After
the treatments started six weeks ago, the Emmy Award-winning
ventriloquist cut short production on her latest PBS children’s series,
“The Charlie Horse Music Pizza,” in
Vancouver, British Columbia, and returned to Los
Angeles. She billed the series as an
educational “Cheers” for children with a focus
on music. The show premiered Jan. 5.
Lewis,
diagnosed with uterine cancer in June, was undergoing chemotherapy
when she developed pneumonia and died Sunday, at Cedars-Sinai
Medical Center, spokeswoman Maggie Begley said.
The
official announcement of Lewis' death took pains to note that
she is "survived by her beloved family of characters, Lamb
Chop, Charlie Horse and Hush Puppy." While it is conceivable the
characters could continue (the rights are owned by Golden Books,
which bought Shari Lewis Enterprises in 1997), Lewis' colleagues
said yesterday they wanted children to think of the puppets
as living creatures in order to cope with news of Lewis'
death.
A
public memorial will be announced after private services for
the family. Condolences may be sent in care of KCET,
4401 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles 90024.
These
'90s successes capped a remarkable TV career that was nearly
as long as the medium of television itself. Lewis was already
on the air in her teens, winning first prize on "Arthur
Godfrey's Talent Scouts" in 1952 with a ventriloquist's dummy named
Samson. She soon developed the tender sock-puppet character
of Lamb Chop and won her own NBC network series
-- thereafter helping raise generation after generation of
tube-watching tots, winning them over with both her beaming
personality and the amiable play of the hand puppets she brought
to life.
While
other puppets popular in early TV yelled and bopped each
other over the head, Lewis' creations were low-key, always
looking to adult Shari for guidance. Lewis spoke to children
gently but never condescendingly, with a pixie-like playfulness.
That helped parents enjoy her programs, too, as did Lewis'
eye toward learning.
She
had a British BBC series from 1968 to 1976. And her holiday
specials in the '80s and '90s became public TV perennials:
"Shari's Christmas Concert," "Lamb Chop in the Haunted
Studio" and "Lamb Chop's Special Chanukah."
Publishing
also felt her influence: Lewis wrote more than 60 children's
books and created audio cassettes and home videos ("101
Things For Kids To Do"). Her interactive CD-ROM,
"Lamb Chop Loves Music," was released in 1995.
Lewis
served on the national board of the Girl Scouts after leading
her daughter's troop for five years, and her family has requested
that donations in lieu of flowers be made to the Girl Scouts
of America. She is survived by Tarcher, her husband of 40
years; daughter Mallory (who works with her parents as
"Charlie Horse" producer), and sister Barbara Okun. “Shari
is also survived by her beloved family of characters,
Lamb Chop, Charlie Horse and Hush Puppy,” the
family said in a news release.
Lewis
and Lamb Chop premiered on television’s “The Captain
Kangaroo Show” in the mid 1950s, and that single appearance
led to her own TV program, “The Shari Lewis Show,”
which ran Saturday mornings on NBC. Millions
of children in successive generations grew up with
Lewis and her brand of playfulness and joy. She also wrote
more than 60 children’s books.
During
a 1986 White House Christmas party hosted by Nancy
Reagan, Lewis and her puppets entertained hundreds
of youngsters from around the world.
In
addition to Emmys, she won a Peabody Award, the John
F. Kennedy Center Award for Excellence and Creativity,
seven Parents’ Choice Awards and the Action for
Children’s Television Award.
