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6 unusual facts about Red Skelton


Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus

Joe Skelton, the father of Red Skelton, once worked as a clown in the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus.

Kathy Westmoreland

She became a studio session singer, appearing on numerous television shows such as those of Red Skelton, Tim Conway and Bobby Darin.

Nicole de Boer

De Boer's television debut was an uncredited role in Freddy the Freeloader's Christmas Dinner, which starred Red Skelton and Vincent Price.

The Four Knights

They appeared on Red Skelton's radio program through most of 1948 and toured with Bill "Bojangles" Robinson.

Tom Mullica

Red Skelton visited the Tom-foolery in 1980 and they became fast friends.

He has also performed at the Just for Laughs Comedy Festival and toured the US and Canada with RED – A Performance Tribute, a Red Skelton Tribute show which Tom wrote and stars in as Red Skelton and his characters.


A Tale of Two Kitties

(This line was patterned after a catchphrase from a Red Skelton character, and would be used in other Warner cartoons, such as Easter Yeggs.)

Abbe Lane

Her costume for an appearance on the Jackie Gleason Show was considered too revealing and she was instructed to wear something else; however she appeared on the shows of Red Skelton, Dean Martin and Jack Benny without attracting controversy.

Bob LeMond

LeMond's other blossoming television and radio credits during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s included Leave It to Beaver, The Red Skelton Show, Red Skelton, Bat Masterson, Our Miss Brooks, My Friend Irma, Spike Jones, Edgar Bergen's Do You Trust Your Wife? and Life with Luigi.

Evelyn Rudie

During the late 1950s, she acted on other leading television shows, including Alfred Hitchcock Presents, General Electric Theater, Lawman, The Red Skelton Show and Wagon Train, along with seven appearances on The Tonight Show with Jack Paar.

Fay Roope

But, primarily, he worked in comedies with such stars as Fred MacMurray, Red Skelton, Mickey Rooney, the Bowery Boys, Martin & Lewis, and Marjorie Main & Percy Kilbride (Ma and Pa Kettle).

Johnny Roventini

He shared a dinner table with General and Mrs. Dwight D. Eisenhower, clowned around with Red Skelton, sat ringside with fighter Jack Dempsey and participated in numerous parades and other public events.

KFFN

He went on to produce other classic radio shows including ‘Blind Date’ with Arlene Francis, ‘Kukla, Fran, and Ollie” with Fran Allison, and The Red Skelton Show.

The Merry Macs

The Merry Macs (with Carroll) sang a swing version of "Down by the Old Mill Stream" in the 1939 Vitaphone musical Seeing Red, Red Skelton's first film.

The Show Off

The film has been remade a number of times, in 1930 with Hal Skelly and Doris Hill as Men Are Like That, in 1934 as The Show-Off with Spencer Tracy, Madge Evans, and Lois Wilson in a different role, and in 1946 as The Show-Off with Red Skelton.


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