Red Skelton: The Mask behind the Mask

by Wes Gehring

Overview

For more than twenty years, Hoosier comic Red Skelton entertained millions of viewers who gathered around their television sets to delight in the antics of such notable characters as Freddie the Freeloader, Clem Kaddiddlehopper, Cauliflower McPugg, and Sheriff Deadeye. Noted film historian Wes D. Gehring examines the man behind the characters—someone who never let the facts get in the way of a good story. Gehring delves into Skelton's hardscrabble life with a shockingly dysfunctional family in the southern Indiana community of Vincennes, his days on the road on the vaudeville circuit, the comedian's early success on radio, his up-and-down movie career with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and his sometimes tragic personal life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780871953551
Publisher:	Indiana Historical Society Press
Publication date:	09/10/2013
Series:	Indiana biography series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	396
Sales rank:	253,809
File size:	12 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Wes D. Gehring is a professor of film at Ball State University and an associated media editor and columnist for USA Today magazine. Gehring has written biographies of such screen legends as Charlie Chaplin, Carole Lombard, James Dean and Red Skelton.

Table of Contents

Contents Foreword by Valentina Marie Skelton Preface Prologue It All Started With the Donuts Chapter 1 The Early Years Chapter 2 Clarence Stout and Other Early Skelton Mentors Chapter 3 First Wife Mentor: Edna Stillwell Skelton Chapter 4 Early Star Status: Memorable 1937 Chapter 5 Roller Coaster Years: 1938-1940 Chapter 6 Major Stardom: Movies, Radio, and a Touch of ¿Hope¿ Chapter 7 War Year Complexities: Radio and Redefining Red¿s Relationship with Edna Chapter 8 War Year Complexities: Movies, Military, and Marriage Chapter 9 Resuming a Film Career: The Buster Keaton Factor Chapter 10 A Small Screen Chaplin Wannabe and the Two Mrs. Skeltons Chapter 11 Racking Up the Pressure Chapter 12 Triumph and Tragedy in the 1950s Chapter 13 The Skeltons in Palm Springs: Paradise or Prison? Chapter 14 The Last Act Filmography Select Bibliography