About SHARI LEWIS and LAMB CHOP… A LEGACY

Shari Lewis

(1934-1998)

Shari Lewis was born Phyllis Hurwitz to Ann and Abraham Hurwitz on January 17, 1934,in New York City.
Her father was a founding member of Yeshiva University in New York City.

Young Shari Lewis 1960’s.

Through the encouragement of both of her parents, Shari began performing at the age of thirteen when her father taught her magic acts with Jewish content. As a youth, she had lessons in acrobatics, juggling, piano,violin and ventriloquism. She studied piano and violin at New York’s High School of Music and Art, dance at the American School of Ballet, and acting with Sanford Meisner of the Neighborhood Playhouse. She attended Columbia University for one year, then left college to become a performer.

In 1952, Lewis and her puppetry won first prize on Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts television show. In March 1956, she and Lamb Chop appeared on Captain Kangaroo and by 1960 she had her own television program. Shari subsequently had numerous series both in the UK and the US, and performed extensively around the country at venues as varied as Performing Arts Centers, County Fairs and Branson, MO. Shari also was an accomplished conductor of orchestras and wrote over 60 books.

Shari Lewis was married to Stan Lewis (1930–1968 and after her marriage she kept her surname from
her first marriage, from Stan Lewis.

Shari met her second husband who was publisher Jeremy Tarcher (1932–2015), a brother of novelist Judith Krantz.

She met Tarcher on the set of a radio show; they married a year later. The couple married on March 18, 1958, just as
Lewis’s career was heating up. Her first network children’s program, The Shari Lewis Show, replaced Howdy Doody on NBC in 1960.
Lewis, a talented ventriloquist who invented the sock puppet Lamb Chop and her pals Charlie Horse and Hush Puppy,
filled their home with similar plush characters.

Jeremy and Shari welcomed their first and only child, daughter Mallory, who came along in 1963.
For her, childhood consisted of growing up in a home of 60 puppets and sleeping next to Lamb Chop every night.

In the early ’90s, the Public Broadcasting System approached her about reviving her television show.

Lamb Chop’s Play-Along, seen on PBS stations and reproduced in video, grew out of PBS interest and Lewis’s discontent with commercial television.

Among her awards are thirteen Emmy Awards, the Dor L’Dor award of the B’nai B’rith (1996),
three Houston Film Festival awards, the Peabody Award (1960), the Silver Circle Award of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (1996), the Film Advisory Board Award of Excellence (1996), two Charleston Film Festival Gold Awards (1995), the Houston World Festival silver and bronze awards (1995), the New York Film and Video Festival Silver Award (1995), the Monte Carlo Prize for the World’s Best Television Variety Show (1963), and the Kennedy Center annual award for excellence (1983).

Shari Lewis died in 1998 of pneumonia while being treated at Cedars-Sinai Hospital at the age of 65. Shari is survived by daughter, Mallory Lewis (who now performs with Lamb Chop) and her only grandchild, James Abraham Tarcher Hood, who slept with his Grandma’s Lamb Chop!

Loving Tribute…
to Shari Lewis from her Fans

Infinite Respect

She touched so many lives and hearts. She was an entertainer but she was so very different than other entertainers. She interacted with the kids in a way, she was more of a friend than anything else to me when I was growing up. She made me laugh and taught me vital lessons that are still relevant to this day, all these years later. I admired her greatly then and I respect her deeply now. My life wouldn’t be the same without her beautiful work over the years. I’ll never forget you. You have my infinite respect.

~Bailey Crawly~

Lamb Chop & Friends

It is hard to not cry whenever I see Sheri now. Her death stunned me. Her work with Lamb Chop & friends was wonderful!! RIP & thank you for making us smile..

-Alex Townsend-

"The Magic of Television"

I remember when she died, I was five years old, I remember seeing it on TV with my mom and she said “Shari Lewis went to live in heaven because she got sick, but we can still see her on TV” and I asked her “how?” and she said
“The Magic of Television”

~Misskayseeluvsu~

Still Missed

Shari Lewis is still missed after so long. I do admit that I was one of those young viewers that watched “Lamb Chop’s Play-Along” every morning on PBS. That was a fun show, as was the “Charlie Horse Music Pizza.” Too bad that show didn’t last long (it only ran like 23 episodes).
As for this song, I think it’s a perfect way to wrap up her career before her passing. There couldn’t have been any other way possible.
R.I.P. Shari Lewis… 😔

~Chris Neufeld~

Role Model and Inspiration

I sure do miss her. And now I’m on my way to becoming a ventriloquist just like her, she has become a role model and inspiration to all the people that is and are becoming a ventriloquist.

~Celeste Christianson~

Younger Years

Thank you Miss Lewis, for the short years you had in my childhood. I wasn’t as lucky as my mom and grandparents, but you left an undeniable impact on my younger years.

~damonika09~

I Wish

This song makes me wish I could jump into the video and give Shari a hug.

~Joshua Cunningham~

Thank You Shari

Thank you, Shari, for my (and so many others’) little time with you. There will never be another like you. I’ve always loved you and always will.

~Lauren Smith~

Lamb Chop's Play Along

I loved lamb chop’s play along as a little girl and still have some VHS tapes of it. She died when I was ten years old, and my grandmother clipped every single article from magazines and the paper for me. This song is so beautiful.

~Ashley E. Kauffman~

Mom and Daughter

I loved her Mom and Lamb Chop and Charlie Horse and Hush Puppy…God bless Mallory, she’s a chip off the old block! I thank her for keeping her Mom’s memory and Lamb Chop going!

~Ellie R from the Bronx~

I will NEVER forget

I will NEVER forget when I was 5/6 and saw Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop live in Baltimore. That was a huge highlight of my childhood next to watching Lamb Chop every weekday at 11:30 am on PBS! 😁 I am so glad this woman was a part of my life as a child. I am not afraid to admit I 29 and still have my Lamb Chop doll and my Lamb Chop pajama set!

~bubblinbrownsugar616~

Still Remember

I just couldn’t let this video passed unnoticed. Still remember the show, just got my daughter and was looking for a children’s video and was shocked with the biography.. In my life the song is alive even in my age. This is the song that doesn’t end, the tick goes on and on my friend…..

~For always your fan Cesar Avila~

I was 13

It might sound silly but I watched Lambchop’s Play along when I was 13. I had morning band practice and then went home and turned the TV on PBS. A lot of the songs were catchy! I’m 38 and still think of “The Song That Doesn’t End.” Thank you, Shari, for your service to children’s education.

~Heather Snodgrass~

Deepest Love

I would love more than anything else to have had a chance to sit with Shari and thank her for all she’s given to me throughout my childhood. She means so much to me and she’ll forever have my deepest love and respect.

~Analogue Archives~