Red Skelton(1913-1997)
- Writer
- Actor
- Producer
The son of a former circus clown turned grocer and a cleaning woman,
Red Skelton was introduced to show business
at the age of seven by Ed Wynn, at a vaudeville
show in Vincennes. At age 10, he left home to travel with a medicine
show through the Midwest, and joined the vaudeville circuit at age 15.
At age 18, he married Edna Marie Stilwell, an usher who became his
vaudeville partner and later his chief writer and manager. He debuted
on Broadway and radio in 1937 and on film in 1938. His ex-wife/manager
negotiated a seven-year Hollywood contract for him in 1951, the same
year
The Red Skelton Show (1951)
premiered on NBC. For two decades, until 1971, his show consistently
stayed in the top twenty, both on NBC and CBS. His numerous characters,
including Clem Kaddiddlehopper, George Appleby, and the seagulls
Gertrude and Heathcliffe delighted audiences for decades. First and
foremost, he considered himself a clown, although not the greatest, and
his paintings of clowns brought in a fortune after he left television.
His home life was not completely happy--two divorces and a son Richard
who died of leukemia at age nine--and he did not hang around with other
comedians. He continued performing live until illness, and he was a
longtime supporter of children's charities. Red Skelton died at age 84
of pneumonia in Rancho Mirage, California on September 17, 1997.
