Red Skelton

The March 1996 issue explores Red Skelton as Clem Kadiddlehopper. Well written article by Wes D Gehring.

Humble beginnings for this well known entertainer.

Born in Vincennes, Indiana, Red Skelton was the son of a Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus clown named Joe who died in 1913 shortly before the birth of his son. Skelton himself got one of his earliest tastes of show business with the same circus as a teenager. Before that, however, he had been given the show business bug at 10 years of age by entertainer Ed Wynn, who spotted him selling newspapers in front of the Pantheon Theatre, in Vincennes, trying to help his family. After buying every newspaper in Skelton's stock, Wynn took the boy backstage and introduced him to every member of the show with which he was traveling. Red also worked as an usher at this theater and later performed the song "Sonny Boy" made popular by Al Jolson for a Rotary club fund raiser. By age 15, Skelton had hit the road full-time as an entertainer, working everywhere from medicine shows and vaudeville to burlesque, showboats, minstrel shows and circuses. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Skelton en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantheon_Theatre Currently, the Pantheon Theater is being restored and tours are being offered to help with the cost of the restoration. The Pantheon is located on Main Street in Vincennes, Indiana.

I made a rare trip to the old hometown this past weekend and saw a Mural I hadn't seen before. Red Skelton grew up here in Vincennes and lived in my grandfather's neighborhood and attended the same school. Red use to make occasional trips back to Vincennes and always made the front page when he did.

Red lived a couple of blocks over from my Grandpa as a kid and often shot marbles with them. 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.

Red lived a couple of blocks over from my Grandpa as a kid and often shot marbles with them. 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.