European Film Star Postcards: Red Skelton

16 July 2024

Red Skelton

Red Skelton (1906/1913-1997) was an American film and TV actor and comedian. He appeared in several musicals and comedies throughout the 1940s and 1950s, and starred in 19 films, including Ship Ahoy (1941), I Dood It (1943), Ziegfeld Follies (1946), and The Clown (1953). Skelton is best known for TV's The Red Skelton Show (1951-1971). He believed that his life's work was to make people laugh. Skelton wanted to be known as a clown because he defined it as being able to do everything.

American postcard by EKC. Photo: W.J. Gray, L. A. Red Skelton for the NBC Radio microphone.

British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W. 888. Photo: MGM.

Dutch postcard by Takken / 't Sticht, no. 3551. Sent by mail in 1953. Photo: Fotoarchief Film en Toneel. Red Skelton reading Dutch magazine Film en toneel, which existed from 1948 till 1952.

Coach Buster Keaton

Richard Red Skelton was born in 1906 or 1913 (sources differ) in Vincennes, Indiana, USA. He was the son of Joseph E. Skelton, a former circus clown turned grocer and Ida Mae Skelton, a cleaning woman. His father died two months before his birth. He had three older brothers. His brother Paul Skelton later worked as a prop man for TV shows.

14-year-old Skelton was introduced to show business by comedian Ed Wynn at a Vaudeville show in Vincennes. At age 16, he left home to travel with a medicine show through the Midwest. He then spent time on a showboat, worked the burlesque circuit, and entered Vaudeville in 1934. He married Edna Marie Stilwell, an usher who became his Vaudeville partner and later his chief writer and manager. She wrote the 'Doughnut Dunkers' pantomime sketch for him in which Skelton gave visual impressions of how different people ate doughnuts. The sketch won them an engagement at New York City's Loew's State Theatre in 1937. He also debuted on radio in 1937.

His screen debut followed in the supporting role of a camp counsellor in Having Wonderful Time (Alfred Santell, 1938) with Ginger Rogers. In 1940, he used his 'Guzzler's Gin' comedy sketch as his successful screen test for MGM. It was later filmed in Ziegfeld Follies (Vincente Minnelli, a.o., 1946). Film roles followed in quick succession. He starred in the war drama Flight Command (Frank Borzage, 1940) alongside Robert Taylor, Ship Ahoy (Edward Buzzell, 1941) with Eleanor Powell, and Lady Be Good (Norman Z. McLeod, 1941) alongside Lionel Barrymore. He had the lead role in Panama Hattie (Norman Z. McLeod, 1942).

Skelton mostly starred in musicals like I Dood It (Vincente Minnelli, 1943), Bathing Beauty (George Sidney, 1944) starring Esther Williams, and Ziegfeld Follies (Vincente Minnelli, a.o., 1946), a considerable critical and box-office success. I Dood It was largely a remake of Buster Keaton's Spite Marriage (Edward Sedgwick, Buster Keaton, 1929). Keaton was a comedy consultant to MGM after his film career had diminished. He began coaching Skelton on set during the filming and worked in this capacity on several of Skelton's films. His silent film The General (Clyde Bruckman, Buster Keaton, 1926) was later rewritten to become Skelton's A Southern Yankee (S. Sylvan Simon, Edward Sedgwick, 1948).

On the Radio, Red Skelton became the star of 'The Red Skelton Show' on NBC Radio (1941-1953). He served in the United States Army during World War II (1944-1945). The pressures of entertaining troops, and fulfilling his duties as a soldier, resulted in Skelton's hospitalisation for a nervous breakdown in 1945.

Esther Williams and Red Skelton in Bathing Beauty (1944)

Spanish postcard, no. 1003. Esther Williams and Red Skelton in Bathing Beauty (George Sidney, 1944). Collection: Marlene Pilaete.

French postcard by Editions P.I., Paris, no. 243, presented in Belgium by Victoria, Brussels, no 639. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer.

Belgian collectors card by Kwatta. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer.

Not only does she give milk, but also Pet-Ritz pies!

In 1951, Red Skelton signed a $5 million, seven-year Hollywood contract. Edna Marie Stilwell, his now ex-wife/manager negotiated the contract for him. Skelton wanted a clause that permitted him to remain working in radio and to be able to work on television, which was then largely experimental. On TV, The Red Skelton Show (1951-1971) premiered.

For two decades his show consistently stayed in the top twenty. His numerous characters, including Clem Kaddiddlehopper, George Appleby, and the seagulls Gertrude and Heathcliffe delighted audiences for decades. He insisted on getting his television skits done on the first take, even if it meant ad-libbing around blown lines and failed props. In one famous incident on live television, he managed to ad-lib while a cow defecated on stage ("Not only does she give milk, but also Pet-Ritz pies!").

He also made films such as Buster Keaton's Excuse My Dust (1951), The Clown (Robert Z. Leonard, 1953) with Jane Greer, The Great Diamond Robbery (Robert Z. Leonard, 1954) and a cameo as a gambler in Ocean's 11 (Lewis Milestone, 1960). He also played a Neanderthal man and a passenger at an airport in Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (Ken Annakin, 1965).

In 1960, he purchased the old Charles Chaplin Studios on La Brea Avenue, where he produced his weekly television shows. Skelton considered himself a clown. He performed with his brown hat and did different characters by changing the look of the hat and how he wore it. In 1971, Skelton had to make way for younger presenters such as Johnny Carson. After he left television, his paintings of clowns sold for upwards of $80,000 and he also sold prints and lithographs, earning $2.5 million yearly on lithograph sales. His art dealer said he thought that Skelton had earned more money through his paintings than from his television performances.

His wives were Edna Marie Stilwell (1932-1943), Georgia Davis (1945-1973; two children, Valentina and Richard), and Lothian Toland (1973-1997; his death). Lothian was the daughter of cinematographer Gregg Toland. His home life was not completely happy. Besides his two divorces, his son Richard died of leukaemia at age nine. In 1976, his ex-wife Georgia committed suicide by gunshot on the 18th anniversary of their son Richard's death. Red Skelton continued performing live until he became too ill. He died of pneumonia in Rancho Mirage, California in 1997. He was 91. He was interred at Forest Lawn, Glendale, California, USA, in the Great Mausoleum, Sanctuary of Benediction. Skelton was a longtime supporter of children's charities. He was awarded two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Television at 6650 Hollywood Boulevard; and for Radio at 6763 Hollywood Boulevard. A bridge was built and named after him that spans the Wabash River separating Indiana and Illinois on US 50, just outside Skelton's hometown of Vincennes, Indiana. The Red Skelton Performing Arts Center located on the campus of Vincennes University was founded in his memory.