
Red Skelton
Biography
The son of a former circus clown turned grocer and a cleaning woman, Red Skelton was introduced to show business at the age of 7 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 17, 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 Hour (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 9--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. Red is interred at Forest Lawn Cemetery, Glendale, California, in the Great Mausoleum, Sanctuary of Benediction.
Filmography

Pioneers of Primetime

Red Skelton: America's Greatest Clown

Red Skelton: Bloopers, Blunders, and Ad Libs

Television: The First Fifty Years

Inside the Dream Factory

A Tribute to Houdini

That's Dancing!

Hollywood's Funniest All-Star Bloopers

Red Skelton: A Royal Command Performance

Freddie the Freeloader's Christmas Dinner

The Hollywood Clowns

The People's Command Performance: '77

Rudolph's Shiny New Year

That's Entertainment, Part II

America on Parade

That's Entertainment!

Jack Benny's 20th Anniversary TV Special

Honor America Day

Swing Out, Sweet Land

The Dean Martin Christmas Show

Clown Alley

Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours 11 Minutes

The Big Parade of Comedy

Ocean's Eleven

Public Pigeon No. 1

The Country Husband

Around the World in Eighty Days

Red Skelton Christmas Classics

Susan Slept Here

The Great Diamond Robbery

Half a Hero

The Clown

Lovely to Look At

Texas Carnival

Excuse My Dust

Watch the Birdie

The Fuller Brush Girl

Three Little Words

The Yellow Cab Man

Neptune's Daughter

A Southern Yankee

The Fuller Brush Man

Merton of the Movies

The Show-Off

Ziegfeld Follies

Bathing Beauty

Twenty Years After

Whistling in Brooklyn

Thousands Cheer

I Dood It

Du Barry Was a Lady

Whistling in Dixie

Panama Hattie

Maisie Gets Her Man

Ship Ahoy

Lady Be Good

Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day

Whistling in the Dark

The People Vs. Dr. Kildare

Flight Command

Seeing Red

The Broadway Buckaroo
