By: Ashley Rutkowski
RED’S LIFE
Red & his
radio team
 The name he was born under is Richard Bernard Skelton
 He was born July 18, 1913 in Vincennes, Indiana, U.S.
 His father died 2 months before he was born so Red had to help make money for his poor family.
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So he sold newspapers and odd jobs
Ed Wynn spotted him selling newspapers and he took Red backstage to meet all the other
performers he was traveling with. Red then got the “show-biz bug”
Left home at age 10 to join a traveling medicine show.
Joined in on the Vaudeville action at age 15
Did many things from medicine show, vaudeville, burlesque, showboats, minstrel shows, circus (his
dad’s, Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus) and radio
At the age of 17 he married Edna Marie Stillwell who was a Vaudeville usher who became his chief
writer and manager. He divorced her 13 years later
Debuted on Broadway and radio in 1937
Red and
Lothian
Debuted in film in 1938
Drafted in March of 1944
In 1945 Red married Georgia Davis, they had two children named Richard (who died of leukemia at
age 9) and Valentina. They divorced in 1972
Returned to his show December 4th of 1945
In 1973 he married Lothian Toland who was the daughter of the Academy Award winning
cinematographer Gregg Toland
Became the first show to begin taping in color (early 1960’s)
He died at the age of 84 of pneumonia on September 17, 1997in Rancho Mirage, California
Works
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Having Wonderful Time in 1938- played Itchy Faulkner and Camp Social Director as himself
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Also starred Ginger Rogers, Lucille Ball
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The Red Skelton Radio Show premiered on October 7, 1941- The Raleigh Cigarette Program (radio)
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Du Barry Was a Lady (1943)- he was Louis Blore/King Louis XV
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Also starred Lucille Ball and Gene Kelly
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I Dood It in 1943- played Joseph ‘Joe’ Rivington Renolds
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Ziegfeld Follies in 1945- starred as himself, Raffles, Tai Long, and Gentleman
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Also starred Lucille Ball, Judy Garland, and Gene Kelly
Three Little Words in 1950- played Harry Ruby
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Also starred Debby Renolds
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Red Skelton Revue in 1954- starred as himself and many of his famous characters
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The Red Skelton Hour (TV Series) 1951-1971
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Starred many great actors and actresses
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Around the World in Eighty Days in 1956- he played a drunk in Barbary Coast Saloon
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Rudolph’s Shiny New Year (TV movie) in 1976- voice of father time and baby bear
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ALONG WITH MANY OTHER WORKS
RED’S CLOWNS
T h e Tr i p l e
Self-Por trait
Clown
with
Candy
Cane
The
Hold That
Financier
Tiger
Sunday
After noon
The Escor ts
The Chef The New
Stetson
Fr e d d i e i n
t h e Tu b
Holly
Clown
Clem
Kididdlehopper
Crazy Quilt
Clown
Christmas
Again
Fr e d d i e ’ s
Kitty Cat
The Pledge
To u c h d o w n
Amigo
Fr e d d i e ’ s
Bir thday
FAMOUS CHARACTERS
Clem
Kadiddlehopper
Freddie the
Freeloader
His character
became staple of
American
entertainment!
The Mean
Widdle Kid
Sheriff
Deadeye
Cauliflower McPugg
Guests
Red Skelton met Michael Jackson when the Jackson Family
appeared on his TV show. They remained friends for years
and Red painted Michael on a linen for the Jackson family.
O Red is joined in the fun by a who's who from the world of
stage, screen and television. Jerry Lewis, Mickey Rooney,
Martha Raye, Tony Randall, Phyllis Diller, Audrey Meadows,
Jill St. John, Walter Brennan, Vincent Price, Jayne
Meadows, Jackie Gleason, Mamie Van Dorne, Cesar Romero
and Keenan Wynn are just a few of the many
O He never really needed a guest star but he knew how to
utilize their talents to make the show even funnier
O
Achievements
• He was inducted into the International Clown Hall of Fame in 1989
• Inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1994
• He was awarded 2 stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television
and for Radio
• And many other movies adding up to 48 motion pictures (22 he was the
star), composed 8,000 songs (5,000 musical selections), wrote 64
symphonies, painted many pictures (mostly his signature clown), and
performed for the Queen of England, 8 U.S. Presidents, and 3 private
showings for the Pope.
• Recipient of Emmy Awards in 1951, 1956, 1960, 1961
• The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences awarded him the Governor’s
Award for lifetime achievement in 1986
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“My mother told me something I’ve never forgotten: ‘Don’t
take life too seriously, son. You don’t come out of it alive
anyway.”
“I’m nuts and I know it. But so long as I make ‘em laugh,
they ain’t going to lock me up.”
“I always believed God puts each one of us here for a
purpose and mine is to try to make people happy.”
“If I can make people smile, then I have served my purpose
for God.”
Other Facts
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Red’s trademark was his hat. He performed and did characters with his brown hat. He performed these different
character by changing the way the hat looks and how he wears
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His father was a circus clown
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In 1986, as Clem Kaddiddlehopper, he received an Honorary Doctorate of Foolology from Ball Stat University in Muncie,
IN
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He insisted on getting his television skits done on the first take, even if it meant ad -libbing around blown lines and failed
props. In one famous incident on LIVE television, he managed to ad-lib while a cow defecated on stage
“Not only does she give milk, but also Pet-Ritz pies!”
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He served in the United States Army during WWII (1944-1945)
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He was the star of “The Red Skelton Show” on NBC Radio (1941-1949) & CBS Radio (1949-1953)
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His daughter, Valentina Marie Skelton, was born on May 5, 1947 & his son, Richard Freeman Skelton, was born on May 20,
1948 and died on May 10, 1958 of leukemia
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When Red took a serious fall, injuring himself, one of the writers named Johnny Carson took his place on the show that
night
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In 1960 Red purchased the old Charles Chaplin studios
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Although he was famous for his “drunk” comedy sketches, he never drank and was allergic to alcohol
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Skelton admitted that he fudged his officially accepted birth year to people Magazine. They year 1910 is sometimes given
instead of 1913, but Arthur Marx claims that Skelton told close associates he was really born in 1906
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Red appears as his character Freddie the Freeloader on a 44cent USA commemorative postage stamp
Video
 Pedestrian polo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAGbOPhVA6s&feature
=youtu.be
OR
 Beanstalk and Freddie dance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6K0fFeHX474&feature=
youtu.be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Um08hUHX7uk&feature
=youtu.be
Extra time video
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2A3rVkpMWpI&featu
re=youtu.be