"Red Skelton - An Unauthorized Biography" by Arthur Marx - 1st EDITION 1st PRINT (with full numberline) Hardcover w/Dustjacket - Published in 1979 by Dutton - 326 pages (14 pages of great black & white photos) - the book is in MINT condition; the DJ is very good.
“I don't want to be called the greatest or one of the greatest. Let other guys claim to be the best. I just want to be known as a clown because to me that's the height of my profession. It means you can do everything-sing, dance, and above all, make people laugh.” – Red Skelton
“All I want to do is to make people laugh, to take the word heartache out of their vocabulary” – Red Skelton
Among radio personalities and television entertainers, almost nobody had a career as long or storied as Red Skelton, one of America’s foremost comedians during the 20th century. Over the course of 70 years, Skelton made crowds laugh from vaudeville to performing as a clown, and while he is best known for The Red Skelton Show and his other variety shows, he also managed a 45-year stage career, as a pantomime or one of the other characters he created over the years. Although Skelton was extremely popular in America at the peak of his career, his entertainment was also a throwback to the early 20th century, which compelled television studios to balk at the notion of continuing to air his shows by 1970, even though his shows had spent almost two straight decades with Top 10 ratings on the air. Understandably bitter, Skelton refused to have his shows in syndication until the 1980s, and by then, the same concerns about his appeal to younger crowds had only gotten worse as he and his show had aged. Skelton is still best remembered for his performances and his television career, but he was also a noted artist who fittingly excelled at depicting clowns on canvas. Despite the seemingly silly content of his work, Skelton’s skills as an artist were so impressive that he made millions of dollars a year selling his art and having it displayed. By the time he died in 1997, it’s estimated that he may have made more money through art than through performing. There is a 1/2" tear on the top edge of the cover near the spine that has been closed on the inside with magic tape, and you can see where a price tag had been removed just below the author's name (there is no paper loss -- see the scan), but this book is still in very nice condition. No collection of Red Skelton items is complete without this book. Check out the scan for the great impression of him on the cover and so you can judge the condition for yourself (unlike many other booksellers, who post generic scans, the book in my scan is the one you will get). You can try to buy this book for less money from one of those eBay booksellers with hundreds, if not thousands of negatives (you know the ones I refer to) and be lucky if the book is delivered to you in the stated condition (if you even get it at all), or you can buy it from me and be assured of a prompt delivery and of receiving an item true to the condition indicated. You won't be disappointed. All previous buyers of my entertainment biographies have been completely satisfied. I have many others available; please check my listings. The book will be sent via Media mail shipping in the USA. I will combine shipping to reduce charges for multiple items. If you purchase more than one item, please request an invoice for the appropriate combined shipping discount. See my auctions and my eBay store for hundreds of books and a wide variety of sports and non-sports collectibles. All items are packed with care to insure safe delivery. Please contact me if you have any questions.
10-28-23 -- 20.6