Shari Lewis - Career

Career

In 1952, Lewis and her puppetry won first prize on the CBS television series Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts. Lewis then hosted several New York children's series over the balance of the decade. On July 5, 1953, Lewis made her television hosting debut on Facts N'Fun on NBC-owned WRCA-TV. The program was a variety show where she engaged her viewers and studio audiences in games, songs, stories, craftmaking, informational segments and interviews with guest performers and personalities. She also performed comedy skits with two vent figures, Samson and Taffy Twinkle. The series remained on the air until September 26, 1953.

She moved to WPIX in 1953 to replace Ted Steele as host of Kartoon Klub, which featured a variety format with a live studio audience. Lewis performed with Randy Rocket and Taffy Twinkle, and the program also featured reruns of Crusader Rabbit cartoons. Kartoon Klub later changed its title to Shari & Her Friends on September 23, 1956, and then to Shariland a month later. Lewis won New York-area Emmy Awards for her work on Shariland and on a succeeding series on WRCA-TV, Hi Mom (1957–1959). Hi Mom marked the first appearances of Lamb Chop, Charlie Horse, Hush Puppy, and Wing Ding in a regular series. Lamb Chop was previously introduced during a guest appearance by Lewis on Captain Kangaroo in March 1956.

NBC gave Lewis her first network program -- The Shari Lewis Show, which made its debut on October 1, 1960, replacing The Howdy Doody Show. The show ran until September 28, 1963, and featured such characters as Hush Puppy, Charlie Horse, Lamb Chop, and Wing Ding, a black crow. Lamb Chop, who was little more than a sock with eyes, served as a sassy alter-ego for Lewis. Hush Puppy had a Southern accent and a reserved shy personality, while Charlie Horse was a slow-witted goofy character. Guest TV and movie personalities and even occasional stars often appeared on her show, as they did later on Jim Henson's Muppets series.

Capturing kids' imaginations in the early 1960s, consumer versions of Lewis's initial three puppets sold briskly. Subsequent television programs re-introduced these characters (minus the black crow, whose characterization became more problematic after the 1960s) to a new generation of children.

In 1961, she played the title character, Dulie Hudson, in Watching Out for Dulie, a United States Steel Hour production.

In 1968, she and her then-husband, Jeremy Tarcher co-wrote the episode "The Lights of Zetar" for the original series of Star Trek.

In 1992, her new Emmy-winning show Lamb Chop's Play-Along began a five-year run on PBS. Lewis starred in another hit PBS series, The Charlie Horse Music Pizza, which was one of her last projects before her death. The video Lamb Chop's Special Chanukah was released in 1996 and received the Parents' Choice award of the year.

An accomplished musician, she has conducted major symphonies in the United States, Japan and Canada. She wrote many books, and created 17 home videos. http://www.angelawards.com/sharilewis.html