Red Skelton’s Pledge of Allegiance reminds us all why America is so great.
Red Skelton’s Pledge of Allegiance reminds us all why America is so great. In 1941, the young comedian with a funny face and a funny name abandoned his famous comedic characters to enlist in the US Army. The multi-talented performer had been entertaining radio audiences since 1936 when he was discovered by “Colgate Comedy Hour” producer Bill Thompson at a burlesque theatre near Chicago where Skelton was performing as “Daddy”.
Red created hundreds of memorable characters on his way to becoming one of the most beloved entertainers in television history; but it was only during World War II that he abandoned those comic creations for his real-life role as a soldier. When not performing the duties of his US Army specialty, Specialist Fourth Class Skelton entertained his fellow soldiers with magic tricks, jokes and funny stories. But there were occasions when Red’s show biz flair made life easier for those soldiers who had to spend long hours on KP (Kitchen Police) duty.
Red Skelton entertains troops by cooking eggs on his helmet liner.
On one occasion, the famous comedian cooked eggs over an open fire using only sand and soot scraped from his mess kit “because that’s all the ingredients he had available.” Skelton also used two sticks which he crossed to form an X to roast three pounds of bacon. When the base’s Catholic chaplain, Father John Patrick Carroll, CSC, went to visit the soldiers who had just returned from an assignment in Korea, he found Skelton standing over a huge pot of boiling water.
“I’m making soup,” Red explained to his guest. “Soup?” asked the startled priest. “Yes; I got some grease from the mess sergeant and used it for lube.”
Most Americans probably never heard about that little incident; but every American was familiar with comedian Red Skelton because he brought laughter into homes around the nation each Sunday night when his CBS television show aired live coast-to-coast.
During World War II, while other radio comics were broadcasting jokes about shortages, rationing and the war effort in general, Red entertained his radio audience by borrowing a line from “Hamlet” to make a humorous observation about pomposity. Every week Red’s radio show opened with the comic saying: “To be or not to be? That is the question.”
Red Skelton & sidekick Jerry Colonna relax between shows.
Then he would pause expectantly for two beats before adding: “Or at least that was the question . . .” And millions of Americans laughed every time they heard those lines—just as they were laughing now as they watched comedian Red Skelton on their new television sets which were beginning to appear in more than five million American homes. On the small seven-inch screens, viewers could see Skelton’s funny face and his wacky antics with a cast of characters that included Freddie the Freeloader; San Fernando Red; Molly the Mule; Clem Kadiddlehopper and Junior the Mean Widdle Kid
Red Skelton entertains troops by cooking eggs on his helmet liner. On one occasion, comedian Red cooked eggs over an open fire using only sand and soot scraped from his mess kit “because that’s all the ingredients he had available.” Skelton also used two sticks which he crossed to form an X to roast three pounds of bacon while entertaining US soldiers in Korea during 1951. (Photo: courtesy of Red Skelton Memorial Foundation)
One of the most popular characters in Skelton’s national television show was an immigrant from Italy named Admiral Carpco Carpaccio, who was forever coming up with novel schemes to get rich quick. Admiral Carpaccio also emceed his own “club”. The admiral’s club featured Sidewalk Susie, a gorilla wearing nothing but a grass skirt and coconut-shell brassiere.
