Good Night, and God Bless Red Skelton
One day, good fortune hit Skelton while he was standing on the sidewalk hawking newspapers.
Entertainer Ed Wynn happened by. He took a liking to the red-haired boy, so he bought all of his newspapers from him. Then, Wynn took Skelton to meet the cast of the show he was traveling with. That chance experience helped Red Skelton decide what he wanted to be: an entertainer. His father had been a circus clown. And now Skelton, who was just fifteen years old, started his own career as a circus clown. He also entertained at vaudeville shows, in minstrel shows- anywhere he could find work.
In the midst of Red Skelton’s travels, he met a girl named Edna Stillwell. The two teenagers fell in love and they married in 1930; Skelton was just seventeen.
When the year 1937 came, the red-haired entertainer made his film debut in “Having a Wonderful Time.” He followed that movie with many more in the 1940’s. Some of his films of that decade included: “Whistling in the Dark” in 1941; “Ship Ahoy” in 1942; “Du Barry Was a Lady” in 1943; “I Dood It” in 1943; “Bathing Beauty” in 1944; “Ziegfeld Follies” in 1946; “Merton of the Movies” in 1947; “The Fuller Brush Man” in 1948; and “Neptune’s Daughter” in 1949.
The forties also brought Red Skelton the chance to star in his own radio show. This is where, in 1941, he showcased his clown-based characters named, “Cauliflower McPugg, Clem Kadiddlehopper, Willie Lump Lump, Gertrude and Heathcliffe, and The Mean Little Kid, whose trademark line was, “I dood it!”
And, the forties brought Skelton heartache. In 1943, he and his wife of thirteen years, Edna Stillwell, divorced. The couple had no children.
In 1945, Skelton married Georgia Davis. The union produced two children, Richard and Valentina.
The Indiana-born comedian and his radio show gained more popularity as time went on. Finally, in 1950, the CBS network offered Skelton his own television show. “The Red Skelton Show” started its long, two-decade run in 1951. It was during his television show days that the comedian would give birth to one of his most memorable characters, “Freddy the Freeloader.” He also developed his trademark show ending, “Good night, and God Bless.”
Along with his radio show, Skelton’s movie career still flourished in the 1950’s with films like, “The Yellow Cab Man” in 1950; “Watch the Birdie” in 1950; “Excuse My Dust” in 1951; “Lovely to Look At” in 1952; “The Clown” in 1953; “Hollywood Goes to War” in 1954; “Around the World in Eighty Days” in 1956; and “Public Pigeon No. One” in 1957.
The 1960’s were a little less busy for the red-haired entertainer. Along with “The Red Skelton Show”, he acted in his final two movies, “Ocean’s Eleven” (1960), and “Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines” (1965).
Even though his comedy show was extremely popular, the CBS network decided to pull the plug on it in 1971. So, Red Skelton moved his show over to the NBC Network. The show only lasted one season though, before NBC canceled it as well.
1971 wasn’t turning out to be a good year for Skelton. His young son Richard had already died from Leukemia. His death put a strain on the family that just couldn’t be healed. Skelton and his wife Georgia Davis ended their marriage that year. While the entertainer remarried yet a third time later on, his second wife, Georgia, couldn’t find the strength to go on. She put a gun to her head in 1976.
Red Skelton spent the remainder of his life performing again in clubs. He also took up painting, writing short stories and musical numbers.
Skelton won the “Academy of Television Arts and Sciences’ Governor’s Award in 1986. He also
was inducted into the International Clown Hall of Fame in 1989.
On September 17, 1997, Red Skelton passed away in Palm Springs, California. His remains are buried in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale.
In the immortal words of Skelton, “Good night, and God bless”.
stretches across the Wabash River in Vincennes, Indiana.
