Shari Lewis
Birth Name:
Sonia Phyllis Hurwitz
Birth Place:
Bronx, New York, United States
Profession
Actress, Writer, Soundtrack, Producer, Production manager
Fast Facts
- Won a New York International Film Festival Gold Award for "Lamb Chop's Play-Along․"
- First introduced Lamb Chop on "Captain Kangaroo" in 1957, which earned her a morning television program on NBC called "The Shari Show․"
- Learned how to play the piano and violin from a young age and picked up ventriloquism naturally, later receiving coaching from a former vaudevillian after her father thought he heard a voice coming from her closet
- Started out performing in summer stock and touring stage companies, appearing in productions of "Damn Yankees," "Funny Girl," and "Bye, Bye, Birdie․"
- Quote: "Musical training teaches something that is seldom learned in any other manner: namely, that if you stick to what you are trying to do, you will, eventually, 'get it․'"
- Quote: "We all have many characters within us․ The lucky people are those who get a chance to be childish now and nurturing then and bold and vulnerable at other times․ I just happen to have given them all names, and I talk to them․"
- Best known as a ventriloquist and television host who was the original puppeteer for Lamb Chop, Charlie Horse, and Hush Puppy on shows like the Emmy-winning "Lamb Chop's Play-Along․"
- Wrote 60 books for children, including "Magic for Nonmagicians," "Things That Kids Collect," and "One-Minute Bedtime Stories․"
- Once appeared before the House Telecommunications Subcommittee in Washington, D․C․ in 1993, where Lamb Chop gave an emotional speech about why the Government should care about children's television
- The idea for "The Charlie Horse Music Pizza" came from a conversation with her husband, publisher Jeremy Tarcher, in which they figured out that children's favorite things are music, pizza, and the beach
Awards
- 1992Daytime Emmy - Outstanding Writing in a Children's Series:Nominated
- 1992Daytime Emmy - Outstanding Children's Series:Nominated
- 1992Daytime Emmy - Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series:Winner
- 1993Daytime Emmy - Outstanding Writing in a Children's Series:Winner
- 1993Daytime Emmy - Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series:Winner
- 1994Daytime Emmy - Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series:Winner
- 1994Daytime Emmy - Outstanding Children's Series:Nominated
- 1994Daytime Emmy - Outstanding Writing in a Children's Series:Nominated
- 1995Daytime Emmy - Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series:Winner
- 1995Daytime Emmy - Outstanding Writing in a Children's Series:Nominated
- 1995Daytime Emmy - Outstanding Pre-School Children's Series:Nominated
- 1996Daytime Emmy - Outstanding Pre-School Children's Series:Nominated
- 1996Daytime Emmy - Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series:Winner
- 1996Daytime Emmy - Outstanding Writing in a Children's Series:Nominated
- 2000Daytime Emmy - Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series:Winner