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He died Thursday night in a NYC hospice. He was 83. Anyone who grew up in New York in the mid-1960s surely had a special relationship with the comedian (born Milton Supman) and The Soupy Sales Show based at WNEW-TV and then syndicated around the country. He was one of my earliest and most beloved TV memories. His zany antics were as addictive as his primitive hand puppets. But it was his dangerousness that made people tune in. That laughter could turn into a pie in the face, or even to rage, at a moment’s notice. The mayhem even got him in trouble: when he asked kids to go through their parents’ pockets and send him greenbacks, the FCC squawked and Metromedia suspended him. The stunt eventually killed Soupy’s TV show. In interviews he said the media establishment never trusted him again. But as his fans grew up and into the emerging counter-culture, Soupy remained the epitome of cool for the rest of his life. (Yet an attempted reboot, The New Soupy Sales Show, in 1979 didn’t last long.) I do know my childhood was richer because of him. Thanks, Soupy.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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No disrespect to Officer Joe Bolton or Captain Jack McCarthy, but Soupy was the best. He utterly without pretension and would do anything to make a kid laugh. I remember his triumphal return after the “mail me your parents’ money” debacle like it was yesterday. It was funny to read that he was only off the air for a week, as a kid I perceived it as forever, until today I thought it must have been a month or two.
Thanks for everything, Soupy. Lots of former kids will never forget you.
I don’t know anyone who didn’t love Soupy, and if they didn’t I couldn’t be friends with them. He was fast, furious, funny, and downright anarchic. I want to be just like him if I ever grow up. He will be missed by a whole generation of lunatics.
Soupy Sales and Vic Mizzy in the same week! All the greats are dying…RIP, Soupy. You will be missed.
I actually went to his last show ever at the old Golden West studio. It was so cool to see one of my childhood idols in his environment. I swear to God, one huge guy sitting on a 3 1/2 foot stool with a tiny seat worked this really weird machine that made all of the sound effects. Soupy was upbeat, handing out cookies and making everyone feel special. Just wanted to share great memories. He was one of the great entertainers.
When you grew up watching Soupy, working with him was always slightly surreal and a special treat.
The evening of the L.A. riots in ’92, Soupy was booked to play at the Palomino in North Hollywood. My kid was 6 at the time, and I was looking forward to taking him to see the show. So I called Soupy at the Beverly Hills Hotel to see if the show would go on. He said “I am so glad you called, you just caught me. I was on my way out to pick up a new TV”
Soupy was local in LA in the early sixties on KABC-TV, Channel 7… We all gatherd at five-thirty at our anti-fraternity house – Phi Beta Nu – at LACC to watch and laugh. I just had to meet him so I faked being a journalism major and called him for an interview. He said sure but on the day of I was sick and he sent get well wishes on the air. When I did meet him I was astonished. He was a real journalism major from Marshall College and busted me immediately, laughing. I was interested in comedy writing so I asked him a few questions. What ensued was an hour long tutorial on comedy, performance, anarchy and showbiz. For payback he said I had to write an interview anyway and send it to him. It had to be funny. Then he walked me to the stage and told me I had to watch him tape three episodes and if I didn’t laugh really loud at all attempts at comedy he’d beat me with the hand puppets. The shows were great and I was the laugh track. I sent him my interview and he sent me a note saying I might have a future in showbiz. As a guard at the Prospect Gate. Thanks, Soup, for the intro.
Soupy wasn’t just for kids, ya-know!
As a freshman in highschool (Pittsburgh,Pa.), Tommy and myself used to carry on a conversation on our walk to school in Whitefang speak. [wah-a-wat-ta-dah-ooh] We understood each other!!! Our parents thought (knew) we were crazy.
My sincerest condolences to Peaches – what will she do now?
What a timeless comedic soul. Thank you for the laughs, Soupy. I hope you know how many writers and performers you inspired.
He’s survived by his sons The Sales Brothers who played with David Bowie and Iggy Pop. It’s their background vocals on “Lust For Life.”
