I'm the perfect age to be a fan of Soupy's - when I was a kid in the '60s, his TV show was the top children's show in the country. It was a fast, funny series of jokes, sketches and gags, as Soupy shared the show with puppets like the small lion Pookie and a series of characters who were mostly off-camera.My favorites, of course, were his dogs White Fang and Black Tooth. You only saw their hands, but they were perfect foils for Soupy. White Fang was always gruff and confrontational, and you only got one side of the conversation.
Typical exchange:
Soupy: "What are you doing, White Fang?"
White Fang: "Ah uhh uhh uhh eh uhh uhh uhh."
Soupy: "So you're going to enter a beauty contest?"
White Fang: "Uh huh."
You get the idea. Black Fang was a girl and would always grab Soupy, pull him off camera and you'd hear smooching noises. "Don't kiss, Black Tooth" is a joke that still gets a laugh in my house.
The show was perfect for kids, with lots of funny jokes and outrageous characters. He managed to spark a national craze with "The Mouse," which was a silly takeoff on "The Twist." (Trust me.)
Soupy had a career beyond that, of course, with movies, records and appearances on assorted TV shows, especially the game show What's My Line?
I was lucky enough to see him in person three times. When I was a kid and he was at the height of his fame, he made an appearance in Charleston and my Mom took me down to join the thousands of kids in straining for a quick look.
When I was a student at Marshall, he returned to give a talk to the journalism students, and he told a number of very funny stories (my favorite is still the one about the dead pigeon and the basketball game).
Then in the late '80s he once again visited the town and I sat in on an interview he did for the local TV news show for young people, KidsMag (which I was producing). At the time, the kids knew him because he was providing the voice of Donkey Kong for a Saturday morning cartoon.
He was always funny, kind and generous with his time. Certainly most celebrities would find it easy to leave town and never come back, but Soupy never seemed too big for his old friends, even when he was one of the biggest stars in entertainment.
It's never easy to say goodbye to a childhood hero, but there must be a special place in heaven for an entertainer who brought so many laughs to kids of all ages.
5 comments:
Great rememberance for a great performer and person, Chuck! I got to meet Soupy in Huntington a couple of times, too. My favorite story, though is when my parents and two pre-teen sisters came to town for my Marshall graduation. They were lounging by the pool alone and up comes Soupy who was also staying there while in town. He ended up teaching my sisters how to dive.
Thanks, Neal - great story! Was that at the Uptowner? I think we shot his TV interview there by the pool.
Wow, this was 1978. I don't remember the exact location. It was a Holiday Inn out on Rt 60. I guess it was an Out-of-Towner. :-)
Chuck - I used to be a reporter for "KidsMag" during the years of 1982 - 1983. Hadn't thought of that in years. Thanks for bringing back an old memory :)
Rick, I started working on the show around 1984, so I didn't miss you by much. I have great memories of working on that show!
Post a Comment