Friday, March 29, AD 2024 4:06am

Thanksgiving 1952: Red Skelton

Red Skelton rose from poverty to become one of the most popular comedians of his day.  A comedic genius, he created a gallery of comedic personas:  Clem Kaddidlehopper, the Mean Little Kid, San Fernando Red, Freddie the Freeloader  and others, which allowed him not only to amuse but also to engage in wry commentary about some of the foibles of his time. Skelton the man was fairly simple:  he liked to make people laugh, and he loved God, Country and Kids.  The love of God and his dying son I have written about in the post The Pope, the Clown and the Cross.  Skelton’s love of God and Country shines through in his rendition of the Pledge of Allegiance which I have written about here.

 

 

His love of kids was no mere entertainer’s pose as the following anecdote illustrates:

“Funny how you can go to a doctor’s offices and find magazines that are years old in the lobby. I had to go to a dentist two week ago and found a Golf magazine from the 80’s. I also found a magazine that told me the following story:

Decades ago, a young American was flying across the mountain ranges of Europe on his way to London. Accompanying his friend, a Catholic priest, the two were scheduled to have a meeting with the Pope in England. As the priest talked, the plane suddenly rocked. Then rocked again.  Something told the priest the plane was not destined to ever touch land again.

The passengers, busy in their individual conversations, failed to notice, the priest observed, until a flight attendant made an announcement of impending doom. The plane was over a mountain range and losing altitude.

As expected, panic set in.

The priest loosened his seat belt, realizing he had but minutes to offer last rites to any who might desire them. His young friend, Richard, sat motionless, staring at the seat before him. The priest went about his duties.  Then, all at once, reality hit Richard in the face and he noticed that behind his seat and to the right was a child, two children, several children. If indeed this was to be the last moments of their short lives, Richard determined, he would make sure the children never knew it.

The young American rose to his feet and started to make faces at the kids. Horrible faces, ugly faces. Most of the youngsters laughed, but one did not. This boy, about the age of 5, became Richard’s focus. Richard stuck his tongue out. So did the boy. Richard did it again, making an awful face. The boy imitated him.  As the priest delivered last rites, Richard kept the children amused. None of them knew the earth was rushing up to meet their craft in spikes of ancient stone.

Meanwhile, the pilot had been amazed that the plane had cleared most of the rough crags that reached for the skies. One lone mountaintop was left to clear; their fate waited on its other side. By inches, the plane cleared that last mountain. What lay on the other side was a large cow pasture with soft, rolling grasses. The craft slid in on a cushion provided by Mother Nature – rough, but not the landing the pilot and most of the passengers had imagined. Certainly not what either the priest or Richard had expected.

Those young children never knew how close they had approached Heaven’s gates, nor did many of them ever know the young, auburn-haired performer who kept that knowledge from them miles above the earth.

His name was Richard but we knew him as Red Skelton.”

At Thanksgiving we thank God for the blessings he has showered upon us.  It helps when we do this if we realize what is truly important in life.  Skelton understood this simple fact of our existence.

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Karl
Karl
Sunday, November 27, AD 2011 3:45pm

What a story!

Thank you, Don.

“Good night and may God bless”.

Foxfier
Admin
Sunday, November 27, AD 2011 3:47pm

That is an awesome story.

(Also: YAY!!! email comments are back!)

Philip Nachazel
Philip Nachazel
Wednesday, November 22, AD 2017 4:43am

Who knows? Red’s ability to lighten the hearts of the children helped in added lift to the plane.

Wonderful story.

Father of Seven
Father of Seven
Wednesday, November 22, AD 2017 7:02am

Thank you, Don. Happy Thanksgiving to you and the entire TAC family!

Nate Winchester
Nate Winchester
Wednesday, November 22, AD 2017 9:17am

I got to watch a few VHS tapes of him my mom had. His sketch as a Roman slave is one of my favorites.

The man had a great talent (his pantomime was amazing) tempered by all accounts with a genuine soul. With him, i know heaven won’t be boring.

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