 
(1934-1998)
Shari
Lewis was born Phyllis Hurwitz to Ann and Abraham Hurwitz
on January 17, 1934, in New York City. Her father was a founding
member of Yeshiva University in New York City.
Through the encouragement of both of her parents, Shari began
performing at the age of thirteen when her father taught her
magic acts with Jewish content. As a youth, she had lessons
in acrobatics, juggling, piano,violin and ventriloquism. She
studied piano and violin at New York's High School of Music
and Art, dance at the American School of Ballet, and acting
with Sanford Meisner of the Neighborhood Playhouse. She attended
Columbia University for one year, then left college to become
a performer.
In
1952, Lewis and her puppetry won first prize on Arthur Godfrey's
Talent Scouts television show. In March 1956, she and Lamb
Chop appeared on Captain Kangaroo and by 1960 she had her
own television program. Shari subsequently had numerous series
both in the UK and the US, and performed extensively around
the country at venues as varied as Performing Arts Centers,
County Fairs and Branson, MO. Shari also was an accomplished
conductor of orchestras and wrote over 60 books
 In
the early '90s, the Public Broadcasting System approached
her about reviving her television show. Lamb Chop's Play-Along,
seen on PBS stations and reproduced in video, grew out of
PBS interest and Lewis's discontent with commercial television.
The video Lamb Chop's Special Chanukah was released in 1996
and received the Parent's Choice award of the year.
Among her awards are thirteen Emmy Awards, the Dor L'Dor award
of the B'nai B'rith (1996), three Houston Film Festival awards,
the Peabody Award (1960), the Silver Circle Award of the National
Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (1996), the Film Advisory
Board Award of Excellence (1996), two Charleston Film Festival
Gold Awards (1995), the Houston World Festival silver and
bronze awards (1995), the New York Film and Video Festival
Silver Award (1995), the Monte Carlo Prize for the World's
Best Television Variety Show (1963), and the Kennedy Center
annual award for excellence (1983).
Shari Lewis died in 1998 of pneumonia while being treated
at Cedars-Sinai Hospital at the age of 65. Shari is survived
by daughter, Mallory Lewis (who now performs with Lamb Chop)
and grandson, Jamie Hood, who sleeps with his Grandma's Lamb
Chop!
•••
Click
the thumbnails for larger pix.
(via
flash
format):
Shari
Lewis: Hello, Goodbye (1998).(via
YouTube):
Shari
Lewis and Lamb Chop for Tiny Tears Doll
The
Charlie Horse Music Pizza Intro
The
Song That Doesn't End
LINKS
Shari
has been voted "an epic win."
|
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)