November 14, 2012

• CONGRATULATIONS TO THE A.L.

  MANAGER OF THE YEAR!!!

  
  

  BOB MELVIN, BASEBALL

  LOVES YOU!!!
  
  

  

     

   
  

  The Daily News

  1   More on that later. Let’s begin with this: I was in the mood last night for a lamb chop, so I Googled “lamb chops.”

  
  

  2   What popped up startled me.

  
  

  3   The pictures above came up, the meat on the left, and Lamb Chop on the right. I decided to add a second Lamp Chop just for artistic purposes. It’s actually a Lamb Chop Pop or something. I was into the 1 a.m. and didn’t really look.
  

  
  

  4   The caption under Lamb Chop was this: “The lovable and huggable Lamb Chop, from the Shari Lewsi Show, is just as you remembered, right down to the trademark fluffy eyelashes.”
  

  
  

  5   I stared at the grisly sight for a few seconds. 

  
  

  6   I then vaguely remembered an old TV show called The Shari Lewis Show, starring a charming young lady and her sock-puppet sidekick, Lamb Chop.

  
  

  7   I began remembering that the show starred Lewis, Chop, Hush Puppy, Charlie Horse, and Wing Ding. 

  
  

  8   The first thing I did upon seeing those two images so poetically juxtaposed was to take out salad makings and go vegan. 

  
  

  9   I thought of some of my vegan friends who have told me on occasion, “I can’t eat anything that has eyes.” I don’t know if that includes potatoes, but I do get the idea. 

  
  

  10  I thought  I would write about it, and took to going to bed a little late, at least for me. I knew what I might be in for with a story like that. 

  
  

  11  It was a pinpoint, actually, in the event I should awaken into the 4 a.m. with a broken computer, or with writer’s block. 

  
  

  12  Fortunately I awakened at a little past midnight, brought up the pics again, and it had the same affect. 

  
  

  13  I thought that I would have a look at Shari Lewis, at her bio, and at the ultimate story of her career as a ventriloquist and sublime entertainer for several generations of children. 

  
  

  14   What I got was somewhat sensational. I found that she was born in 1933, the daughter of two parents, her father being a fellow by the name of Abraham Hurwitz, and according to Wiki-Leaks, “who had been declared New York’s official magician

  by Fiorello H. La Guardia during the Great Depression.” Fiorello!

  
  

  15   Pretty impressive. Her bio had me a bit riveted. I had no idea she was so multi-talented, and that she had such an interestingly positive career. I decided to leak some more about the quite interesting Lewis to my DN crowd. Here is my personal Wiki-Leak of the immortal Shari Lewis:

  
  

  Shari Lewis

  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

  Shari Lewis
  Lewis with her puppets, Lamb Chop and Charlie Horse, 1960.
  Born	Sonia Phyllis Hurwitz January 17, 1933 Bronx, New York, U.S.
  Died	August 2, 1998 (aged 65) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
  Cause of death	Viral pneumonia[1]
  Occupation	Ventriloquist, puppeteer, author, children’s television show host
  Years active	1952–1998
  Spouse(s)	Stan Lewis Jeremy Tarcher
  Children	Mallory Lewis

  Shari Lewis (January 17, 1933 – August 2, 1998) was an American ventriloquist, puppeteer, and children’s television show host, most popular during the 1960s and 1990s. She was best known as the original puppeteer of Lamb Chop, first appearing on Hi Mom, a local morning show that aired on WRCA-TV (now WNBC-TV) in New York City.

  Contents   [hide]  1 Early life 2 Career 3 Personal life 4 Death 5 Awards/Honors 6 Family 7 Television shows 7.1 Specials 7.2 Episodic TV appearances 8 Discography 9 Cultural references 10 References 11 External links

  [edit]Early life

  Lewis was born as Sonia Phyllis Hurwitz^[2] to Abraham Hurwitz, an Yeshiva University, and Ann Ritz. She had one sister. Her parents encouraged her to perform, and her father, who had been named New York City’s “official magician” by Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia during the Great Depression,^[3]taught her to perform specialized magic acts by age 13. She also received instruction in acrobatics, juggling, ice skating, baton twirling, piano and violin.^[4] She was taught ventriloquism by John W. Cooper. Lewis continued 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 Barnard College for one year, then left show business.

  [edit]Career

  In 1952, Lewis and her puppetry won first CBS television series Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts. Lewis then hosted several New York children’s series over the balance of the decade. On July 5, 1953, Lewis made her television hosting debut on Facts N’Fun on NBC-owned WRCA-TV. The program was a variety show where she engaged her viewers and studio audiences in games, songs, stories, craftmaking, informational segments and interviews with guest performers and personalities. She also performed comedy skits with two vent figures, Samson and Taffy Twinkle. The series remained on the air until September 26, 1953.

