Cast & creator
Red Skelton
Best known for The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, What's My Line?, Climax!
The son of a former circus clown turned grocer and a cleaning woman, Red Skelton was introduced to show business at the age of 7 by Ed Wynn, at a vaudeville show in Vincennes. At age 10, he left home to travel with a medicine show through the Midwest, and joined the vaudeville circuit at age 15. At age 17, he married Edna Marie Stilwell, an usher who became his vaudeville partner and later his chief writer and manager. He debuted on Broadway and radio in 1937 and on film in 1938. His ex-wife/manager negotiated a seven-year Hollywood contract for him in 1951, the same year The Red Skelton Hour (1951) premiered on NBC. For two decades, until 1971, his show consistently stayed in the top twenty, both on NBC and CBS. His numerous characters, including Clem Kaddiddlehopper, George Appleby, and the seagulls Gertrude and Heathcliffe delighted audiences for decades. First and foremost, he considered himself a clown, although not the greatest, and his paintings of clowns brought in a fortune after he left television. His home life was not completely happy--two divorces and a son Richard who died of leukemia at age 9--and he did not hang around with other comedians. He continued performing live until illness, and he was a longtime supporter of children's charities. Red Skelton died at age 84 of pneumonia in Rancho Mirage, California, on September 17, 1997. Red is interred at Forest Lawn Cemetery, Glendale, California, in the Great Mausoleum, Sanctuary of Benediction.
Also known as: Ред Скелтон, Richard Red Skelton, Richard Bernard "Red" Skelton, Richard Bernard Skelton
68
film credits
19
television credits
82
1938–2026 · acting roles
6.7
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
Across film & television
Filmography (87)
Showing 87 of 87 credits
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self
1962
What's My Line?
Self
1950
Climax!
Rusty Morgan
1954
The Red Skelton Show
Host
1951The Red Skelton Show
Producer
1951The Red Skelton Show
Writer
1951
Tonight Starring Jack Paar
Self
1957
The Bob Hope Show
Self
1950The Bob Hope Show
Writer
1950
The Ed Sullivan Show
Self
1948
The Steve Allen Show
Self - Cameo / Clem Kadiddlehopper
1956The Steve Allen Show
Self
1956
The Jack Benny Program
Red Skelton
1950
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
Self
1956
The Oscars
Self
1953
This Is Your Life
Self
1952
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
Self
1958
The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour
Red Skeleton
1957
Ocean's Eleven
Self
1960
Around the World in 80 Days
Drunk in Barbary Coast Saloon
1956
Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours 11 Minutes
The Neanderthal Man
1965
Bathing Beauty
Steve Elliott
1944
That's Entertainment, Part II
(archive footage)
1976Texaco Star Theater
Clem Kadiddlehopper
1948
Neptune's Daughter
Jack Spratt
1949Television: The First Fifty Years
Buffalo Bob Smith / Howdy Doody (archive footage)
1999
Du Barry Was a Lady
Louis Blore / King Louis
1943
The Fuller Brush Girl
Red Skelton - Fuller Brush Man (uncredited)
1950
Susan Slept Here
Oswald from North Dakota (uncredited)
1954
The Dean Martin Christmas Show
Self (uncredited)
1968
That's Entertainment!
(archive footage) (uncredited)
1974
Ziegfeld Follies
J. Newton Numbskull (segment "When Television Comes")
1945
That's Dancing!
From 'Bathing Beauty' (archive footage)
1985
Rudolph's Shiny New Year
Father Time / Baby Bear (voice)
1976
Public Pigeon No. 1
Rusty Morgan
1957
The Fuller Brush Man
Red Jones
1948
Hollywood's Funniest All-Star Bloopers
Self (archive footage)
1985
Three Little Words
Harry Ruby
1950
Twenty Years After
(archive footage)
1944
The Big Parade of Comedy
Aubrey Filmore in 'A Southern Yankee' (archive footage)
1964
The Clown
Dodo Delwyn
1953
Lovely to Look At
Al Marsh
1952
Merton of the Movies
Merton Gill aka Clifford Armytage
1947
Thousands Cheer
Red Skelton
1943
Clown Alley
Freddie the Freeloader
1966Clown Alley
Writer
1966
The Great Diamond Robbery
Ambrose C. Park
1954
Inside the Dream Factory
Self
1995
A Southern Yankee
Aubrey Filmore
1948
Flight Command
Lieut. 'Mugger' Martin
1940
Swing Out, Sweet Land
Self
1970
The Yellow Cab Man
Augustus 'Red' Pirdy
1950
The People Vs. Dr. Kildare
Vernon Briggs
1941
I Dood It
Joseph 'Joe' Rivington Renolds
1943
A Brave Engineer: Buster Keaton's Last Ride
Self (Archival)
2026
Pioneers of Primetime
2005
Maisie Gets Her Man
Herbert P. 'Hap' Hixby
1942
The People's Command Performance: '77
Self
1977
Elf: Christmas in Tinseltown
Self (archive)
2004
Half a Hero
Ben Dobson
1953
Whistling in the Dark
Wally Benton
1941
Lady Be Good
Joe 'Red' Willet
1941
Panama Hattie
Red
1942
Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day
Vernon Briggs
1941
The Country Husband
Self - Announcing Next Week's Show
1956
Whistling in Brooklyn
Wally 'The Fox' Benton
1943The Man in the Funny Suit
Self
1960
Excuse My Dust
Joe Belden
1951
Having Wonderful Time
Itchy
1938
The Show-Off
J. Aubrey Piper
1946
The Hollywood Clowns
(archive footage)
1979
Texas Carnival
Cornie Quinell
1951Freddie the Freeloader's Christmas Dinner
Freddie the Freeloader
1981Jack Benny's 20th Anniversary TV Special
Self (uncredited)
1970
Seeing Red
Red / Doorman / Coatroom Attendant / Waiter / Emcee
1939
Ship Ahoy
Merton K. Kibble
1942
A Tribute to Houdini
Self
1987
Red Skelton: Bloopers, Blunders, and Ad Libs
Himself (Host)/Various Characters
2001
Watch the Birdie
Rusty Cammeron / Pop Cammeron / Grandpop Cammeron
1950
Whistling in Dixie
Wally Benton
1942
Honor America Day
Self
1970
America on Parade
Host
1976America on Parade
Writer
1976Red Skelton: A Royal Command Performance
Himself
1984
Red Skelton: America's Greatest Clown
Red Skelton
2005
Red Skelton Christmas Classics
Main
1955The Broadway Buckaroo
Red
1939