced frustration with the film scripts he was offered while on the set of
The Fuller Brush Man, saying, "Movies are not my field. Radio and television are."
[59][note 10]
He did not receive the desired television clause nor a release from his MGM contract.
[62]
In 1948, columnist
Sheilah Graham
printed that Skelton's wishes were to make only one film a year,
spending the rest of the time traveling the U.S. with his radio show.
[41]
Skelton's ability to successfully ad-lib often meant that the way the
script was written was not always the way it was recorded on film.
Some
directors were delighted with the creativity, but others were often
frustrated by it.
[note 11]
S. Sylvan Simon, who became a close friend, allowed Skelton free rein when directing him.
[64][65]
MGM became annoyed with Simon during the filming of
The Fuller Brush Man,
as the studio contended that Skelton should have been playing romantic
leads instead of performing slapstick.
Simon and MGM parted company when
he was not asked to direct retakes of Skelton's
A Southern Yankee; Simon asked that his name be removed from the film's credits.
[51][66]
Skelton was willing to negotiate with MGM to extend the agreement
provided he would receive the right to pursue television. This time the
studio was willing to grant it, making Skelton the only major MGM
personality with the privilege.
The 1950 negotiations allowed him to
begin working in television beginning September 30, 1951.
[67][68]
During the last portion of his contract with the studio, Skelton was
working in radio and on television in addition to films. He would go on
to appear in films such as
Jack Donohue's
The Yellow Cab Man (1950),
[69] Roy Rowland and Buster Keaton's
Excuse My Dust (1951),
[70] Charles Walters'
Texas Carnival (1951),
[71] Mervyn LeRoy's
Lovely to Look At (1952),
[40] Robert Z. Leonard's
The Clown (1953) and
The Great Diamond Robbery (1954),
[72] and Norman Z. McLeod's poorly received
Public Pigeon No. 1 (1957),
[73] his last major film role, which originated incidentally from an episode of the television anthology series
Climax!.
[74]
In a 1956 interview, he said he would never work simultaneously in all three media again.
[75]
As a result, Skelton would make only a couple of minor appearances in films after this, including playing a saloon drunk in
Around the World in Eighty Days (1956), a gambler in
Ocean's 11 (1960), and a Neanderthal man in
Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965).
[76]
Radio, divorce and remarriage (1937–51)
Performing the "Doughnut Dunkers" routine led to Skelton's first appearance on
Rudy Vallée's
The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour
on August 12, 1937.
Vallée's program had a talent show segment and
those who were searching for stardom were eager to be heard on it.
Vallée also booked veteran comic and fellow Indiana native
Joe Cook to appear as a guest with Skelton.
The two
Hoosiers proceeded to trade jokes about their home towns, with Skelton contending to Cook, an
Evansville
native, that the city was a suburb of Vincennes.
The show received
enough fan mail after the performance to invite both comedians back two
weeks after Skelton's initial appearance and again in November of that
year.
[77]
On October 1, 1938, Skelton replaced
Red Foley as the host of
Avalon Time on NBC; Edna also joined the show's cast, under her maiden name.
[78][note 12]
She developed a system for working with the show's writers: selecting
material from them, adding her own and filing the unused bits and lines
for future use; the Skeltons worked on
Avalon Time until late 1939.
[80][81]
Skelton's work in films led to a new regular radio show offer; between
films, he promoted himself and MGM by appearing without charge at Los
Angeles area banquets.
A radio advertising agent was a guest at one of
his banquet performances and recommended Skelton to one of his clients.
[39]
He went on the air with his own radio show,
The Raleigh Cigarette Program, on October 7, 1941. The bandleader for the show was
Ozzie Nelson; his wife,
Harriet, who worked under her maiden name of Hilliard, was the show's vocalist and also worked with Skelton in skits.
[82]
"I dood it!"
Skelton with "Doolittle Dood It" newspaper headline, 1942
[83]
Skelton introduced the first two of his many characters during
The Raleigh Cigarette Program's
first season. The character of Clem Kadiddlehopper was based on a
Vincennes neighbor named Carl Hopper, who was hard of hearing.
[note 13]
Skelton's voice pattern for Clem was similar to the later cartoon character,
Bullwinkle; there was enough similarity to cause Skelton to contemplate filing a lawsuit against Bill Scott, who voiced the cartoon moose.
[84]
The second character, The Mean Widdle Kid, or "Junior", was a young boy
full of mischief, who typically did things he was told not to do.
"Junior" would say things like, "If I dood it, I gets a whipping.",
followed moments later by the statement, "I dood it!"
[84]
Skelton performed the character at home with Edna, giving him the
nickname "Junior" long before it was heard by a radio audience.
[85] While the phrase was Skelton's, the idea to try using the character on the radio show was Edna's.
[86]
Skelton starred in
a 1943 movie of the same name, but did not play "Junior" in the film.