  She WPIX in 1953 to replace Ted Steele as host of Kartoon Klub, which featured a variety format with a live studio audience. Lewis performed with Randy Rocket and Taffy Twinkle, and the program also featured reruns of Crusader Rabbit cartoons. Kartoon Klub later changed its title to Shari & Her Friends on September 23, 1956, and then to Shariland a month later. Lewis won New York-area Emmy Awards for her work on Shariland and on a succeeding series on WRCA-TV, Hi Mom (1957–1959). Hi Mom marked the first appearances of Lamb Chop, Charlie Horse, Hush Puppy, and Wing Ding in a regular series. Lamb Chop was previously introduced during a guest appearance by Lewis on Captain Kangaroo in March 1956.^{[citation needed]}

  NBC gave Lewis her first network program – The Shari Lewis Show, which made its debut on October 1, 1960, replacing The Howdy Doody Show. The show ran until September 28, 1963, and featured such characters as Hush Puppy, Charlie Horse, Lamb Chop, and Wing Ding, a black crow. Lamb Chop, who was little more than a sock with eyes, served as a sassy alter-ego for Lewis. Hush Puppy had a Southern accent and a reserved shy personality, while Charlie Horse was a slow-witted goofy character. Guest TV and movie personalities and even occasional stars often appeared on her show, as they did later on Jim Henson‘s Muppets series.

  Capturing kids’ imaginations in the early 1960s, consumer versions of Lewis’s initial three puppets sold briskly. Subsequent television In 1961, she played the title character, Dulie Hudson, in Watching Out for Dulie, a United States Steel Hour production.

  In 1968, she and her then-husband, Jeremy Tarcher co-wrote the episode “The Lights of Zetar” for the original series of Star Trek.

  In 1992, her new Emmy-winning show Lamb Chop’s Play-Along began a five-year run on PBS. Lewis starred in another hit PBS series, The Charlie Horse Music Pizza, which was one of her last projects before her death. The video Lamb Chop’s Special Chanukah was released in 1996 and received the Parents’ Choice award of the year.

  An accomplished musician, she has conducted major symphonies in the United States, Japan and Canada. She wrote many books, and created 17 home videos. http://www.angelawards.com/sharilewis.html

  [edit]Personal life

  “Shari” Hurwitz acquired the name Lewis by a brief marriage. By her second marriage to Jeremy Tarcher in 1958, she had one daughter, Mallory.

  When Lewis appeared before Congress in 1993 to testify in favor of protections for children’s television, Lamb Chop was granted permission to speak. Lamb Chop’s passionate, well-informed and vivid testimony made an indelible impression.

  [edit]Death

  Shari Lewis was diagnosed with uterine cancer in June 1998.^[5] While undergoing treatment at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on August 2, 1998,^[6] she developed viral pneumonia and died at the age of 65. Her remains were cremated. She was survived by her husband, daughter and sister.

  [edit]Awards/Honors

  Lewis was the recipient of numerous awards during her lifetime, including:

  • 12 Emmy Awards
  • Peabody Award (1960)
  • Monte Carlo Prize for the World’s Best Television Variety Show (1963)
  • John F. Kennedy Center Award for Excellence and Creativity (1983)
  • 7 Parents’ Choice Awards
  • Action for Children’s Television Award
  • 1995 American Academy of Children’s Entertainment award for Entertainer of the Year
  • Dor L’Dor award of the B’nai B’rith (1996)
  • 3 Houston Film Festival awards
  • Silver Circle Award of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (1996)
  • Film Advisory Board Award of Excellence (1996)
  • 2 Charleston Film Festival Gold Awards (1995)
  • Houston World Festival silver and bronze awards (1995)
  • New York Film and Video Festival Silver Award (1995)
  • In 1998, she was posthumously awarded the Women in Film Lucy Award in recognition of her excellence and innovation in her creative works that have enhanced the perception of women through the medium of television.^[7]

  In addition to writing over 60 books for children, she and her second husband wrote an episode for the third and final season of the original Star Trek series entitled “The Lights of Zetar“. This was produced in 1968. Lewis had hoped to play the part of “Lt. Mira Romaine,” but the role was given to actress Jan Shutan.

  [edit]Family

  Her first husband was Stan Lewis. Her second husband, who survived her, was publisher Jeremy Tarcher, a brother of the novelist Judith Krantz.

  Lewis’s daughter, Mallory Tarcher, wrote for the shows Lamb Chop’s Play-Along and The Charlie Horse Music Pizza. She legally changed her name to Mallory Lewis, and in 2000, she resumed her mother’s work with the Lamb Chop character.

