Indycaver (Norm)'s photos with the keyword: Red Skelton

I made a rare trip to the old hometown this past weekend and saw a Mural I hadn't seen before. Red Skelton grew up here in Vincennes and lived in my grandfather's neighborhood and attended the same school. Red use to make occasional trips back to Vincennes and always made the front page when he did.

Born in Vincennes, Indiana, Red Skelton was the son of a Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus clown named Joe who died in 1913 shortly before the birth of his son. Skelton himself got one of his earliest tastes of show business with the same circus as a teenager. Before that, however, he had been given the show business bug at 10 years of age by entertainer Ed Wynn, who spotted him selling newspapers in front of the Pantheon Theatre, in Vincennes, trying to help his family. After buying every newspaper in Skelton's stock, Wynn took the boy backstage and introduced him to every member of the show with which he was traveling. Red also worked as an usher at this theater and later performed the song "Sonny Boy" made popular by Al Jolson for a Rotary club fund raiser. By age 15, Skelton had hit the road full-time as an entertainer, working everywhere from medicine shows and vaudeville to burlesque, showboats, minstrel shows and circuses. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Skelton en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pantheon_Theatre Currently, the Pantheon Theater is being restored and tours are being offered to help with the cost of the restoration. The Pantheon is located on Main Street in Vincennes, Indiana.

Humble beginnings for this well known entertainer.

The March 1996 issue explores Red Skelton as Clem Kadiddlehopper. Well written article by Wes D Gehring.