Richard Bernard "Red" Skelton (July 18,
1913 – September 17, 1997) was an American comedian who was
best known as a top radio and television star from 1937 to 1971.
Skelton's show business career began in his teens as a circus clown
and went on to vaudeville, Broadway, films, radio, TV, clubs and
casinos, while pursuing another career as a painter.
After 1937 appearances on The Rudy Vallee Show, Skelton
became a regular in 1939 on NBC's Avalon Time, sponsored by Avalon
Cigarettes. On October 7, 1941, Skelton premiered his own radio
show, The Raleigh Cigarette Program, developing routines involving
a number of recurring characters, including punch-drunk boxer Cauliflower
McPugg, inebriated Willie Lump-Lump and "mean widdle kid"
Junior, whose favorite phrase ("I dood it!") became part
of the American lexicon. There was con man San Fernando Red with
his pair of crosseyed seagulls, Gertrude and Heathcliffe, and singing
cabdriver Clem Kadiddlehopper, a country bumpkin with a big heart
and a slow wit. Clem had an unintentional knack for upstaging high
society slickers, even if he couldn't manipulate his cynical father:
"When the stork brought you, Clem, I shoulda shot him on sight!"
Skelton also helped sell WWII war bonds on the top-rated show, which
featured Ozzie and Harriet Nelson in the supporting cast, plus the
Ozzie Nelson Orchestra and announcer Truman Bradley. Harriet Nelson
was the show's vocalist.
It was during this period that Red divorced his first wife Edna
and married his second wife Georgia. Red and Georgia's only child,
son Richard, was born in 1945. Georgia continued in her role as
Red's manager until the 1960s.
Skelton was drafted in March 1944, and the popular series was discontinued
June 6, 1944. Shipped overseas to serve with an Army entertainment
unit as a private, Skelton had a nervous breakdown in Italy, spent
three months in a hospital and was discharged in September 1945.
He once joked about his military career, "I was the only celebrity
who went in and came out a private."
On December 4, 1945, The Raleigh Cigarette Program resumed where
it left off with Skelton introducing some new characters, including
Bolivar Shagnasty and J. Newton Numbskull. Lurene Tuttle and Verna
Felton appeared as Junior's mother and grandmother. David Forrester
and David Rose led the orchestra, featuring vocalist Anita Ellis.
The announcers were Pat McGeehan and Rod O'Connor. The series ended
May 20, 1949, and that fall he moved to CBS. Ironically, given that
his peak of popularity came with his television show, in recent
years recordings of the Red Skelton radio show have become much
easier to come by than the TV show.
This collection of Red Skelton Greats includes 204
different shows and appearances for a total of 101+ hours of listening
enjoyment.
This product is a DVD collection of Old Time Radio mp3s. It is
designed to be played on your computer DVD drive with standard mp3
software - like Windows media player or its equivalent on Macintosh
computers. The mp3 files on the DVDs can be copied onto CDs for
play in your car stereo, home entertainment center, etc so you can
take your favorite shows with you anywhere you go.
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