« Activity Chasing Paranormal | Main | Review: Amelia »
October 23, 2009
Soupy Sails Away
Soupy Sales was one of those legendary characters of television who I was a little late to discover, missing the full impact of his magic. But from the first time anyone got an eyeful of that smile and that gentle, goofy energy, you had to love the guy.
I was unaware of it at the time, but he was the distinctly Jewish uncle any kid might want. He was silly, happy to be the butt of jokes, and while undeniably a grownup, one of us. I know it may seem a little odd to note his jewishness with Jewish performers dominating so much of early television, but so many of "us" were trying to be less Jewish and while Sales didn't wear a yamaka, there was comfort in the Northeastern ethnicity of his gentle growl.
One of the best remembered events of all early television is Sales' call on New Year's Day to kids to take "little green pieces of paper" out of their parents' pants and purses and to send them to him at the TV station.
And of course, there was Match Game...
Posted by dpoland at October 23, 2009 07:17 AM
Comments
I don't know if this is true or if it's an urban legend, but supposedly on live TV, he got away with the following: He and one of the puppets were studying letters of the alphabet. Soupy would say the letter "F" was "F." The puppet would say it was "K." Soupy then supposedly asked, "How come every time I see "F," you see "K"?
I hope it's true because it's just too good not to be.
Posted by: adorian ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.mcnblogs.com/thehotblog/nav-commenters.gif)
at October 23, 2009 10:46 AM
Absolutely brilliant, spontaneous and hilarious. I loved how he would address the crew--who could often be heard laughing--to the point that you almost felt like you knew them, even though they never appeared on camera. We will not see his like again.
Posted by: Cadavra at October 23, 2009 11:41 PM
Sales insisted he never got dirty on the air (unless you count this) and had a standing reward for anyone who could prove otherwise. And this is better than moth-eaten dirty jokes anyway.
Posted by: Bob Violence at October 24, 2009 02:43 AM
Post a comment
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)