Comedian Red Skelton enjoyed career success with waves that made a splash with audiences in every performance medium.
He was part of that small and very talented group that included Bob Hope, George Burns, Milton Berle and Lucille Ball who transitioned from the vaudeville stage to radio, film and television, finding a growing fan base with each leap.
Reader Caitlin Dalton read something I wrote about Zsa Zsa Gabor a few months ago and it prompted her to ask me about Skelton and his Indiana roots.
“I’m 28-years-old, but still, I grew up with Red Skelton because my mom Renee has always been such a big fan,” Dalton said.
“My mom would go to the library and she’d bring home Red Skelton movies for us to watch and they were always very funny. I’m originally from New York, but work in Northwest Indiana now, and I know Red has a connection to the area, but I’m not clear about it. What are the details?”
Skelton is definitely an Indiana legendary entertainer claim-to-fame.
The carrot top comedian was born and raised downstate in Vincennes, and he never forgot his Hoosier roots. Later in life, he spent time in Northwest Indiana because of his close friends in Valparaiso, Patricia Philips and her late husband Carl, who died last year at age 89. The couple’s Philips’ Gift Gallery and Ace Hardware Store in Valparaiso holds the distinction as one of just nine art gallery locations in the country where Skelton agreed to allow his paintings to be displayed and sold. Today, a small section in their store — now managed by the couple’s children — is still dedicated to Red Skelton collectibles.
Patricia told me their friendship with Skelton began back in 1980 when she was visiting a gift shop in Scottsdale, Arizona, where Skelton was appearing in person to sell and discuss his paintings. After purchasing a painting, she chatted with the comedian who surprised her by saying he was very familiar with Valparaiso since he said his father had earned a law degree from Valparaiso University back when it was still called Brown University.
Soon, a fast friendship and business partnership was formed and the couple enjoyed invitations to visit Skelton and his third wife, Lothia, and daughter, Valentina, at their sprawling 600-acre ranch compound and private art studio in Rancho Mirage, Calif., which is currently on the market at a whopping $6 million listing price.
“He was such a talented artist,” Patricia Philips said. “I can recall one time when he was performing in the area and we met him for breakfast at a restaurant. He suddenly decided to take one of the linen napkins from the table and starts sketching a piece of artwork on it like it was a canvas. In no time, it was completed. He gave it to us and we framed it. Even when he would send us his annual Christmas cards, he’d not just sign his name. He’d always draw something fun inside the card next to his signature.”
Skelton, who died at age 84 in 1997, also regularly performed at Star Plaza Theatre in Merrillville, which presented one of his final live audience performances of his career in July 1991. Ever the clown, Skelton incorporated the funny stage characters from his career like Mean Widdle Kid Junior, Clem Kadiddlehopper and his signature Freddy the Freeloader, as subjects for his paintings.
Today, Skelton’s Indiana legacy is still alive and strong, partly because of the support of Patricia and Carl Philips and their help in encouraging the comedian’s hometown to preserve his memories. In 2006, after some help from the entertainer’s other famous friends like Debbie Reynolds and the Smothers Brothers, the dream came true when a $17 million state-of-the art performing arts center bearing Red’s name opened on campus at Vincennes University. A few years later, on July 18, 2013, the adjoining Red Skelton Museum was unveiled on the date of his 100th birthday.
Vincennes also hosts the annual Red Skelton Festival, celebrating its 13th year this month, with a parade, exhibits and performances on July 21, 2018. For more details, visit www.redskeltonmuseum.org.
Philip Potempa is a journalist, published author and the director of marketing at Theatre at the Center.
pmpotempa@comhs.org