[87]
The phrase was such a part of national culture at the time, when
General Doolittle conducted the
bombing of Tokyo in 1942, that many newspapers used the phrase "Doolittle Dood It" as a headline.
[39][88][89]
After a talk with President Roosevelt in 1943, Skelton used his radio show to collect funds for a
Douglas A-20 Havoc to be given to the
Soviet Army
to help fight World War II. Asking children to send in their spare
change, he raised enough money for the aircraft in two weeks; he named
the bomber "We Dood It!"
In 1986 the Soviet newspaper
Pravda
offered praise to Skelton for his 1943 gift and in 1993, the pilot of
the plane was able to meet Skelton and thank him for the bomber.
[90][91][note 14]
Skelton also added a routine he had been performing since 1928.
Originally called "Mellow Cigars", the skit entailed an announcer who
became ill as he smoked his sponsor's product. Brown and Williamson, the
makers of cigarettes, asked Skelton to change some aspects of the skit;
he renamed the routine "Guzzler's Gin", where the announcer became
inebriated while sampling and touting the imaginary sponsor's wares.
[92]
While the traditional radio program called for its cast to do an audience
warm-up
in preparation for the broadcast, Skelton did just the opposite. After
the regular radio program had ended, the show's guests were treated to a
post-program performance.
He would then perform his "Guzzler's Gin" or
any of more than 350 routines for those who had come to the radio show.
He updated and revised his post-show routines as diligently as those for
his radio program. As a result, studio audience tickets for Skelton's
radio show were in high demand; there were times where up to 300 people
needed to be turned away for lack of seats.
[35][93]
Divorce from Edna, marriage to Georgia
In 1942, Edna announced that she was leaving Skelton but would
continue to manage his career and write material for him.
He did not
realize she was serious until Edna issued a statement about the
impending divorce through NBC.
[94]
They were divorced in 1943, leaving the courtroom arm in arm.
[95][96]
The couple did not discuss the reasons for their divorce and Edna
initially prepared to work as a script writer for other radio programs.
When the divorce was finalized, she went to New York, leaving her former
husband three fully prepared show scripts. Skelton and those associated
with him sent telegrams and called her, asking her to come back to him
in a professional capacity.
[97][98][note 15]
Edna remained the manager of the couple's funds because Skelton spent
money too easily.
An attempt at managing his own checking account that
began with a $5,000 balance, ended five days later after a call to Edna
saying the account was overdrawn.
Skelton had a weekly allowance of $75,
with Edna making investments for him, choosing real estate and other
relatively stable assets.
[35]
She remained an adviser on his career until 1952, receiving a generous weekly salary for life for her efforts.
[100]
The Skeltons, circa 1957.
Back from left: Red, wife Georgia, sister in
law Maxine Davis.
Front: Son Richard and daughter Valentina
The divorce meant that Skelton had lost his married man's
deferment; he was once again classified as 1-A for service.
He was drafted into the
army in early 1944; both MGM and his radio
sponsor tried to obtain a deferment for the comedian, but to no avail.
[101]
His last Raleigh radio show was on June 6, 1944, the day before he was
formally inducted as a private; he was not assigned to the entertainment
corps at that time.
Without its star, the program was discontinued, and
the opportunity presented itself for the Nelsons to begin a radio show
of their own,
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.
[42][102]
By 1944, Skelton was engaged to actress Muriel Morris, who was also
known as Muriel Chase; the couple had obtained a marriage license and
told the press they intended to marry within a few days.
At the last
minute, the actress decided not to marry him, initially saying she
intended to marry a wealthy businessman in Mexico City. She later
recanted the story about marrying the businessman, but continued to say
that her relationship with Skelton was over.
The actress further denied
that the reason for the breakup was Edna's continuing to manage her
ex-husband's career; Edna stated that she had no intention of either
getting in the middle of the relationship or reconciling with her former
husband.
[103][104]
He was on army
furlough for throat discomfort when he married actress Georgia Maureen Davis in
Beverly Hills, California, on March 9, 1945; the couple met on the MGM lot.
[95][105][note 16]
Skelton traveled to Los Angeles from the eastern army base where he was
assigned for the wedding. He knew he would possibly be assigned
overseas soon and wanted the marriage to take place first.
[107]
After the wedding, he entered the hospital to have his
tonsils removed.
[108][109]
The couple had two children; Valentina, a daughter, was born May 5, 1947 and a son, Richard, was born May 20, 1948.
[1][110]
A cast of characters
Seated:
Verna Felton ("Grandma" to Skelton's "Junior" character), Rod O'Connor (announcer),
Lurene Tuttle ("Mother" to Skelton's "Junior" character).
[111]
Front: Skelton
After being assigned to the entertainment corps, Skelton performed as
many as ten to twelve shows per day before troops in both the United
States and in Europe. The pressure of his workload caused him to suffer
exhaustion and a
nervous breakdown.
