Slapstick Comedian Soupy Sales Dies at 83

By PopEater / Wire Services Posted Oct 23rd 2009 08:13AM

Comedy legend Soupy Sales, the man who took thousands of pies to the face in his 5,000+ live television appearances, has died at the age of 83. His legend spans all the way back to the '50s and '60s, thanks to 'The Soupy Sales Show' and 'What's My Line?'

Sales died Thursday night at Calvary Hospice in the Bronx, New York, his former manager and longtime friend, Dave Usher, said. Sales had many health problems and entered the hospice last week, Usher said.

At the peak of his fame in the 1950s and '60s, Sales was one of the best-known faces in the nation, Usher said.

Soupy w/ Pookie & White Fang

Soupy Sells Used Cars

"If President Eisenhower would have walked down the street, no one would have recognized him as much as Soupy," said Usher.

At the same time, Sales retained an openness to fans that turned every restaurant meal into an endless autograph-signing session, Usher said.

"He was just good to people," said Usher, a former jazz music producer who managed Sales in the 1950s and now owns Detroit-based Marine Pollution Control.

Sales began his TV career in Cincinnati and Cleveland, then moved to Detroit, where he drew a large audience on WXYZ-TV. He moved to Los Angeles in 1961.

The comic's pie-throwing schtick became his trademark, and celebrities lined up to take one on the chin alongside Sales. During the early 1960s, stars such as Frank Sinatra, Tony Curtis and Shirley MacLaine received their just desserts side-by-side with the comedian on his television show.

"I'll probably be remembered for the pies, and that's all right," Sales said in a 1985 interview.

Sales was born Milton Supman on Jan. 8, 1926, in Franklinton, N.C., where his was the only Jewish family in town. His parents, owners of a dry-goods store, sold sheets to the Ku Klux Klan. The family later moved to Huntington, W.Va.

His greatest success came in New York with "The Soupy Sales Show" - an ostensible children's show that had little to do with Captain Kangaroo and other kiddie fare. Sales' manic, improvisational style also attracted an older audience that responded to his envelope-pushing antics.

Sales, who was typically clad in a black sweater and oversized bow-tie, was once suspended for a week after telling his legion of tiny listeners to empty their mothers' purse and mail him all the pieces of green paper bearing pictures of the presidents.

The cast of "Saturday Night Live" later paid homage by asking their audience to send in their joints. His influence was also obvious in the Pee-Wee Herman character created by Paul Reubens.

Sales returned from the Navy after World War II and became a $20-a-week reporter at a West Virginia radio station. He jumped to a DJ gig, changed his name to Soupy Heinz and headed for Ohio.

His first pie to the face came in 1951, when the newly christened Soupy Sales was hosting a children's show in Cleveland. In Detroit, Sales' show garnered a national reputation as he honed his act - a barrage of sketches, gags and bad puns that played in the Motor City for seven years.

After moving to Los Angeles, he eventually became a fill-in host on "The Tonight Show."

He moved to New York in 1964 and debuted "The Soupy Sales Show," with co-star puppets White Fang (the meanest dog in the United States) and Black Tooth (the nicest dog in the United States). By the time his Big Apple run ended two years later, Sales had appeared on 5,370 live television programs - the most in the medium's history, he boasted. He had a pair of albums that hit the Billboard Top 10 in 1965; "Do the Mouse" sold 250,000 copies in New York alone.

Sales remained a familiar television face, first as a regular from 1968-75 on the game show "What's My Line?" and later appearing on everything from "The Mike Douglas Show" to "The Love Boat." He played himself in the 1998 movie "Holy Man," which starred Eddie Murphy.

He joined WNBC-AM as a disc jockey in 1985, a stint best remembered because Sales filled the hours between shock jocks Don Imus and Howard Stern.

Sales is survived by his wife, Trudy, and two sons, Hunt and Tony, a pair of musicians who backed David Bowie in the band Tin Machine.

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Comments

(150)

Friday 23 October

By glendaaparis

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MSNBC has this article about the passing of Soupy, and I read it along with all the comments, as I did this one on AOL. For once it seems we are all in accord and have nothing but good things to say about Soupy Sales. He was a good man, a great comedian and I know everyone in heaven is gathered around with welcoming arms. God bless you Soupy.

By brian

very sad...think he's the last of my childhood heros....i used to do the soupy shuffle all the time....soupy sez: do the elevator dance, it has no steps.......i still have my soupy sales records....miss ya soupy

By marshall

He made me and a lot of children happy and laugh in the 1960s. I'll pray for him tonight.

By Bob B.

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Soup was the best. Totally subversive. I remember many laughs over his antics with Pookie, along with Hobart and Reba who lived in the potbelly stove. The New York stage group was spectacular along with Frank Nastasi who did the character voices. We are all a little poorer but heaven is the richer.

By Dinky

He was a good soul, and very funny. Comedians today should take a good luck at how this man made comedy work, with no swearing or foul language, he will be missed.

By uub140

Soupy never patronized us kids - Versus a smuck like Sandy Becker who took personal appearance money and then ignored kids who just wanted to shake his hand!

We'll miss you, Soup

By Ron 1521

I grew up watching Soupy in Detroit

He will be missed

RIP

By Gary Armitage

He was the best! I met him in Detroit in the 50's. I dressed as Soupy for Halloween and no one knew who I was supposed to be. Watched him with my DEKE Frat brothers at Lafayette in the 60's. Soupy formed my sense of humor and was a mentor for me. I will really miss him!

By red

Man, those were the days. Soupy White Fang and Black Tooth. Oh the laughs.....Soupy, you will always be the best in my book. God's speed.

By chuckie

All I can say is "Ooh-eh!"
God bless, Soupy. You brought so much laughter into our lives. RIP.

By car4068043

Watched Soupy on WNEW in NYC as a kid. Better than anything on TV today. Remember a great exchange between him and Pookie, just before the puppet lion broke into song:
Soupy-Do you have a little number for us?
Pookie-Yeah but she can't make it today!
RIP.

By bill salazar

Thanks Soupy you made growing up a little bit happier...RIP :(

By Jed

I grew up watching Soupy in Detroit in the 50's and 60's. Those were wonderful times from a wonderful and funny man. Rest in Peace Soupy. And thanks for all the memories. Jed Howe.

By jeff wiles

soupy on black and white TV after school.........damn I miss those days

By dc3smokejumper

Soupy was a pioneer in live television. He made us laugh! He will be missed. Be safe, Soupy!

Tuesday 27 October

By sammy9fingers

I actually had a Soupy Sales lunch box in the 6th grade. It was vinyl not metal, but I wish I still had it. This was in 1966 and in a small Oregon town. Not many kids knew who he was. RIP Soupy.

By ralph

RIP Soupy..I'm from Detroit and got to see the fifties local shows..wilder and crazier than anything in LA ir New York..The world is a poorer place without you!

By Jim

Sad news. Like many other baby boomers growing up in the 60's, I thought Soupy was the funniest guy on television. Who can forget those great characters, Pookie, White Fang, Black Tooth. I have to smile just thinking about Soupy's Show. R.I.P. Soupy. You will never be forgotten by my generation.

By Marilyn

The world has lost a very funny man. I met him once at a performance he was giving for a charity. The sweetest person ever. RIP Soupy we will miss you.

By jean taylor

We could'nt have gotten through the 50's and 60's without you Soupy, heaven just got happier.

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