Tulsa World: Popular pie-throwing comic Soupy Sales dies at 83

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Popular pie-throwing comic Soupy Sales dies at 83

FAMILIAR TELEVISION FACE
Soupy Sales: "I'll probably be remembered for the pies, and that's all right," Sales said in a 1985 interview. Sales' pie-throwing schtick was his trademark, and celebrities lined up to take one on the chin alongside him. In the 1960s, stars such as Frank Sinatra, Tony Curtis and Shirley MacLaine received their just desserts side-by-side with Sales on his television show.

By AP Wire Services
Published: 10/24/2009 2:27 AM
Last Modified: 10/24/2009 3:57 AM

DETROIT (AP) — Soupy Sales, the rubber-faced comedian whose anything-for-a-chuckle career was built on 20,000 pies to the face and 5,000 live TV appearances across a half-century of laughs, has died. He was 83.

Sales died Thursday night at Calvary Hospice in the Bronx, New York, said his former manager and longtime friend, Dave Usher. Sales had many health problems and entered the hospice last week, Usher said.

At the peak of his fame in the 1950s and '60s, Sales was one of the best-known faces in the nation, Usher said.

"If President Eisenhower would have walked down the street, no one would have recognized him as much as Soupy," Usher said.

At the same time, Sales retained an openness to fans that turned every restaurant meal into an endless autograph-signing session, Usher said.

"He was just good to people," said Usher, a former jazz music producer who managed Sales in the 1950s and now owns Detroit-based Marine Pollution Control.

Sales began his TV career in Cincinnati and Cleveland, then moved to Detroit, where he drew a large audience on WXYZ-TV. He moved to Los Angeles in 1961.

The comic's pie-throwing schtick became his trademark, and celebrities lined up to take one on the chin alongside Sales. During the early 1960s, stars such as Frank Sinatra, Tony Curtis and Shirley MacLaine received their just desserts side-by-side with the comedian on his television show.

"I'll probably be remembered for the pies, and that's all right," Sales said in a 1985 interview.

Sales was born Milton Supman on Jan. 8, 1926, in Franklinton, N.C., where his was the only Jewish family in town. His parents, owners of a dry-goods store, sold sheets to the Ku Klux Klan. The family later moved to Huntington, W.Va.

His greatest success came in New York with "The Soupy Sales Show" — an ostensible children's show that had little to do with Captain Kangaroo and other kiddie fare. Sales' manic, improvisational style also attracted an older audience that responded to his envelope-pushing antics.

Sales, who was typically clad in a black sweater and oversized bow-tie, was once suspended for a week after telling his legion of tiny listeners to empty their mothers' purses and mail him all the pieces of green paper bearing pictures of the presidents.

The cast of "Saturday Night Live" later paid homage by asking their audience to send in their joints. His influence was also obvious in the Pee-Wee Herman character created by Paul Reubens.

Sales returned from the Navy after World War II and became a $20-a-week reporter at a West Virginia radio station. He jumped to a DJ gig, changed his name to Soupy Heinz and headed for Ohio.

His first pie to the face came in 1951, when the newly christened Soupy Sales was hosting a children's show in Cleveland. In Detroit, Sales' show garnered a national reputation as he honed his act — a barrage of sketches, gags and bad puns that played in the Motor City for seven years.

After moving to Los Angeles, he became a fill-in host on "The Tonight Show."

He moved to New York in 1964 and debuted "The Soupy Sales Show," with co-star puppets White Fang (the meanest dog in the United States) and Black Tooth (the nicest dog in the United States). By the time his Big Apple run ended two years later, Sales had appeared on 5,370 live television programs — the most in the medium's history, he boasted. He had a pair of albums that hit the Billboard Top 10 in 1965.

Sales remained a familiar television face, first as a regular from 1968-75 on the game show "What's My Line?" and later appearing on everything from "The Mike Douglas Show" to "The Love Boat." He played himself in the 1998 movie "Holy Man."

He joined WNBC-AM as a disc jockey in 1985, a stint best remembered because Sales filled the hours between shock jocks Don Imus and Howard Stern. By AP Wire Services

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Some reader comments for this story were copied from "Comedian Soupy Sales dies at 83," which was published on 10/23/2009.