[8][42]
His nervous collapse while in the army left him with a serious
stuttering
problem.
While recovering at an army hospital in Virginia, he met a
soldier who had been severely wounded and was not expected to survive.
Skelton devoted a lot of time and effort to trying to make the man
laugh.
As a result of this effort, his stuttering problem was cured; his
army friend's condition also improved and he was no longer on the
critical list.
[112] He was
released from his army duties in September 1945.
[42]
His sponsor was eager to have him back on the air, and Skelton's program began anew on NBC on December 4, 1945.
[102][113]
Upon returning to radio, Skelton brought with him many new characters
that were added to his repertoire: Bolivar Shagnasty, described as a
"loudmouthed braggart"; Cauliflower McPugg, a boxer; Deadeye, a cowboy;
Willie Lump-Lump, a fellow who drank too much; and San Fernando Red, a
conman with political aspirations.
[114]
By 1947, Skelton's musical conductor was
David Rose,
who would go on to television with him; he had worked with Rose during
his time in the army and wanted Rose to join him on the radio show when
it went back on the air.
[115]
On April 22, 1947, Skelton was
censored by NBC two minutes into his radio show. When he and his announcer Rod O'Connor began talking about
Fred Allen being censored the previous week, they were silenced for 15 seconds; comedian
Bob Hope was given the same treatment once he began referring to the censoring of Allen.
[note 17]
Skelton forged on with his lines for his studio audience's benefit; the
material he insisted on using had been edited from the script by the
network before the broadcast. He had been briefly censored the previous
month for the use of the word "diaper".
After the April incidents, NBC
indicated it would no longer pull the plug for similar reasons.
[117][118]
Skelton changed sponsors in 1948;
Brown & Williamson, owners of Raleigh cigarettes, withdrew due to program production costs. His new sponsor was
Procter & Gamble's
Tide laundry detergent.
The next year he changed networks, going from NBC to CBS, where his radio show aired until May 1953.
[119][120]
After his network radio contract was over, he signed a three-year contract with
Ziv Radio for a
syndicated radio program in 1954.
[121]
His syndicated radio program was offered as a daily show; it included
segments of his older network radio programs as well as new material
done for the syndication. He was able to use portions of his older radio
shows because he owned the rights for rebroadcasting them.
[75][122]
Television (1951–70)
Skelton was unable to work in television until the end of his 1951
MGM movie contract; a renegotiation to extend the pact provided
permission after that point.
[62][67]
He signed a contract for television on NBC with Procter and Gamble as
his sponsor on May 4, 1951, and said he would be performing the same
characters on television as he had been doing on radio.
[123][124]
The MGM agreement with Skelton for television performances did not allow him to go on the air before September 30, 1951.
[125]
His television debut,
The Red Skelton Show, premiered on that date: at the end of his opening
monologue, two men backstage grabbed his ankles from behind the set curtain, hauling him offstage face down.
[126][note 18]
A 1943
instrumental hit by David Rose, called "Holiday for Strings", became Skelton's TV theme song.
[127]
The move to television allowed him to create two non-human characters,
seagulls Gertrude and Heathcliffe, which he performed while the pair
were flying by tucking his thumbs under his arms to represent wings and
shaping his hat to look like a bird's bill.
[128][129][130]
He patterned his meek, henpecked television character of George Appleby
after his radio character, J. Newton Numbskull, who had similar
characteristics.
[note 19]
His "Freddie the Freeloader" clown was introduced on the program in
1952, with Skelton copying his father's makeup for the character. He
learned how to duplicate his father's makeup and perform his routines
through his mother's recollections.
[20][132][133]
A ritual became established at the end of every program, with Skelton's
shy boyish wave and words of, "Good night and may God bless."
[8][134][note 20]
Skelton as Willie Lump-Lump and
Shirley Mitchell as his wife, who appears to be walking on the wall in a 1952 Skelton show sketch.
During the 1951–52 season, the program was broadcast from a converted NBC radio studio.
[137]
The first year of the television show was done live; this led to
problems as there was not enough time for costume changes; Skelton was
on camera for most of the half-hour, including the delivery of a
commercial which was written into one of the show's skits.
[138][139]
In early 1952, Skelton had an idea for a television sketch about
someone who had been drinking not being able to know which way is up.
The script was completed and he had the show's production crew build a
set that was perpendicular to the stage, so it would give the illusion
that someone was walking on walls.
The skit, starring his character
Willie Lump-Lump, called for the character's wife to hire a carpenter to
re-do the living room in an effort to teach her husband a lesson about
his drinking.
When Willie wakes up there after a night of drinking, he
realizes he is not lying on the floor but on the living room wall.
Willie's wife goes about the house normally, but to Willie, she appears
to be walking on a wall. Within an hour after the broadcast, the NBC
switchboard had received 350 calls regarding the show, and Skelton had
received more than 2,500 letters about the skit within a week of its
airing.
