Red Skelton was a comedian, actor, artist, and radio personality best known for his critically
acclaimed national radio and TV shows that were popular between the late 1930s and early
1970s.
His most significant and influential offering was The Red Skelton Show which aired for two
decades, first on NBC and later on CBS, between 1951 and 1971.
For his decades of work and many accomplishments in the entertainment industry, Red Skelton
earned himself a star on the famed Hollywood Walk Of Fame.
He was also honored with quite a few other awards and accolades, including 2 Emmy Awards
and 6 Emmy nominations.
In 1978, he was presented with the prestigious Cecil B. DeMile Award, which is handed to
those who have made significant lifetime contributions in entertainment.
In 1987, Red received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Screen Actors Guild and was
inducted into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, TV Hall of Fame just a year later.
While it's Skelton's work in radio and television that people are most familiar with, he also
had a lifelong love for painting.
He especially loved painting pictures of clowns.
This remained merely a hobby of his until 1964 when his wife convinced him to show off
his work at the Sands Hotel in Vegas where he had been performing.
The art world absolutely fell in love with his pieces, and sales of his original paintings
and lithograph prints ended up earning him millions of dollars a year.
It's even suggested that Red made more money with his artwork than with his TV performances.
There's no denying that Red Skelton left his mark on show business, but even though he
dedicated his life to his greatest passions, comedy and art, in the years since his passing,
heartbreaking revelations have come to show us that his personal life was far from funny.
Join Facts Verse as we take a closer look at the sad personal details about Red Skelton's
life that force us to look at his story in a more somber light.
Red Skelton's Early Years
Richard Red Skelton was born on the 18th of July, 1913, in Vincennes, Indiana.
Some sources claim that his middle name was Bernard, but in a 1983 appearance on The Tonight
Show, the comic clarified that he had made up the name Bernard, borrowing it from a local
store, Bernard Clothiers, to satisfy one of his childhood schoolteachers who refused to
believe that his parents would really give him the middle name Red.
He was the fourth son and youngest child of Ida Mae Skelton and Joseph Elmer.
Red's father was a grocer who sadly died just two months before his birth.
It's reported that Joseph had once been a clown with the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus.
The neighborhood that Red grew up in was known for being extremely impoverished.
One of Red's childhood friends would later recall that her parents broke up her sister
and young Red's youthful romance because they thought that he would never amount to anything.
When Red was 7, he was introduced to the world of show business by actor Ed Wynn at a vaudeville
show in his hometown.
When he was 10, he left home to tour with a medicine show throughout the American Midwest.
At 15, he joined the vaudeville circuit.
A Life Of Success And Achievement
At the age of 18, Red married his first wife, Edna Marie Stilwell, an usher who would eventually
become his vaudeville partner, chief writer, and manager.
Red made his Broadway and Radio debut in 1937.
A year later, he appeared in his first motion picture, Alfred Santell's Having Wonderful
Time.
Stillwell, now his ex-wife, negotiated a 7-year Hollywood contract for Skelton in 1951, which
was the same year that The Red Skelton Show premiered on NBC.
For the next two decade, the show consistently ranked among the top twenty most-watched TV
shows on NBC and later CBS.
After the series wrapped up in 1971, Skelton continued to spend his time making regular
appearances on television.
Remarkably, for a while, he was averaging 125 annual appearances while still working
on his paintings.
Skelton felt like his life's purpose was to make people laugh.
He desired to be remembered as a clown because his definition of one was someone that was
able to do everything.
Red enjoyed a seven-decade spanning career in show business, entertaining three generations
of audiences.
But despite all of his success and his desire to bring smiles to people's faces with his
wholesome brand of humor, Skelton's personal life was full of tragedy.
Red Was Left Bitter After His Shows Cancellation
After CBS pulled the plug on his popular program, Skelton remained bitter for many years afterward.
He believed that the network had basically bowed to the antiestablishment, antiwar sentiments
that were so pervasive at the time of the Vietnam War.
Skelton was a lifelong conservative both in his social and political views.
He accused the network of essentially turning against him.
In the final years of his show, he had invited prominent Republicans, including Senate Republican
Minority Leader Everett Dirksen and Vice President Spiro Agnew, onto his program – both politicians
had been staunch supporters of the war.