	Report Comment jestergrl1, Mannford (10/23/2009 12:26:33 PM) I can't believe it, I just saw him last night on "Password". I know it is an old show but seriously I am sorry to hear of his passing.
	Report Comment Aw-Nuts, (10/23/2009 2:43:53 PM) RIP, Soupy. In a time when comedy has become so gross, foul and nasty it is a shame to lose someone as Soupy. He put many a smile on my face and provided much laughter in my life as a youngster that not many can copy. I pray for his family and please know that his pain is gone and will be a headliner in comedy heaven......
	Report Comment skippie101, (10/23/2009 3:02:22 PM) Dito, Aw-Nuts & jestergrl1. My childhood is slowly slipping away.
	Report Comment drsardone, (10/23/2009 3:31:03 PM) A sad day indeed. I remember watching the Soupy Sales Show when I was a kid - He made me smile and laugh so much - especially when he bantered with Fang. I miss those days. RIP Soupy and thanks for the memories.
	Report Comment Few Clothes, America (10/23/2009 3:34:39 PM) How will White Fang and Black Tooth going to get along without you Soupy?
	Report Comment Few Clothes, America (10/23/2009 3:37:08 PM) CORRECTED COPY: How will White Fang and Black Tooth get along without you Soupy?
	Report Comment rockfan, broken arrow (10/23/2009 3:57:02 PM) I remember Soupy,funny guy! RIP Soupy.
	Report Comment Ignatz, A nice place where Democrats hold every office in the County. (10/23/2009 4:43:07 PM) Same here. I can remember some shows when he would just stand there and laugh at what was going on around him and I thought that was just about the funniest thing on tv.
	Report Comment truth fairy, (10/23/2009 5:04:21 PM) Thanks for having lunch with me, Soupy. R.I.P.
	Report Comment wisernow, spring (10/23/2009 5:44:44 PM) i remember him from years ago when i was a little girl..he was on lots of tv shows besides his own..rip soupy..
	Report Comment Thunder196, Tulsa (10/23/2009 5:55:30 PM) He was on a show several years back and talked about things they would do behind to scenes to crack him up. . I had forgotten about the stunt about the money. He was definitely funny.
	Report Comment Thunder196, Tulsa (10/23/2009 5:59:30 PM) to scenes = the scenes
	Report Comment aint missbehavin, no thanks (10/23/2009 11:32:44 PM) He said in an interveiw that he wanted to be remembered as bein a nice guy.I do believe he was.
	Report Comment Centrist, the burbs (10/24/2009 12:48:57 AM) Who could forget that face, always had a smile. RIP
	Report Comment Tony G, Tulsa (10/24/2009 6:54:04 AM) I was small when he was popular, I do remember him though.
	Report Comment flatfish, (10/24/2009 10:44:29 AM) Baseball games on a hot and dusty school yard diamond and Soupy on Saturday afternoons all summer long. Soupy Sales and the characters on that half-hour program are a fixture in my memory. My parents often sat down and watched the show with us. They laughed as much as we did, too. Maybe even more. Thanks, Soupy! You and that baseball diamond made every Saturday an event I always looked forward to and will always remember with a smile.
	Report Comment Corvetteguy, Tulsa (10/24/2009 1:27:06 PM) BREAKING NEWS ON CNN * * * * Soupy Sales died from depression caused by this nation creeping into socialism. Don't shoot the messenger. I'm just passing on the sad news.
	Report Comment FS, Broken Arrow (10/24/2009 4:20:45 PM) Many an evening I watched the show. Thanks for many laughs, Soupy - Rest in Peace.
	Report Comment FUTURE WORLD, Tulsa (10/24/2009 4:34:52 PM) Rest In Peace.
	Report Comment mayor_maynot, Tulsa (10/25/2009 12:24:42 AM) Soupy Sales. He cheered the nation during some tough times when it really needed cheering. Tx Soupy. Here was a real guy who taught the world to take it on the chin and like it. He may be missed in the physical world but in a world where everyone gets pie he will always be remembered. Make mine bananna cream.

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