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 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.
79 acting credits
Acting · 79
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962
Climax!
1954
What's My Line?
1950
The Red Skelton Show
1951
The Oscars
1953
The Steve Allen Show
1956
The Ed Sullivan Show
1948
The Jack Benny Program
1950
The Bob Hope Show
1950
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
1958
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
1956
This Is Your Life
1952
The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour
1957
Around the World in 80 Days
1956
Ocean's Eleven
1960
Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours 11 Minutes
1965
Texaco Star Theater
1948
Television: The First Fifty Years
1999
Hollywood's Funniest All-Star Bloopers
1985
That's Dancing!
1985
That's Entertainment!
1974
Ziegfeld Follies
1945
The Big Parade of Comedy
1964
Flight Command
1940
Bathing Beauty
1944
The Fuller Brush Girl
1950
Three Little Words
1950
That's Entertainment, Part II
1976
The Clown
1953
Neptune's Daughter
1949
The Dean Martin Christmas Show
1968
Maisie Gets Her Man
1942
Swing Out, Sweet Land
1970
Susan Slept Here
1954
Twenty Years After
1944
Du Barry Was a Lady
1943
Panama Hattie
1942
Whistling in the Dark
1941
Rudolph's Shiny New Year
1976
Texas Carnival
1951
Jack Benny's 20th Anniversary TV Special
1970
Ship Ahoy
1942
The Hollywood Clowns
1979
Thousands Cheer
1943
Having Wonderful Time
1938
Public Pigeon No. 1
1957
Lovely to Look At
1952
Lady Be Good
1941
Whistling in Dixie
1942
Inside the Dream Factory
1995
Whistling in Brooklyn
1943
The People's Command Performance: '77
1977
I Dood It
1943
The Great Diamond Robbery
1954
The Fuller Brush Man
1948
Excuse My Dust
1951
The People Vs. Dr. Kildare
1941
The Show-Off
1946
Watch the Birdie
1950
A Southern Yankee
1948
Freddie the Freeloader's Christmas Dinner
1981
The Broadway Buckaroo
1939
Honor America Day
1970
Pioneers of Primetime
2005
Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day
1941
The Yellow Cab Man
1950
Merton of the Movies
1947
Clown Alley
1966
Half a Hero
1953
Seeing Red
1939
Red Skelton: America's Greatest Clown
2005
The Country Husband
1956
Red Skelton: Bloopers, Blunders, and Ad Libs
2001
America on Parade
1976
A Brave Engineer: Buster Keaton's Last Ride
2026
Red Skelton: A Royal Command Performance
1984
The Man in the Funny Suit
1960
Red Skelton Christmas Classics
1955
A Tribute to Houdini
1987