Soupy Sales, the legendary pie-in-the-face comedian of the ’50s and ’60s, died on Thursday night at the age of 83.
Sales finally lost his battle with cancer at Calvary Hospice in the Bronx.
Sales, A.K.A. Milton Supman of North Carolina, was well known for his renowned children’s TV show, “Lunch with Soupy Sales.”
The “Lunch” sketches often ended up with Soupy Sales getting smacked in the face with a pie, which ultimately was his trademark and brought great joy to his fans.
Popular stars of the era including Frank Sinatra and Shirley Maclaine appeared on the show for a pie-chucking.
It is estimated that Sales got hit with around 20,000 pies over the course of his career.
One of his most famous gags occurred on New Year’s Day back in 1965 on WNEW.
Sales was upset that he had to work on a holiday, so he signed off that day by telling his young audience to sneak into their parents’ bedrooms while they were sleeping and take those “green pieces of paper with pictures of Presidents” out of their wallets and purses.
“Put them in an envelope and mail them to me,” Soupy Sales said. “And I’ll send you a postcard from Puerto Rico!”
He was then hit with a pie, of course.
Once the money actually starting coming in, station officials suspend Sales for two weeks. Fans then protested, which only increased his fame.
Related articles by Zemanta
- Soupy Sales, comedian was 83 (laobserved.com)
- Comedian Soupy Sales Dies at 83 (abcnews.go.com)
- Pie-splattered comedian Soupy Sales dies (msnbc.msn.com)
Get Blippitt via RSS feed, Facebook, Twitter, Google+,
and be sure to get our Daily Email Broadcast.
