Movies List
TV Show List
Freddie the Freeloader's Christmas Dinner

as Freddie the Freeloader

1981
Rudolph's Shiny New Year

as Father Time / Baby Bear (voice)

1976
Half a Hero

as Ben Dobson

1953
Lovely to Look At

as Al Marsh

1952
Texas Carnival

as Cornie Quinell

1951
Three Little Words

as Harry Ruby

1950
The Yellow Cab Man

as Augustus 'Red' Pirdy

1950
Watch the Birdie

as Rusty Cammeron

1950
Neptune's Daughter

as Jack Spratt

1949
The Fuller Brush Man

as Red Jones

1948
A Southern Yankee

as Aubrey Filmore

1948
Merton of the Movies

as Merton Gill aka Clifford Armytage

1947
Bathing Beauty

as Stephen "Steve" Sherman Elliott

1944
Du Barry was a Lady

as Louis Blore / King Louis XV

1943
Whistling in Brooklyn

as Wally 'The Fox' Benton

1943
I Dood It

as Joseph 'Joe' Rivington Renolds

1943
Whistling in Dixie

as Wally Benton

1942
Maisie Gets Her Man

as Herbert P. 'Hap' Hixby

1942
Whistling in the Dark

as Wally Benton

1941
Flight Command

as Lieut. 'Mugger' Martin

1940
Having Wonderful Time

as Itchy

1938
Red Skelton Red Skelton

Birthday

1913-07-18

Place of Birth

Vincennes, Indiana, USA

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.
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