Comic Red Skelton Dies

TV pioneer famed for clown characters was 84

Legendary comedian Red Skelton, the man who painted clowns, the man who (most notably) played clowns, has died in a hospital in Rancho Mirage, California. The venerable funnyman, a TV pioneer who was a steady fixture on CBS for nearly 20 years, was 84. He had been known to be ill in recent months, although the exact nature of his ailment was not disclosed.

Reaction to Skelton's death from Hollywood was swift. Said his comic peer Milton Berle: "I have lost a very, very close friend." Bob Hope added: "Red was a comedic genius...He gave comedy a good name. Dolores and I have lost a dear friend...and our favorite clown." And from CBS, his home network so many years: "He was the consummate family entertainer."

Skelton himself was low-key about his storied career.

"I never thought I was famous. I never thought I was a star," Skelton said in 1986, the night he received an honorary Emmy Award for lifetime achievement. "A star is something you look up to."

To many, so was Skelton.

The son of a circus clown created indelible characters--characters that, by turns sentimental and comic, transcended both his TV work (The Red Skelton Show, 1951-71) and movies (including, The Fuller Brush Man). If The Red Skelton Show isn't exactly Nick at Nite material these days, then Skelton's name and legend lives on in the likes of these greasepaint-wearing fellows: Freddie the Freeloader, a silent clown who spoke volumes with his perpetual five-o'clock shadow; dimwitted Clem Kadiddlehopper; The Mean Widdle Kid, he of the catch phrase, "I dood it!"; and the dear Willie Lump-Lump, the tramp who just couldn't say no to cocktails.

Born Richard Bernard Skelton on July 18, 1913, the comedian started performing on the vaudeville circuit at age 15. By the late 1930s, he had segued into radio and Broadway. Greater fame came in films, including the 1946 Ziegfeld Follies.

Skelton was among the first big names to defect to the small screen in 1951, bringing his brand of clown shtick first to NBC, and later, to CBS, where his show graced the year-end top-10 several times. He remained a Tuesday-night staple on the Tiffany network for 17 years. He ended the Red Skelton Show where he started it, on NBC, in 1971.

His last TV credit came in 1975, when he supplied the voice of Father Time for the animated classic, Rudolph's Shiny New Year. Retirement for Skelton meant moving back to the stage, where he performed up to 75 live shows a year.

Skelton was also a painter of some note--his renditions of clowns fetched up to $80,000 a piece.

Survivors include his wife, Lothian, and a daughter.

(UPDATED at 6:50 p.m. on 9/17/97)