Hopefully, you've been enjoying this video so far.
If so, take a moment to show us a little support by giving us a like and subscribing to the
Facts Verse channel.
And don't go anywhere just yet.
Keep watching to learn about two of the most heartbreaking moments of Red Skelton's storied,
yet tragic life.
Red's Second Wife Committed Suicide
In 1942, Edna Stilwell announced that she was leaving Skelton but said that she would
continue to manage his career and write for him.
He didn't take her seriously until she issued a statement about the divorce through NBC.
The divorce was finalized the following year in 1943
In 1944, Skelton was drafted into the US Army after losing his married man's deferment.
That same year, he got engaged to an actress named Muriel Morris, who went by the name
Muriel Chase.
At the last minute, the actress decided that she didn't want to marry him and called the
marriage off.
While Red was on an Army furlough for throat discomfort, he got married to actress Georgia
Davis on Mach 9, 1945.
The couple had two children together, a daughter named Valentina who was born in 1947, and
a son named Richard born in 1948.
Their marriage endured for many years and through several tragedies, but eventually,
it soured and the two divorced in 1971.
Shockingly, Georgia was reportedly accidentally shot in the chest in 1966 in her room at the
Sands Hotel.
News reports covering the incident indicated that the .38 caliber pistol that she kept
on her nightstand for self-defense purposes had been accidentally discharged.
Davis ended up making a full recovery.
In 1971, she was admitted to the Palm Springs hospital for surgery to correct a shoulder
ailment.
The following year she was treated at Eisenhower Medical center in Palm Desert for treatment
of a very rare blood inflection.
While she was receiving treatment, she evidently suffered a heart attack.
On May 10, 1976, at the age of 54, Davis committed suicide by means of a self-inflicted gunshot
to the head in the back yard of her secluded Rando Mirage, California home.
The day that she took her life marked the 18th anniversary of her son, Richard Freeman
Skelton's death.
Richard's Death Was Devastating For Everyone
Richard Skelton was born on May 20, 1948.
A natural-born performer just like his father, Richard appeared alongside his dad on several
episodes of The Red Skelton Show.
Sadly, the boy never got to grow up and have a life and career of his own.
On the 10th of May, 1958, at the UCLA Medical Center, Richard died of Leukemia.
Red would later recall how he had been planning to throw a 10th birthday party for him, but
Richard told him that he would rather spend the big day with a few of his closest friends.
So, Skelton brought a Sears Roebuck Catalogue to the hospital where his son was being treated
and told him that he could pick anything that he wanted and that he would make sure to get
it for him.
Richard picked a tent, some camping gear, and a bright red blanket.
Shortly before he died, Richard asked his dad if he would get the red blanket for his
mom instead as a Mother's day present.
About an hour later, Richard suddenly said that he couldn't see anything because everything
had gone fuzzy.
He passed away moments later.
Richard was laid to rest at the Church of the Recessional at the Forest Lawn Memorial
Cemetery.
On the day that he was supposed to bury his child, Red was scheduled to do his weekly
television program.
The child's death shook the whole family.
In 1961, Red had Richard's model train collection moved to a storeroom in his Bel Air Mansion.
For the remainder of his life, he refused ever to let it go.
In 1962, Skelton and his family moved to Palm Springs.
He kept the Bel Air home but only ever used it when he was in LA shooting his show.
Red Skelton died at the Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage on September 17, 1997,
at the age of 84.
His official cause of death was never given.
It was only said that he had succumbed to a long, undisclosed illness.
Skelton was survived by his widow and third wife, Lothian Toland Skelton, His daughter
Valentina Alonso, and his granddaughter, Sabrina Alonso.
Did you grow up watching The Red Skelton Show?
If so, what are some of your fondest memories of him and his top-rated television program?
Let us know in the comments.
As always, we send you our sincerest thanks for your continued support.
To help keep our channel alive so we can keep bringing you quality content like this, take
a moment to give us a like and subscribe to the Facts Verse channel.
While you're at it, tap the bell to turn on notifications.
That way, you can keep up with all of our latest and upcoming videos as soon as they
drop.
We'll see you soon with more content covering some of your favorite Hollywood films, television
shows, and stars.
Take care.