[140]
Skelton was delivering an intense performance live each week, and the
strain showed in physical illness.
In 1952, he was drinking heavily
from the constant pain of a
diaphragmatic hernia and marital problems; he thought about divorcing Georgia.
[141][142][note 21]
NBC agreed to film his shows in the 1952–53 season at
Eagle Lion Studios, next to the Sam Goldwyn Studio, on
Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood.
[145]
Later the show was moved to the new NBC television studios in
Burbank.
Procter & Gamble was unhappy with the filming of the television
show, and insisted that Skelton return to live broadcasts.
The situation
caused him to think about leaving television at that point.
[146][147]
Declining ratings prompted sponsor Procter & Gamble to cancel his
show in the spring of 1953, with Skelton announcing that any future
television shows of his would be variety shows, where he would not have
the almost constant burden of performing.
[148]
Beginning with the 1953–54 season, he switched to CBS, where he remained until 1970.
[149]
For the initial move to CBS, he had no sponsor. The network gambled by covering all expenses for the program on a
sustaining basis; his first CBS sponsor was
Geritol.
[150][151]
He curtailed his drinking and his ratings at CBS began to improve,
especially after he began appearing on Tuesday nights for co-sponsors
Johnson's Wax and
Pet Milk Company.
[152]
By 1955, Skelton was broadcasting some of his weekly programs in
color, which was the case approximately 100 times between 1955 and 1960.
[153]
He tried to encourage CBS to do other shows in color at the facility,
but CBS mostly avoided color broadcasting after the network's television
set manufacturing division was discontinued in 1951.
[154][note 22]
By 1959, Skelton was the only comedian with a weekly variety television show; others who remained on the air, such as
Danny Thomas, were performing their routines as part of
situation comedy programs.
[155][156]
He performed a preview show for a studio audience on Mondays, using
their reactions to determine which skits needed to be edited for the
Tuesday program. For the Tuesday afternoon run-through prior to the
actual show, he ignored the script for the most part, ad-libbing through
it at will.
The run-through was well attended by
CBS Television City employees
[131] Sometimes during sketches, both live telecasts and taped programs, Skelton would break up or cause his guest stars to laugh.
[8][157][note 23]
Richard's illness and death
Skelton and Mickey Rooney at dress rehearsal for The Red Skelton Show of January 15, 1957.
This was Skelton's return to television after his son Richard's leukemia diagnosis.
At the height of Skelton's popularity, his nine-year-old son Richard was diagnosed with
leukemia and was given a year to live.
[160][161]
While the network told him to take as much time off as necessary,
Skelton felt that until he went back to his television show, he would be
unable to be at ease and make his son's life a happy one.
[162] He returned to his television show on January 15, 1957, with guest star Mickey Rooney helping to lift his spirits.
[163]
In happier times, he frequently mentioned his children on his program,
but found it extremely difficult to do so after Richard became ill;
Skelton resumed this practice only after his son asked him to.
[164][165]
After his son's diagnosis, Skelton took his family on an extended trip,
so Richard could see as much of the world as possible. When they
arrived in London, there were press accusations that the trip was more
about publicity than his seriously ill son.
There were also newspaper
reports about Richard's illness being fatal, which were seen by the boy.
[166] The family returned to the United States after the British press stories.
[167][168]
The Skelton family received support from CBS management and from the public following the announcement of Richard's illness.
[162]
Skelton himself was beset by a serious illness and by a household accident which kept him off the air.
[169] He suffered a life-threatening
asthma attack on December 30, 1957, and was taken to
St. John's Hospital in
Santa Monica, where his doctors said that "if there were ten steps to death, Red Skelton had taken nine of them by the time he had arrived".
[note 24]
Initially hospitalized for an indeterminate length of time, Skelton
later said he was working on some notes for television and the next
thing he remembered, he was in a hospital bed; he did not know how
serious his illness was until he read about it himself in the
newspapers.
[171][172]
His illness and recovery kept him off the air for a full month; Skelton returned to his television show on January 28, 1958.
[173][174]
Richard died on May 10, 1958; it was ten days before the child's tenth birthday.
[175]
Skelton was scheduled to do his weekly television show on the day his
son was buried. Though there were recordings of some older programs
available which the network could have run, he asked that guest
performers be used instead.
[176]
Calling themselves The Friends of Red Skelton, his friends in the television, film and music industries organized
The Friends Of Red Skelton Variety Show, which they performed to replace
The Red Skelton Show for that week; by May 27, 1958, Skelton had returned to his program.
[177][178][179]
The death of Richard profoundly affected the family; while Richard's model trains were in a storeroom of the
Bel Air mansion by 1961, Skelton refused to have them dismantled.
