Red Skelton

Red Skelton (1913-97) was one of my generation's earliest comic heroes. We occasionally saw him in the movies, but it's when he came to television that we really got to know him. Early TV featured many great funnymen – Bob Hope, Sid Caesar, Jackie Gleason, Milton Berle – but their humor was mostly aimed at our parents. This big silly man, an overgrown kid, himself, was more our speed. Red's grab bag of goofy characters featured characters that we could easily mimic: Junior the Mean Widdle Kid (who was famous for his expression, "I Dood It"), country boy Clem Kadiddlehopper (left), Sheriff Deadeye, boxer Cauliflower McPugg, drunkard Willy Lump-Lump, con man San Fernando Red, and Freddie the Freeloader, a hobo who never spoke. Skelton's forte was his use of slapstick. Critics often panned Skelton for breaking into laughter at his own material on the air, but we didn't care how many times he succumbed to giggles, took another pratfall, mugged for the camera, or made asides to the audience, we loved him all the more And no matter how raucous he was during the show, Red always ended it with the sweetly sincere words: “Goodnight and may God bless.” R.I.P., Red.