Shari Lewis
Shari Lewis (born Sonia Phyllis Hurwitz; January 17 1933 – August 2 1998) was an American ventriloquist, puppeteer, and children's television show host, most popular during the 1960s.Taught ventriloquism as a child by John W. Cooper, she began hosting children's television programs on local station in New York in 1953, graduating to network television in 1960 with The Shari Lewis Show as host and puppeteer. The programs featured such characters as Hush Puppy, Charlie Horse, and Lamb Chop. The last, who was little more than a sock with eyes, served as a sort of sassy alter-ego for Shari. Subsequent television programs introduced these characters 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.
On August 2 1998, while undergoing treatment at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, for uterine cancer she had been diagnosed with only two months prior, Lewis developed viral pneumonia, which – with her cancer – proved to be a fatal combination. Lewis was 65 years old. Two years later, her daughter, Mallory Tarcher, (as of 2006, she has legally changed her name to Mallory Lewis) resumed her mother's work with the Lamb Chop character.
Lewis was the recipient of numerous awards during her lifetime, including:
- 12 Emmy Awards
- Peabody Award
- John F. Kennedy Center Award for Excellence and Creativity
- 7 Parent's Choice Awards
- Action for Children's Television Award
Her first husband was Stan Lewis. Her second husband, Jeremy Tarcher, is the brother of Judith Krantz. Her only child, Mallory Tarcher, was a writer on Lamb Chop's Play-Along and The Charlie Horse Music Pizza.
Television shows
- The Shari Lewis Show - 1960
- The Shari Lewis Show (BBC) - 1975
- Lamb Chop's Play-Along - 1992
- The Charlie Horse Music Pizza - 1996
Episodic TV appearances
The Man From U.N.C.L.E (1966) - Lewis was the guest star in the episode known as The Off-Broadway Affair; she played an adorably perky, somewhat ditsy understudy.Lewis (and Lamb Chop) guest-starred on episode 2.20 of The Nanny, which premiered on February 13 1995.
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