Red Skelton

From Wind Repertory Project
Red Skelton

Biography

Richard "Red" Skelton (18 July 1913, Vincennes, Ind. – 17 September 1997, Rancho Mirage, Calif.) was an American entertainer.

He was best known for his national radio and television acts between 1937 and 1971, and as host of the television program The Red Skelton Show. He has stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in radio and television, and also appeared in burlesque, vaudeville, films, nightclubs, and casinos, all while he pursued an entirely separate career as an artist.

Skelton was a prolific writer of both short stories and music. After sleeping only four or five hours a night, he would wake up at 5 a.m. and begin writing stories, composing music, and painting pictures. He wrote at least one short story a week and had composed over 8,000 songs and symphonies by the time of his death. He wrote commercials for Skoal tobacco and sold many of his compositions to Muzak, a company that specialized in providing background music to stores and other businesses.


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