Shari Lewis

Overview

Shari Lewis spent forty-six years proving something most ventriloquists never manage: that the figure matters more than the trick. Lamb Chop is a sock. No mechanism, no glass eyes, no carved basswood — a sock with a felt mouth. And Lamb Chop is one of the most recognized characters in American children's television, because Lewis gave her an actual personality and then never once broke it.

She described Lamb Chop as "a 6-year-old girl, very intuitive and very feisty, a combination of obstinacy and vulnerability." That is a character note, not a puppet note. It is the whole reason the act worked.

The apprenticeship behind it was unusual. Her father, Abraham B. Hurwitz, was New York City's official magician during the Depression and a professor at Yeshiva University; her mother Ann was a concert pianist and music coordinator for the New York Board of Education. When Lewis showed a gift for ventriloquism, her father did not leave her to work it out alone — he hired the former vaudevillian John W. Cooper to coach her. That is a real lineage, and it is why the technique was never the weak part.

She trained in acrobatics, baton twirling, juggling, ice skating, piano and violin, and was performing magic competently by thirteen. The ventriloquism sat on top of a working variety act, which is why she could conduct symphony orchestras and write a Star Trek episode and none of it looked like a stunt. Her father's motto — learning through laughter — is more or less the whole thesis of her career.

Career

Lewis broke through on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts in the early 1950s. Lamb Chop first appeared in March 1956, as a guest spot on Captain Kangaroo, then moved to Hi Mom on WRCA-TV in New York.

From there she hosted an unusual number of her own programs across four decades: Facts N' Fun (1953), Kartoon Klub and Shariland (1953–58), Hi Mom (1957–59), The Shari Lewis Show on NBC (1960–63) and then a long BBC run (1969–76), The Shari Show (1975), and — the one most people remember — Lamb Chop's Play-Along on PBS, which premiered 10 September 1992 and ran to 1 January 1997.

The last series, The Charlie Horse Music Pizza, was in production when she died and was canceled shortly after.

The rest of the résumé

Lewis wrote more than sixty children's books. She co-wrote the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "The Lights of Zetar" (1969) with her husband Jeremy Tarcher. She conducted major symphony orchestras in the United States, Canada and Japan. She produced seventeen home videos.

It is a strange and slightly humbling list for a performer whose most famous collaborator was a sock.

What she thought she was doing

Lewis was unsentimental about children's television and openly contemptuous of the lazy version of it. She thought the point was participation, not consumption — the show was called Play-Along for a reason.

She also nearly didn't do any of it. Ventriloquism was the thing she put down when she went after a dance career, and only picked up again when the dance career stalled.

Death and succession

Lewis was diagnosed with uterine cancer in June 1998. While undergoing chemotherapy she developed viral pneumonia, and died on 2 August 1998 in Los Angeles, aged 65.

Her daughter Mallory — born Mallory Tarcher, who took the surname Lewis as a tribute — had produced both Lamb Chop's Play-Along and The Charlie Horse Music Pizza. In 2000, on the advice of family and the family friend Dom DeLuise, she began performing Lamb Chop herself. She still does, largely for USO and Fisher House audiences, performing arts centers and state fairs.

Where the puppets are now

Shari Lewis's figures survive, and they are split between two museums — both because of Mallory.

The Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta holds one of the original Lamb Chops, along with costumes and an Emmy Award, in its permanent Global Gallery. Mallory Lewis donated the Shari Lewis puppets there.

The Vent Haven Museum in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky — the only museum in the world devoted to ventriloquism — has a Shari Lewis exhibit in its Bob Baker Gallery, substantially expanded by a donation from Mallory. It includes puppets from The Shari Show (1975) and a larger-than-life Charlie Horse from The Charlie Horse Music Pizza.

Mallory still performs with a Lamb Chop of her own.

In their own words

A 6-year-old girl, very intuitive and very feisty, a combination of obstinacy and vulnerability… you know how they say fools rush in where wise men fear to go? Well, Lamb Chop would rush in, then scream for help. Shari Lewis — on who Lamb Chop is

Self esteem comes from doing something and accomplishing something… It doesn't come from watching TV. Shari Lewis — on why the show was built around participation

There's an unnecessary coarsening of children's shows that feature characters that constantly pass wind. Shari Lewis — on the state of children's television

It wasn't until I tried to get into ballet companies and found that I could get in but I couldn't get out of the chorus that I said to Daddy, “Where'd we put the dumb puppet?” Shari Lewis — on going back to ventriloquism

My mother really valued childhood, and that came through in everything she did. Mallory Lewis — on her mother

Figures

• Lamb ChopShari Lewis · 1956 · sock puppet
• Charlie HorseShari Lewis · puppet
• Hush PuppyShari Lewis · puppet
• Wing DingShari Lewis · puppet

Timeline

• c. 1940s — Coached in ventriloquism by former vaudevillian John W. Cooper, hired by her father
• early 1950s — Wins on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts
• 1956 — Lamb Chop debuts in March, as a guest on Captain Kangaroo
• 1960 — Peabody Award
• 1960–63 — The Shari Lewis Show on NBC
• 1969 — Co-writes the Star Trek episode "The Lights of Zetar" with Jeremy Tarcher
• 1969–76 — Long-running BBC series
• 1983 — Kennedy Center Award for Excellence and Creativity
• 1992 — Lamb Chop's Play-Along premieres on PBS, 10 September
• 1998 — Dies 2 August, aged 65

Watch

• Shari Lewis Sing Along with Lamb Chop
• Shari Lewis with Lamb Chop & Charlie Horse
• Shari Lewis & Lamb Chop in the Haunted Studio — Part 1
• Shari Lewis & Lamb Chop in the Haunted Studio — Part 2
• Shari Lewis & Lamb Chop in the Haunted Studio — Part 3
• Shari Lewis & Lamb Chop in the Haunted Studio — Part 4

Books

• Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop: The Team That Changed Children's Television Mallory Lewis and Nat Segaloff, with David Copperfield · University Press of Kentucky · 2023 The authorized biography, by Shari's daughter — who now performs Lamb Chop herself. ⚠️ Publication year needs confirming with the publisher (sources split 2022/2023).
• The “One-Minute” series Shari Lewis · 1982–1993 Her best-known books and a genuine publishing franchise — bedtime stories, favorite fairy tales, animal stories, Bible stories (Old and New Testament, the latter with Florence Henderson), Christmas, Greek myths, Jewish stories, Easter, great Americans, scary stories, stories of brothers and sisters, birthday stories, teddy bear stories. Built on the same instinct as the show: give a busy parent something that works in the time they actually have.
• The Headstart Book series Shari Lewis · 1966–1968 Looking & Listening · Thinking & Imagining · Knowing & Naming · Be Nimble & Be Quick. Early-learning activity books, and the clearest expression of her father's “learning through laughter.”
• Shari Lewis Presents 101 Things for Kids to Do Shari Lewis · 1987 Followed by 101 Magic Tricks for Kids to Do (1990) and 101 Games and Songs for Kids to Play and Sing (1993).
• Making Easy Puppets Shari Lewis · 1967 Plus Folding Paper Puppets (1962), Folding Paper Toys (1963) and Folding Paper Masks (1965) — the puppet-making books, and the closest she came to teaching the craft directly.
• Magic for Non-Magicians Shari Lewis · 1975 Her father's world, written down. Later followed by Abracadabra! (1985).
• The Kids-Only Club Book Shari Lewis · 1976 With Impossible, Unless You Know How (1979) and How Kids Can Really Make Money (1979).

On video

51 performances cataloged in our archive. needs research: curate + embed the best 5–8; the rest 301 here