[180]
In 1962, the Skelton family moved to
Palm Springs while Skelton used the Bel Air home only on the two days when he was in Los Angeles for his television show taping.
[181][182][183]
The Red Skelton Hour
In early 1960, Skelton purchased the old
Charlie Chaplin Studios and updated it for videotape recording.
[184][185]
With a recently purchased three-truck mobile color television unit, he
recorded a number of his series episodes and specials in color. Even
with his color facilities, CBS discontinued color broadcasts on a
regular basis and Skelton shortly thereafter sold the studio to CBS and
the mobile unit to local station,
KTLA.
[186][note 25]
Prior to this, he had been filming at
Desilu Productions.
[188]
Skelton then moved back to the network's Television City facilities,
where he resumed taping his programs until he left the network.
In the
fall of 1962, CBS expanded his program to a full hour, retitling it
The Red Skelton Hour.
[189]
While a staple of his radio programs, he did not perform his "Junior"
character on television until 1962, after extending the length of his
program.
[190]
Skelton frequently employed the art of pantomime for his characters: a
segment of his weekly program was called the "Silent Spot" and the
sketch was performed in pantomime.
[191]
He attributed his use of pantomime and few props to his early days when
he did not want to have a lot of luggage, so he crafted routines that
used few of them.
[192]
He explained that the right hat was the key to his being able to get into character.
[139][193]
Skelton's season premiere for the 1960–61 television season was a
tribute to the United Nations. Six hundred people from the organization,
including diplomats, were invited to be part of the audience for the
show.
The program was entirely done in pantomime, as UN representatives
from 39 nations were in the studio audience.
[194]
One of the sketches he performed for the UN was that of the old man
watching the parade. The sketch had its origins in a question Skelton's
son, Richard, asked his father about what happens when people die. He
told his son, "They join a parade and start marching."
[180][195]
In 1965, Skelton did another show in complete pantomime. This time he was joined by
Marcel Marceau; the two artists alternated performances for the hour-long program, sharing the stage to perform
Pinocchio.
The only person who spoke during the hour was
Maurice Chevalier, who served as the show's narrator.
[196][197]
In 1969, Skelton performed a self-written monologue about the
Pledge of Allegiance.
In the speech, he commented on the meaning of each phrase of the
pledge. He credited one of his Vincennes grammar school teachers, Mr.
Laswell, with the original speech.
[198][note 26]
The teacher had grown tired of hearing his students monotonously recite
the pledge each morning; he then demonstrated to them how it should be
recited, along with comments about the meaning behind each phrase.
[14][200]
CBS received 200,000 requests for copies; the company subsequently released the monologue as a single on
Columbia Records.
[201]
A year later, he performed the monologue for President
Richard Nixon at the first "Evening at the White House", a series of entertainment events honoring the recently inaugurated president.
[202]
Off the air and bitterness (1970–83)
As the 1970s began, the networks began a major campaign to
discontinue long-running shows that they considered stale or lacking
youth appeal.
Despite Skelton's continued strong ratings, CBS saw his
show as fitting into this category and canceled the program along with
other comedy and variety shows hosted by veterans such as
Jackie Gleason and
Ed Sullivan.
[203][204][note 27]
Performing in Las Vegas when he got the news of his CBS cancellation, Skelton said, "My heart has been broken."
[8] His program had been one of the top ten highest rated shows for 17 of the 20 years he was on television.
[205]
Skelton moved to NBC in 1970 in a half-hour Monday night version of his former show.
[62]
Its cancellation after one season ended his television career, and he returned to live performances.
[206]
In an effort to prove the networks wrong, he gave many of these at colleges and proved popular with the audience.
[8][92] Skelton was bitter about CBS's cancellation for many years afterwards.
[203]
Believing the demographic and salary issues to be irrelevant, he accused CBS of bowing to the
anti-establishment,
anti-war faction at the height of the
Vietnam War, saying his conservative political and social views caused the network to turn against him.
[14][note 28]
He had invited prominent Republicans, including Vice President
Spiro Agnew and Senate Republican Leader
Everett Dirksen, to appear on his program.
[note 29][note 30]
There were personal as well as professional changes taking place in
Skelton's life at this time. He divorced Georgia in 1971 and married
Lothian Toland, daughter of
cinematographer Gregg Toland, on October 7, 1973.
[213][214][215]
While he disassociated himself from television soon after his show was
canceled, his bitterness had subsided enough for him to appear on
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson on July 11, 1975; it was his first television appearance since he no longer had a television program.
Johnny Carson,
one of his former writers, began his rise to network television
prominence by substituting for Skelton after his dress rehearsal injury
in 1954.
[216][note 31]
Skelton was also a guest on
The Merv Griffin Show in October of the same year.
[216]
Any hopes he may have had to ease back into television through the talk
show circuit came to an abrupt halt on May 10, 1976, when Georgia
Skelton committed suicide by gunshot on the 18th anniversary of Richard
Skelton's death.
