Some readers may not be familiar with Soupy Sales, a childhood icon for some of us. I remember sitting in front of the TV as Soupy performed this magical feat asking, “Kids, can you rub your belly and pat your head at the same time?” I STILL find that hard to do.And, there were the pies in the face, of course. Soupy will probably be best remembered for not only the pies thrown on his show at his face but for all the celebrities that took a pie in the face for Soupy that included Frank Sinatra and Tony Curtis.
He was once suspended for a week for telling kids to empty their Mommie’s purses and send all the green pieces of paper with presidents’ faces on them to Soupy.
Something I didn’t know was that he was once a fill in host for the tonight show – being a kid, I wasn’t allowed to stay up that late.
Soupy made us laugh and he lived a productive but quiet life. No front page pictures of Soupy with other women or falling down drunk. I think maybe he was just happy being able to make money doing what he loved.
He died Thursday night at Calvary Hospice in the Bronx, New York at the age of 83.
Goodbye Soupy, and thanks for the memories!
You know I never once saw his childrens' show. I was probably too involved in reading Proust [stealing hubcaps] or Tolstoy [blowing stuff up] or working on my science projects [illegal fireworks]
ReplyDeleteIt's like that with precocious kids [juvenile delinquents] and over achievers. [chronic truants]
LOL, Fogg! Being the innocent babe I was, it would be several years before I would indulge in more worldly pursuits; soaping cars, running from cops, skipping school...
ReplyDeleteAw shucks, I just saw the obituary moments ago. Soupy is also remembered for these lines:
ReplyDelete"My girlfriend is the best baker in the world. She really knows how to make a banana cream.
I took my girlfriend to a baseball game. I kissed her between the strikes, and she kissed me between the [redacted]."
That's also what got him fired. Of course, when I was in my early adolescence, my group of gutter snipe friends used to giggle at these double entendres.
I loved watching that guy as a kid. I remember hearing about the gag where he told kids to go and get a dollar from their parents wallet and send it in to him.
ReplyDeleteHe was never expecting anything, but apparently some kids did just that!
The network then had to discipline him and make him send all the dollar bills back.
Vintage Soupy. RIP
Here's a good link to the story from Snopes.
http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/soupy1.asp
I LOVED Soupy Sales as a kid. LOVED him. Loved his show.
ReplyDeleteCan't imagine why now but then again, I was a little kid. The pie in the face thing cracked me up every time.
He made a lot of people laugh and that's a good thing. He will be missed.
Whither White Fang?
ReplyDelete