On September 28 1963, Shari Lewis’ NBC show aired for the last time on NBC. Lewis had been educating and entertaining her young fans since the 1950s with her famous sock puppets. Although the network pulled the plug on her show, the perky entertainer would continue to perform and advocate for educational children’s program.
Born Shari Hurwitz in New York City on January 17, 1933, she learned the art of ventriloquism at a young age. Her talent for entertaining ran in the family. Her mother was a music coordinator for the New York City Department of Education while her father was the official magician of New York City. Shari originally studied dance at the American School of Ballet, but after not making the chorus line she decided to pursue puppetry. After winning the popular TV talent show “Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts” for her puppetry skills, Lewis made her TV debut with her iconic sock puppet, Lamb Chop, on “Captain Kangaroo” in 1956.
Within four years of that appearance, Lewis, along with the much-loved Lamb Chop and his sidekicks Charlie Horse and Hush Puppy, landed her own show, “The Shari Lewis Show.” The program had a three-year TV run on Saturday mornings, taking over the time slot from “The Howdy Doody Show.” The last episode aired in 1964 and the network forever erased the show when they used the tapes to record the 1964 Democratic and Republican National Conventions.
Despite losing her NBC spot, Lewis did not give up her act. She starred in hit TV shows throughout the 1960s (including “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.”) and even conducted major symphonies in the U.S., Japan and Canada. In 1991, she landed her first PBS show, “Lamb Chop’s Play-Along,” and it won her six of her lifetime total of 12 Emmys.
A lifelong passionate advocate for educational children’s programming, in 1993 she appeared with Lamb Chop before the House Telecommunications Subcommittee. She and the puppet gave an impassioned testimony about the need to protect children against harmful programming by strengthening the Children’s Television Act of 1990.
Lewis died in 1998, but her daughter, Mallory, continues to carry on her mother’s legacy. Mallory travels around the country performing with the original, Lamb Chop.