Shari Lewis
|
Shari Lewis with Lamb Chop |
Shari Lewis (born
Sonia Hurwitz;
January 17,
1933 â€"
August 2,
1998) was an American
ventriloquist,
puppeteer, and children's television show host, most popular during the
1960s.
Taught ventriloquism as a child by
John W. Cooper, she began hosting children's television programs on local station in
New York in
1953, graduating to
network television in
1960 with
The Shari Lewis Show as host and puppeteer. The programs featured such characters as Hush Puppy, Charlie Horse, and
Lamb Chop. The last, who was little more than a sock with eyes, served as a sort of sassy alter-ego for Shari. Subsequent television programs introduced these characters to a new generation of children. In
1992, her new
Emmy-winning show
Lamb Chop's Play-Along began a five year run on
PBS.
On August 2, 1998, while undergoing treatment at the world famous
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California for
uterine cancer that she had been diagnosed with only two months before, Shari Lewis developed
pneumonia which – with her cancer – proved to be a fatal combination. Lewis was 65 years old. Two years later, her daughter,
Mallory Tarcher, (as of 2006, she has legally changed her name to Mallory Lewis) resumed her mother's work with the Lamb Chop character.
Lewis was the recipient of numerous awards during her lifetime, including:
* 12
Emmy Awards
*
Peabody Award* John F. Kennedy Center Award for Excellence and Creativity
* 7 Parent's Choice Awards
* Action for Children's Television Award
In addition to writing over 60 books for children, she and her second husband wrote an episode of
Star Trek, entitled "
The Lights of Zetar".
Her first husband was Stan Lewis. Her second husband, Jeremy Tarcher, is the brother of
Judith Krantz. Her only child, Mallory Tarcher, was a writer on
Lamb Chop's Play-Along and
The Charlie Horse Music Pizza.
The Shari Lewis Show - 1960
The Shari Lewis Show - BBC 1975
Lamb Chop's Play-Along - 1992
The Charlie Horse Music Pizza - 1996
Shari Lewis (with Lamb Chop) also guest starred in episode Episode 2.20 of
The Nanny, which premiered on February 13,
1995.
*
Shari Lewis: A Fan's Tribute* —
Star Trek episode
*
Shari Lewis & Lamb Chop
