Post by mrjukebox on Oct 23, 2009 19:48:37 GMT -5
Legendary comedian Soupy Sales,who is best remembered for an endless supply of corny jokes & whipped cream pies,passed away Thursday night-He was 83-According to his manager,Sales experienced health problems last week & was subsequently placed in a Bronx,NY hospice.
Millions of baby boomers,myself included,fondly recall "The Soupy Sales Show",which ran on WNEW-TV in New York City from 1964-1966-TV viewers became familiar with Soupy's cast of characters,which included Pookie The Lion,White Fang aka:"the meanest dog in the world" & Black Tooth aka: "the sweetest dog in the world".
At the peak of his popularity,Sales was receiving sackfuls of fan mail-His biggest audience was college students-In 1965,Soupy had a minor hit called "The Mouse",which reached #76 on the Billboard "Hot 100".
On January 1,1965,Soupy was told that he had an extra minute of air time-He supposedly told his younger viewers to go into their parents wallets or pocketbooks & send him money-Obviously,this was a joke,but it backfired-Within weeks,Soupy was receiving thousands of letters,which were filled with substantial amounts of cash.
WNEW management then determined that the joke went too far & demanded that Soupy be suspended-Once word got out about Soupy's suspension,his loyal fans picketed outside the studios of WNEW demanding that Soupy be reinstated at once.
Eventually,Soupy got his job back,but he had to promise not to pull any further stunts like this in the future-In 1966,"The Soupy Sales Show" was cancelled by WNEW.
Soupy went on to guest star on many of the popular TV shows of the day such as "The Beverly Hillbillies" & "The Ed Sullivan Show"-He also was a regular panelist on the syndicated revival of "What's My Line?"-In 1979,a revival of "The Soupy Sales Show" was syndicated to TV stations around the country-Unfortunately,the ratings were less than spectacular & the show was cancelled.
In 1985,Soupy became the midday personality on WNBC Radio in New York-However,he was dismissed in 1987 after station management decided not to renew his contract-Soupy was a tremendous talent & he will be sorely missed.
Millions of baby boomers,myself included,fondly recall "The Soupy Sales Show",which ran on WNEW-TV in New York City from 1964-1966-TV viewers became familiar with Soupy's cast of characters,which included Pookie The Lion,White Fang aka:"the meanest dog in the world" & Black Tooth aka: "the sweetest dog in the world".
At the peak of his popularity,Sales was receiving sackfuls of fan mail-His biggest audience was college students-In 1965,Soupy had a minor hit called "The Mouse",which reached #76 on the Billboard "Hot 100".
On January 1,1965,Soupy was told that he had an extra minute of air time-He supposedly told his younger viewers to go into their parents wallets or pocketbooks & send him money-Obviously,this was a joke,but it backfired-Within weeks,Soupy was receiving thousands of letters,which were filled with substantial amounts of cash.
WNEW management then determined that the joke went too far & demanded that Soupy be suspended-Once word got out about Soupy's suspension,his loyal fans picketed outside the studios of WNEW demanding that Soupy be reinstated at once.
Eventually,Soupy got his job back,but he had to promise not to pull any further stunts like this in the future-In 1966,"The Soupy Sales Show" was cancelled by WNEW.
Soupy went on to guest star on many of the popular TV shows of the day such as "The Beverly Hillbillies" & "The Ed Sullivan Show"-He also was a regular panelist on the syndicated revival of "What's My Line?"-In 1979,a revival of "The Soupy Sales Show" was syndicated to TV stations around the country-Unfortunately,the ratings were less than spectacular & the show was cancelled.
In 1985,Soupy became the midday personality on WNBC Radio in New York-However,he was dismissed in 1987 after station management decided not to renew his contract-Soupy was a tremendous talent & he will be sorely missed.