[216][219][note 32]
Georgia was 54 and had been in poor health for some time.
[223][224] He put all professional activities on hold for some months as he mourned his former wife's death.
[216]
Skelton made plans in 1977 to sell the rights to his old television
programs as part of a package which would bring him back to regular
television appearances. The package called for him to produce one new
television show for every three older episodes; this appears to not have
materialized.
[208]
In 1980, he was taken to court by 13 of his former writers over a story
that his will called for the destruction of recordings of all his old
television shows upon his death.
[12][225][note 33]
Skelton contended his remarks were made at a time when he was very
unhappy with the television industry and were taken out of context.
He
said at the time, "Would you burn the only monument you've built in over
20 years?"
[203][226]
As the owner of the television shows, Skelton initially refused to allow them to be syndicated as reruns during his lifetime.
[33][203][note 34]
In 1983,
Group W
announced that it had come to terms with him for the rights to
rebroadcast some of his original television programs from 1966 through
1970; some of his earlier shows were made available after Skelton's
death.
[157][227]
Skelton onstage
Skelton's 70-year career as an entertainer began as a stage
performer. He retained a fondness for theaters, and referred to them as
"palaces"; he also likened them to his "living room", where he would
privately entertain guests.
[228][229]
At the end of a performance, he would look at the empty stage where
there was now no laughter or applause and tell himself, "Tomorrow I must
start again. One hour ago, I was a big man. I was important out there.
Now it's empty. It's all gone."
[230]
Skelton was invited to play a four week date at the
London Palladium in July 1951.
[231]
While flying to the engagement, Skelton, Georgia and Father Edward J.
Carney, were on a plane from Rome with passengers from an assortment of
countries that included 11 children.
The plane lost the use of two of
its four engines and seemed destined to lose the rest,
[232] meaning that the plane would crash over
Mont Blanc.
The priest readied himself to administer
last rites.
As he did so, he told Skelton, "You take care of your department, Red,
and I'll take care of mine." Skelton diverted the attention of the
passengers with pantomimes while Father Carney prayed. They ultimately
landed at a small airstrip in
Lyon, France.
[233][234]
He received both an enthusiastic reception and an invitation to return for the Palladium's Christmas show of that year.
[235]
Though Skelton had always done live engagements at Nevada hotels and
appearances such as state fairs during his television show's hiatus, he
focused his time and energy on live performances after he was no longer
on the air, performing up to 125 dates a year.
[230]
He often arrived days early for his engagement and would serve as his
own promotion staff, making the rounds of the local shopping malls.
[205]
Before the show, his audiences received a ballot listing about 100 of
his many routines and were asked to tick off their favorites. The
venue's ushers would collect the ballots and tally the votes.
Skelton's
performance on that given day was based on the skits his audience
selected.
[18]
After he learned that his performances were popular with the
hearing-impaired because of his heavy use of pantomimes, Skelton hired a
sign-language interpreter to translate the non-pantomime portions of
his act for all his shows.
[236]
He continued performing live until 1993, when he celebrated his 80th birthday.
[237]
Later years and death
Family room where Red Skelton is buried, in the Great Mausoleum, Forest Lawn Glendale
In 1974, Skelton's interest in film work was rekindled with the news that
Neil Simon's comedy
The Sunshine Boys would become a movie; his last significant film appearance had been in
Public Pigeon No. 1, in 1956.
He screen tested for the role of Willy Clark with
Jack Benny, who had been cast as Al Lewis.
[238]
Although Simon had planned to cast
Jack Albertson, who played Willy on Broadway, in the same role for the film, Skelton's screen test impressed him enough to change his mind.
[239]
Skelton declined the part, however, reportedly due to an inadequate financial offer,
[238][240] and Benny's final illness forced him to withdraw as well.
George Burns and
Walter Matthau ultimately starred in the film.
[241][242][note 35]
In 1981, Skelton made several specials for HBO including
Freddie the Freeloader's Christmas Dinner (1981) and the
Funny Faces series of specials.
[244][245][246]
He gave a
Royal Command Performance for the
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in 1984, which was later shown in the U.S. on
HBO.
[247][248] A portion of one of his last interviews, conducted by Steven F. Zambo, was broadcast as part of the 2005
PBS special
The Pioneers of Primetime.
[249]
Skelton died on September 17, 1997 at the
Eisenhower Medical Center in
Rancho Mirage, California, at the age of 84, after what was described as "a long, undisclosed illness".
[250]
He was interred in the family's private room in The Great Mausoleum's Sanctuary of Benediction at
Forest Lawn Memorial Park, in
Glendale, California, where his son, Richard, and former wife, Georgia, are also buried.
[237][251][252]
Skelton was survived by his widow, Lothian Toland Skelton; his
daughter, Valentina Marie Skelton Alonso; and granddaughter Sabrina
Maureen Alonso.