  [edit]Television shows

  • Shariland–1956–1958
  • The Shari Lewis Show—1960
  • The Shari Lewis Show (BBC)—1975
  • The Shari Show (syndicated)—1975–1976
  • Lamb Chop’s Play-Along—1992–1997
  • Charlie Horse Music Pizza—1998

  [edit]Specials

  • Lamb Chop’s Sing-Along, Play-Along—1988
  • Don’t Wake Your Mom!—1989
  • Lamb Chop in the Land of No Manners—1989
  • Lamb Chop in the Land of No Numbers—1993
  • Lamb Chop and the Haunted Studio—1994
  • Lamb Chop’s Special Chanukah—1995
  • Shari’s Passover Surprise—1996

  [edit]Episodic TV appearances

  • Lewis was included on the long list of entertainers who appeared on ABC‘s The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom, a variety series, which aired from 1957–1960.

  • Lewis appeared on April 14, 1960, and again on January 12, 1961, on NBC‘s The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford.^[8]

  • Lewis guest-starred on Episode 1.20, “How High is Up”, of the sitcom Car 54, Where Are You?,which premiered on February 4, 1962.

  • In “The Off-Broadway Affair”, a 1966 episode of The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Lewis guest starred as a perky, somewhat ditzy understudy.

  • Lewis (and Lamb Chop) guest-starred on Episode 2.20, “Lamb Chop’s on the Menu”, of the sitcom The Nanny, which premiered on February 13, 1995.

  • Lewis, Lamb Chop (dressed as Santa) and Charlie Horse sing “Jingle Bells” on “The Ed Sullivan Show” (Season 15, Episode 15, Aired Dec 24, 1961)

  [edit]Discography

  • Fun in Shariland originally released in 1958 on RCA Victor records, and re-released on RCA Camden Record in 1960
  • Hi Kids! on Shout! Factory CD, originally released in 1952 on Golden Records
  • Lamb Chop’s Sing-Along, Play-Along released 1992 on A&M Records

  [edit]Cultural references

  • In the episode “Dummy for Love” on Season 2 of the sitcom Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Salem the cat has digitally inserted images of himself with various celebrities such as Mother Teresa to give to Zelda so she will put in a good word for him at the Witches Council, hoping for leniency. Later, Zelda finds a hidden photo of him and Shari Lewis, and Salem nervously mumbles, “That’s from my personal collection.” And at the end of the episode Salem tries to pay Cupid in anchovies to make Shari fall in love with him. Cupid declines stating that its against his principles and because Salem is a cat and she is Shari Lewis.

  • In the episode “Summer Sucks” on Season 2 of “South Park“, Mr. Garrison, angered over the theft of his hand-puppet Mr. Hat, turns on his television to a caricature of Shari with Lamb Chop. He then envisions himself entering the set and approaching them with an axe. Mr. Garrison severs Shari’s hand holding Lamb Chop, and tosses the puppet onto a burning grill. Shari cries out, as does Lamb Chop, while Mr. Garrison is seen back in his chair with a very wide smile on his face.

  • In the Animaniacs episode “Papers For Papa” Ernest Hemingway watches Shari and Lamb Chop perform on TV and one of Lamb Chop’s button eyes falls off.

  [edit]References

  1. ^ “Shari Lewis (1934–1998)”. Lambchop.tv. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  2. ^ Birth name Sonia Phyllis Hurwitz as per as per Ancestry.com
  3. ^ “Abraham Hurwitz Dead at 76; New York’s Official Magician”. The New York Times: p. 12. 1 October 1981. Retrieved 14 February 2011.
  4. ^ Albin, Kira. “Shari Lewis in the Lamb Light”, Grand Times, 1997.
  5. ^ Gray, Tam Martinides; Dara Horn, Belinda Luscombe, Jodie Morse and Alain L. Sanders (1998-06-29). “Milestones Jun. 29, 1998″. Time. Retrieved 2009-03-24.
  6. ^ Williams, Scott (1998-08-04). “Puppeteer Made Kids Laugh—Lamb Chop Creator Shari Lewis Dies at 65″. Daily News. Retrieved 2009-03-24.
  7. ^ “Past Recipients-Lucy Award”. Women in Film. Retrieved 2011-06-08.
  8. ^ “The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show”. ctva.biz. Retrieved November 25, 2010.

  [edit]External links

  • Shari Lewis at Find a Grave
  • Shari Lewis at the Internet Movie Database
  • Shari Lewis at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)
  • “Kitten Kaboodle’s biography of Shari Lewis”

  16   I consider this a GREAT “leak” and one I had no intention of throwing out there. 

  Pretty impressive stuff.  Underrated talent.
  

  
  

  17   The truth is I began jotting a few simple notes down, and then was ready to seek  

  other sources but there was just too much interesting information on this leak.

