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Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
July 18, 1913
Died
September 17, 1997
Place of Birth
Vincennes, Indiana, USA
Also Known As
- Ред Скелтон
- Richard Red Skelton
- Richard Bernard "Red" Skelton
- Richard Bernard Skelton
Red Skelton
0.5 Popularity
Biography
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.
Known For
0.0
Pioneers of Primetime
2005
0.0
Red Skelton
Red Skelton: America's Greatest Clown
2005
0.0
Himself (Host)/Various Characters
Red Skelton: Bloopers, Blunders, and Ad Libs
2001
🎬
0.0
Buffalo Bob Smith / Howdy Doody (archive footage)
Television: The First Fifty Years
1999
6.0
Self
Inside the Dream Factory
1995
6.0
Self
A Tribute to Houdini
1987
7.0
From 'Bathing Beauty' (archive footage)
That's Dancing!
1985
0.0
Self (archive footage)
Hollywood's Funniest All-Star Bloopers
1985
🎬
0.0
Himself
Red Skelton: A Royal Command Performance
1984
🎬
4.8
Freddie the Freeloader
Freddie the Freeloader's Christmas Dinner
1981
Credits
Pioneers of Primetime
2005
0.0
Red Skelton: America's Greatest Clown
as Red Skelton
2005
0.0
Red Skelton: Bloopers, Blunders, and Ad Libs
as Himself (Host)/Various Characters
2001
0.0
🎬
Television: The First Fifty Years
as Buffalo Bob Smith / Howdy Doody (archive footage)
1999
0.0
Inside the Dream Factory
as Self
1995
6.0
A Tribute to Houdini
as Self
1987
6.0
That's Dancing!
as From 'Bathing Beauty' (archive footage)
1985
7.0
Hollywood's Funniest All-Star Bloopers
as Self (archive footage)
1985
0.0
🎬
Red Skelton: A Royal Command Performance
as Himself
1984
0.0
🎬
Freddie the Freeloader's Christmas Dinner
as Freddie the Freeloader
1981
4.8
The Hollywood Clowns
as (archive footage)
1979
0.0
The People's Command Performance: '77
as Self
1977
0.0
Rudolph's Shiny New Year
as Father Time / Baby Bear (voice)
1976
6.4
That's Entertainment, Part II
as (archive footage)
1976
6.9
America on Parade
as Host
1976
0.0
That's Entertainment!
as (archive footage) (uncredited)
1974
7.3
🎬
Jack Benny's 20th Anniversary TV Special
as Self (uncredited)
1970
0.0
Honor America Day
as Self
1970
0.0
Swing Out, Sweet Land
as Self
1970
6.0
The Dean Martin Christmas Show
as Self (uncredited)
1968
7.6
Clown Alley
as Freddie the Freeloader
1966
10.0
Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours 11 Minutes
as The Neanderthal Man
1965
6.8
The Big Parade of Comedy
as Aubrey Filmore in 'A Southern Yankee' (archive footage)
1964
6.3
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
as Self
1962
7.4
Ocean's Eleven
as Self
1960
6.4
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
as Self
1958
5.8
The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour
as Red Skeleton
1957
8.6
Public Pigeon No. 1
as Rusty Morgan
1957
6.0
Around the World in Eighty Days
as Drunk in Barbary Coast Saloon
1956
6.6
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
as Self
1956
6.0
The Steve Allen Show
as Self - Cameo / Clem Kadiddlehopper
1956
5.6
The Steve Allen Show
as Self - Recipient
1956
5.6
Red Skelton Christmas Classics
as Main
1955
0.0
Climax!
as Rusty Morgan
1954
3.3
Susan Slept Here
as Oswald from North Dakota (uncredited)
1954
6.2
The Great Diamond Robbery
as Ambrose C. Park
1954
0.0
Half a Hero
as Ben Dobson
1953
5.5
The Oscars
as Self
1953
7.0
The Clown
as Dodo Delwyn
1953
5.6
This Is Your Life
as Self
1952
6.5
Lovely to Look At
as Al Marsh
1952
5.1
Texas Carnival
as Cornie Quinell
1951
4.4
The Red Skelton Show
as Host
1951
7.4
Excuse My Dust
as Joe Belden
1951
7.2
Watch the Birdie
as Rusty Cammeron
1950
5.3
The Jack Benny Program
as Self
1950
7.8
The Fuller Brush Girl
as Red Skelton - Fuller Brush Man (uncredited)
1950
6.0
Three Little Words
as Harry Ruby
1950
5.9
The Bob Hope Show
as Self
1950
7.0
The Yellow Cab Man
as Augustus 'Red' Pirdy
1950
6.3
What's My Line?
as Self - Mystery Guest
1950
6.9
Neptune's Daughter
as Jack Spratt
1949
5.8
A Southern Yankee
as Aubrey Filmore
1948
5.2
The Ed Sullivan Show
as Self
1948
6.8
🎬
Texaco Star Theater
as Clem Kadiddlehopper
1948
7.4
The Fuller Brush Man
as Red Jones
1948
5.8
Merton of the Movies
as Merton Gill aka Clifford Armytage
1947
6.8
The Show-Off
as J. Aubrey Piper
1946
7.0
Ziegfeld Follies
as J. Newton Numbskull (segment "When Television Comes")
1945
6.0
Bathing Beauty
as Stephen "Steve" Sherman Elliott
1944
5.8
Twenty Years After
as (archive footage)
1944
6.0
Whistling in Brooklyn
as Wally 'The Fox' Benton
1943
6.3
Thousands Cheer
as Red Skelton
1943
6.4
I Dood It
as Joseph 'Joe' Rivington Renolds
1943
3.5
Du Barry Was a Lady
as Louis Blore / King Louis XV
1943
6.1
Whistling in Dixie
as Wally Benton
1942
5.0
Panama Hattie
as Red
1942
4.0
Maisie Gets Her Man
as Herbert P. 'Hap' Hixby
1942
6.5
Ship Ahoy
as Merton K. Kibble
1942
5.9
Lady Be Good
as Joe 'Red' Willet
1941
5.4
Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day
as Vernon Briggs
1941
6.6
Whistling in the Dark
as Wally Benton
1941
5.8
The People Vs. Dr. Kildare
as Vernon Briggs
1941
6.8
Flight Command
as Lieut. 'Mugger' Martin
1940
5.6
Seeing Red
as Red / Doorman / Coatroom Attendant / Waiter / Emcee
1939
5.5
🎬
The Broadway Buckaroo
as Red
1939
0.0
Having Wonderful Time
as Itchy
1938
4.9