[8][213]
Art and other interests
Artwork
Skelton at home with one of his clown paintings in 1948
Skelton began producing artwork in 1943, but kept his works private
for many years. He said he was inspired to try his hand at painting
after visiting a large Chicago
department store
that had various paintings on display.
Inquiring as to the price of one
which Skelton described as "a bunch of blotches", he was told, "Ten
thousand wouldn't buy that one." He told the clerk he was one of the ten
thousand who would not buy the painting, instead buying his own art
materials.
His wife Georgia, a former art student, persuaded him to have
his first public showing of his work in 1964 at the Sands hotel in Las
Vegas where he was performing at the time.
[253][254]
Skelton believed painting was an asset to his comedy work, as it helped
him to better visualize the imaginary props used in his pantomime
routines.
[183]
In addition to his originals, Skelton also sold reproductions and prints through his own mail order business.
[192]
He made his work available to art galleries by selling them franchises to display and sell his paintings.
[33]
He once estimated the sale of his
lithographs earned him $2.5 million per year.
[8][note 36]
Shortly after his death, his art dealer said he believed that Skelton
made more money on his paintings than from his television work.
[255]
At the time of his death, Skelton had produced over 1,000 oil paintings
of clowns. When asked why his artwork focused on clowns, he said at
first, "I don't know why it's always clowns."
He continued after
thinking a moment by saying. "No, that's not true—I do know why. I just
don't feel like thinking about it ..."
[11][note 37]
At the time of Skelton's death, his originals were priced at $80,000 and upward.
[257]
Other interests
Skelton was a prolific writer of both short stories and music. After
sleeping only four or five hours a night, he would wake up at 5 AM and
begin writing stories, composing music, and painting pictures.
He wrote
at least one short story a week and had composed over 8,000 songs and
symphonies by the time of his death.
[258]
He wrote commercials for
Skoal tobacco and sold many of his compositions to
Muzak, a company that specialized in providing
background music to stores and other businesses.
[12]
Skelton was also interested in photography; when attending Hollywood
parties, he would take photos and give the film to newspaper reporters
waiting outside.
[259]
He was never without a miniature camera and kept a photographic record of all his paintings.
[183]
Skelton was also an avid gardener who created his own Japanese and Italian gardens and cultivated
bonsai trees at his home in Palm Springs, California.
[260][261]
Fraternity and honors
Skelton was a
Freemason, a member of Vincennes Lodge No. 1, in Indiana.
He also was a member of both the
Scottish and
York Rite.
[262]
He was a recipient of the Gold Medal of the General Grand Chapter,
Royal Arch Masons,
for Distinguished Service in the Arts and Sciences.
On September 24,
1969, he received the honorary 33rd degree in the Scottish Rite and was a
Gourgas Medal recipient in 1995.
[262][263]
Skelton became interested in Masonry as a small boy selling newspapers
in Vincennes, when a man bought a paper from him with a five dollar bill
and told him to keep the change.
The young Skelton asked his benefactor
why he had given him so much money; the man explained that he was a
Mason and Masons are taught to give.
Skelton decided to become one also
when he was grown.
[264]
He was also a
Shriner in Los Angeles.
[262]
Skelton was made an honorary brother of
Phi Sigma Kappa at
Truman State University.
[265]
In 1961 he became an honorary brother of the Phi Alpha Tau Fraternity of
Emerson College
when he was awarded the Joseph E. Connor Award for excellence in the
field of communications.
He also received an honorary degree from the
college at the same ceremony.
[266]
Skelton received an honorary high school diploma from Vincennes High School.
[267]
He was also an honorary member of
Kappa Kappa Psi
National Honorary Band Fraternity; Skelton had composed many marches
which were used by more than 10,000 high school and college bands.
[30][268]
In 1986, Skelton received an honorary degree from
Ball State University.
[269]
The
Red Skelton Memorial Bridge spans the
Wabash River and provides the highway link between
Illinois and
Indiana on
U.S. Route 50, near Skelton's home town of Vincennes. He attended the dedication ceremonies in 1963.
[270]
Awards and recognition
Skelton's star for his work in television on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
In 1952, Skelton received
Emmy Awards for Best Comedy Program and Best Comedian.
[271][272]
He also received an Emmy nomination in 1957 for his non-comedic performance in
Playhouse 90's presentation of "The Big Slide".
[273]
Skelton and his writers won another Emmy in 1961 for Outstanding Writing Achievement In Comedy.
[271][272]
He was named an honorary faculty member of
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College in 1968 and 1969.
[274]
Skelton's first major post-television recognition came in 1978, when the
Golden Globe Awards named him as the recipient for their
Cecil B. DeMille Award,
which is given to honor outstanding contributions in entertainment.
His
excitement was so great upon receiving the award and a standing
ovation, that he clutched it tightly enough to break the statuette.