  
  

  18   To me, Wiki is to internet research what the World Book used to be to encyclopedic

  research: we are told as both students and as teachers to refrain from using cheap, fast 

  resources for our projects. 

  
  

  19   Let’s face it. Wiki-Peeks is a relatively harmless way of getting a general overview 

  of information. In no way would I trust it, particularly with something as shady as the 

  JFK assassination.

  
  

  20   I thought twice before posting this, but found much of the information to be 

  not only innocuous, but fascinating, and probably true. 

  
  

  21   So I want to give Wiki-biographer/reporter Kitten Kaboodles all the props for 

  doing such a professional job, despite her obvious stage name. 

  
  

  22   Moving on, Part the First: Actually I don’t know that. She very well might be

  related to Winchell K. Kaboodle, who worked for years on the New York Times and

  who is alleged to have been the first person to crack the Wiki-Leaks story of Julian

  Orange, or whatever the guy’s name is. Stieg Larrson-gone-mad guy. Assange. Does

  a slant rhyme count as poetry here?

  
  

  23   I’m tempted to Wiki the bio of Kaboodle, but I fear I may have discovered one of the greatest crack

  journalists in the business. I may never get to sleep. How is this cheap journalism if I’m

  actually working on it?

  
  

  24   I think I won’t check. You can, but I’m satisfied to know that I can certainly trust

  Kitten Kaboodles to be my personal Wiki source for stuff that is fun and filled with

  trivia. 

  
  

  25   Saves me a bundle of time as well. 

  
  

  26   I’m a bit in fear, because it is now well into the 1 a.m. and I find myself still

  up and working. 

  
  

  27   I’m also pretty sure that this cut/paste stuff is going to change all the

  fonts and make this thing go mad. I may be re-inventing journalism in the 10′s. 

  
  

  28   No going back. That’s the uniqueness of the DN: it has to be what it will be due 

  to a pressure-cooker deadline each morning. I can add only so many pics. I can write

  only so much boushit. And I have only so much time to edit before it hits the streets. 

  
  

  29  Tough reporter over here.

  
  

  30  Ultimately, it is something for people out there to chuckle at, to swear at, or to 

  sip coffee and have your oatmeal occasionally find its way through your 

  noses at. And while you wipe up both your nose and clothes, I boldly

  end sentences in prepositions with little fear of reprisals. 

  
  

  31   If I’ve boldly done any of that for the past sixteen years, then so boldly be it. 

  
  

  32   Moving on, Part the Second: Congratulations are in order to the A’s' 

  amazing manager Bob Melvin (see above). 

  
  

  33   Any manager who could pull me off the Giants and ask me to run alongside the A’s

  AND Giants has to be good.

  
  

  34  The A’s were picked to be in the tanker all year. 

  
  

  35  They somehow managed with 19 rookies. Joe Stiglich of the Merc News

  was quick to point out this morning that 12 of those rookies were

  pitchers. 

  
  

  36  It wasn’t just that. It was the stadium. It was Billy Beane. And it was the fans,
  those tough A’s fans who went through their own form of torture, but through it all,
  gave other teams enough fits that it became fun. It began at the beginning, but the A’s

  real  Tour of Duty began just before All-Star Break, where they made a statement.

  
  

  37  After that it was all belief. 

  
  

  38  I’m wondering what the East Coast fans are thinking right now. I’m wondering what
  the East Coast sports‘ world is thinking about this.

  
  

  39  The Giants rip the Tigers to win the World Series easily, and now Bob Melvin 

  becomes the AL Manager of the Year. 

  
  

  40  Who woulda thunk?

  
  

  41  And Bochy was third? Are ya kiddin’ me?

  
  

  42  Calm down Giants’ fans. It isn’t about you. You have your rings.
  The sports’ writers can’t count post-season miracles. Prior to the post, Bochy
  was still awesome in all of our eyes, but not enough to make the East Coasters sit up and take 

  notice. 

  
  

  43  Melvin and the A’s did, because their Tour was SO unexpected. 

  
  

  44  So hats off to Bob Melvin, and hats off to the A’s and to all their fans. 

  
  

  45  Today is your day. 

  
  

  46   Moving on, Part the Thoid: I find myself needing to put both this flashy piece as well my happy rear end

  to bed. 

  
  

  47   No news? Nah. Bob Melvin is big news. This isn’t to detract from Lewis and the Chop.

  
  

  48  But Bob Melvin is big news this morning, at least for this Old Brown Shoe.

  
  

  49  Have a GREAT Wednesday.

  
  

  50  See you again.

  
  

  6   Peace.

  
  

  ~H~

  
  

  

  
  

  www.xanga.com/bharrington

  
  

  
  

  

  

  • 10:01 am
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