Shari Lewis
Shari Lewis (January 17, 1933 - August 2, 1998) was a television children's show host, ventriloquist and puppeteer, most popular during the 1960s.
She was born Sonia Hurwitz in 1933. She began hosting children's television programs on local station in New York in 1953, graduating to network television in 1960 with The Shari Lewis Show as host and puppeteer. The programs featured such characters as Hush Puppy, Charlie Horse, and Lambchop, the latter, who was little more than a sock with eyes, serving as a sort of sassy alter-ego for the sweet-natured host. Subsequent television programs introduced the characters to the children of the generation that had first come to know them. In 1998, She died of uterine cancer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, in Los Angeles, California.
Lewis was the recipient of numerous awards during her lifetime, including:
- 12 Emmys
- Peabody Award
- John F. Kennedy Center Award for Excellence and Creativity
- 7 Parent's Choice Awards
- Action for Children's Television Award
In addition to writing over 60 books for children, she and her second husband wrote an episode of Star Trek, entitled The Lights of Zatar.
Her second husband, Jeremy Tarcher, is the brother of Judith Krantz.
Television Shows
- The Shari Lewis Show - 1960
- The Shari Show - 1975
- Lamb Chop's Play-Along - 1992
- The Charlie Horse Music Pizza - 1996