[6]
When he was presented with the
Academy of Television Arts & Sciences'
Governor's Award in 1986, Skelton received a standing ovation. "I want
to thank you for sitting down", he said when the ovation subsided.
"I
thought you were pulling a CBS and walking out on me."
[8][275]
The honor came 16 years after his television program left the airwaves.
[205]
Skelton received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the
Screen Actors Guild in 1987, and in 1988, he was inducted into the
Academy of Television Arts & Sciences'
Television Hall of Fame.
[5]
[276][277]
He was one of the
International Clown Hall of Fame's first inductees in 1989.
[278][279][280]
Skelton and
Katharine Hepburn were honored with lifetime achievement awards by the
American Comedy Awards in the same year.
[7]
He was inducted into the
National Radio Hall of Fame in 1994.
[119] Skelton also has two stars on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame for his radio and television work.
[281]
Legacy and tributes
Skelton preferred to be described as a clown rather than a comic: "A
comedian goes out and hits people right on. A clown uses pathos.
He can
be funny, then turn right around and reach people and touch them with
what life is like."
[207]
"I just want to be known as a clown", he said, "because to me that's
the height of my profession.
It means you can do everything—sing, dance
and above all, make people laugh."
[8][281] His purpose in life, he believed, was to make people laugh.
[180]
In
Groucho and Me,
Groucho Marx called Skelton "the most unacclaimed clown in show business", and "the logical successor to
[Charlie] Chaplin",
largely because of his ability to play a multitude of characters with
minimal use of dialogue and props.
"With one prop, a soft battered hat",
Groucho wrote, describing a performance he had witnessed, "he
successfully converted himself into an idiot boy, a peevish old lady, a
teetering-tottering drunk, an overstuffed clubwoman, a tramp, and any
other character that seemed to suit his fancy.
No grotesque make-up, no
funny clothes, just Red."
He added that Skelton also "plays a dramatic
scene about as effectively as any of the dramatic actors."
[203][282]
In late 1965 ventriloquist
Edgar Bergen,
reminiscing about the entertainment business, singled out Skelton for
high praise. "It's all so very different today.
The whole business of
comedy has changed — from 15 minutes of quality to quantity. We had a
lot of very funny people around, from
Charley Chase to Charlie Chaplin and
Laurel and Hardy. The last one of that breed is Red Skelton."
[283]
Harry Cohn of
Columbia Pictures also praised Skelton, saying, "He's a clown in the old tradition. He doesn't need punch lines. He's got heart."
[205]
Skelton performing with
Marcel Marceau, 1965; the two were friends for many years.
Skelton and
Marcel Marceau
shared a long friendship and admiration of each other's work. Marceau
appeared on Skelton's CBS television show three times, including one
turn as the host in 1961 as Skelton recovered from surgery.
[246]
He was also a guest on the three
Funny Faces specials that Skelton produced for
HBO.
[284]
In a
TV Guide
interview after Skelton's death, Marceau said, "Red, you are eternal
for me and the millions of people you made laugh and cry. May God bless
you forever, my great and precious companion. I will never forget that
silent world we created together."
[285]
CBS issued the following statement upon his death: "Red's audience had
no age limits. He was the consummate family entertainer—a winsome clown,
a storyteller without peer, a superb mime, a singer and a dancer."
[250]
The Red Skelton Performing Arts Center was dedicated in February 2006
on the campus of Vincennes University, one block from the home in
Vincennes where Skelton was born.
[286][287]
The building includes an 850-seat theater, classrooms, rehearsal rooms,
and dressing rooms. Its grand foyer is a gallery for Skelton's
paintings, statues, and film posters.
[288]
The theater hosts theatrical and musical productions by Vincennes
University, as well as special events, convocations and conventions.
[286]
The adjacent Red Skelton Museum of American Comedy opened on July 18, 2013, on what would have been Skelton's 100th birthday.
[289][290]
It houses his personal and professional materials, which he had
collected since the age of ten, in accordance with his wishes that they
be made available in his hometown for the public's enjoyment.
Skelton's
widow, Lothian, noted that he expressed no interest in any sort of
Hollywood memorial.
[288][note 38]
The museum is funded jointly by the Red Skelton Museum Foundation and the
Indiana Historical Society.
[292][293][294]
Other Foundation projects include a fund that provides new clothes to Vincennes children from low-income families.
[246] The Foundation also purchased Skelton's birthplace and continues to finance its restoration.
[288][295]
Restoration continues as well at the historic Vincennes
Pantheon Theatre, where Skelton performed during his youth.
[296]
The town of Vincennes has held an annual Red Skelton Festival since
2005.
A "Parade of a Thousand Clowns", billed as the largest clown
parade in the Midwest, is presented, followed by family-oriented
activities and live music performances.
[297][298]
Source: Wikipedia.org
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