In chapter 9, I of course found Shari Lewis and her
sock-puppet “sidekick” Lamb Chop interesting. I slightly remember Lamb Chop
from growing up. As soon as I saw her picture during the reading I remembered
and said “aw Lamb Chop!” My roommate stared at me like I was nuts and asked who
Lamb Chop was. I was surprised she didn't know who that was. So I looked up
clips of Lamb Chop and Shari Lewis to show her.
Shari Lewis began at a young age. She was taught
ventriloquism from the African American puppeteer John W. Cooper. She created characters Lamb Chop, Charlie
Horse, and Hush Puppy who were all a part of one of her programs called Hi Mom.
Shari was most famous for her character Lamb Chop.
Lamb Chop is a sheep with a self-confident spirit
accompanied by Shari Lewis, her creator, as her ventriloquist. Lamb Chop once
said during a show at the Carnegie Conference, “I am an Icon.”
She’s also known
for her interaction with Kermit the frog from Sesame Street. She appeared in
Episode 3525 and was also featured in a celebrity “Alphabet Song” rendition
from that season. Shari Said during an interview following Jim Henson’s death
in 1990, “He raised puppeteering to an art form beyond people who just jiggle
dolls. Lamb Chop and Kermit were very funny together. Kermit would get very
rattled whenever she asked, 'So Kermie, how's the pig?’”
Sheri Lewis’s Lamb Chop and the others are an example on how
puppets are used in educational purposes for children as well as how puppetry
has made its way moving into film and television. Sheri Lewis was offered her
own show by NBC called The Shari Lewis
Show. The show was eventually turned into Lamb Chop’s Play-Along. This show received several Emmy Awards.
Sheri Lewis passed away in 1998. Her daughter, Mallory
Lewis, became the voice of Lamb Chop after her mother’s death. She talked about
media and puppetry in an interview for the Carnegie Conference in 2003.
“Mallory Lewis, Lamb
Chop's sidekick, said that for her, taking part in the video was a great
opportunity to talk to others in her business because she works solo. What's
more, the video was an interesting way to combine two different art forms --
media and puppetry.”
"Art is a way of looking at things differently…"
"It's a special
way of looking at puppetry." – Mallory Lewis
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