Help us get to over 8,756 articles in 2024.

If you know of a magician not listed in MagicPedia, start a New Biography for them. Contact us at magicpediahelp@gmail.com

Shari Lewis

From Magicpedia, the free online encyclopedia for magicians by magicians.
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Shari Lewis

Cover of Genii (1983)
BornSonia Phyllis Hurwitz
January 17, 1934
New York
DiedAugust 2, 1998 (age 64)
Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles
Resting placeCremated, Ashes given to family or friend

Shari Lewis (b.1934–d.1998) was born Sonia Phyllis Hurwitz. She was an American ventriloquist, puppeteer, and children's television show host, most popular during the 1960s. She is best known as the original puppeteer of Lamb Chop, first appearing on "Hi Mom", a local morning show that aired on WNBC in New York.[1]

Biography

Lewis' father, Dr. Abraham Hurwitz, was a founding member of Yeshiva University in New York City. Her parents encouraged her to perform, and by age 13 her father taught her to perform specialized magic acts. She also received instruction in acrobatics, juggling, piano and violin. She was taught ventriloquism by John W. Cooper.

She also learned how to play the piano and violin at New York's High School of Music and Art, dance at the American School of Ballet, and acting with Sanford Meisner of the Neighborhood Playhouse. She attended Columbia University for one year, then left college to go into show business.

In 1952, Lewis and her puppetry won first prize on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts television show. In March 1956, she and Lamb Chop were on Captain Kangaroo and by 1960 she had her own television program. She graduated to network television in 1960 as host and puppeteer of The Shari Lewis Show. The programs featured such characters as Hush Puppy, Charlie Horse, Lamb Chop, and Wing Ding. Lamb Chop, who was little more than a sock with eyes, served as a sassy alter-ego for Shari. Subsequent television programs introduced these characters (minus the black crow, whose characterization became more problematic after the 1960s) to a new generation of children. In 1992, her new Emmy-winning show Lamb Chop's Play-Along began a five year run on PBS.[2]

References

Wikipedia-logo.png This page incorporated content from Shari Lewis,

a page hosted on Wikipedia. Please consult the history of the original page to see a list of its authors. Therefor, this article is also available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License

  • Genii Vol. 47, No. 6, June 1983, Shari Lewis: A Retrospective, By Shari Lewis as told to Beth Ann Herman, page 386
  • The New Tops, August 1992, PERSONALITY PARADE by Geoffrey Hansen, page 26
  • Jewish Virtual Library [1]