Red Skelton

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 exwifemanager negotiated a sevenyear 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 happytwo divorces and a son Richard who died of leukemia at age 9and he did not hang around with other comedians He continued performing live until illness and he was a longtime supporter of childrens 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