Soupy Sales is no doubt one of the sources of humor that found its way into developing my own sense of humor as a professional cartoonist. He didn’t talk down to kids, so he was funny to all ages.
The small minded jerks at the FCC and the network who canned Soupy for asking kids to go through their parents’ pockets and send him greenbacks simply didn’t have enough confidence in kids that they would see it was a joke. The dumbing down of TV continued; And so we see why today it’s commonly referred to as the “Idiot Box.”
You do know $80,000 was sent in, don’t you?
RIP Soupy, loved his show! Great memories!
NYC TV stars: Captain Jack McCarthy, Paul Winchell, Sandy Becker, Chuck McCann, Officer Joe Bolton, Sonny Fox.
All of them, saints.
We were all richer as children for having seen them.
I cannot believe you mentioned Sonny Fox…another name from my childhood!!! What a treat that was!
Wonderama went on for hours and hours and hours on old Metromedia Channel 5.
Check YouTube. There are some clips of all of these guys that people drop in there now and again.
It’s unfortunate that I’ve seen only one next-generation kids show host: Uncle Floyd Vivino. He was totally in the spirit of those guys. Nothing fake or cynical about him at all. It’s an aspect of TV we’ll probably never see again, kids shows and hosts like those.
I know…My family is part of that…My Dad was a broadcaster there…
Soupy first showed up in LA on on Saturday morning on KABC 7. He would show old silent movies. I guess this came from Detroit. Then he was on weekdays on 7 at 5:30 pm right after Baxter Ward and the news. At the time I thought the show was live, but later found out it was on tape, and they shot it at night. The best thing about it was you could hear the crew cracking up and laughing. What a marvelous entertainer, along with Clyde Adler who did White Fang, Pookie and the rest. How he could do a half hour show like that 5 days a week is a triumph of personality. Give me Soupy any day over Jay Leno.
Soupy. Engineer Bill. Don Russell. Southern California. Jack Marshall.
I heard about his passing yesterday evening. I am old enough to remember watching Soupy on TV in Detroit, and later on his syndicated shows in the 60′s. I remember his frequent appearances on game shows, Like “What’s My Line”, “To Tell the Truth” and “The $20,000 Pyramid”. I’ll miss him. The Soupman was the best. Shalom, Soupy, and God Bless You. My heartfelt condolences to his family and friends. And Folks, never mind that thunder you hear…it’s just the angels rolling in the aisles, with laughter. Soupy is doing his shtick for the heavenly audience, now.
as someone said on another blog, soupy was edgy before there even was a word “edgy.”
SOUPY SALES gave energy and irreverence to the staid kids from the fifties transitioning to the sixties.
He was the fun guru who we all rushed home to see. We loved Soupy and a large place in our heart remains for him. A friend wrote to me today: I really believe Soupy Sales was as responsible for our generation…the 60s…as the Beatles or Tim Leahry or Ken Keasey or anyone. He gave us that yearning for anarchy and made us understand that sometimes, the only affective response is a cream pie in the face. God Bless Him.
I share his sentiments.
My gosh — I’m one of those kids from the 60′s. My family would watch Soupy Sales and laugh together. He brought joy to this suburban kid’s life, my two sisters, my brother and Mom and Dad. My Dad was a WWII Vet as well as a Superior Court Judge – so he experienced a lot of the dark side of life and when Soupy came on us kids loved to see my Dad laugh…like many men who served in WWII–he kept those horrors to himself, which translated to little kids as a fearsome dad, but seeing him laugh made our Dad real, loveable. Thanks Soupy.
When I was a young kid, my hero was Black Tooth, even more than Knuckledhead Smif, Banjo Billy and Curly Howard……..and that’s saying something.
Blehhhh, ooo blehhh ooo blehhh ooo blehhh ooo blehhhhhhhhh.
Soupy was da bomb, as my kids would say. Have many happy memories of my late brother and I watching Soup in NY. He was funny not dirty, something many comedians today should heed.
Soupy came across as very smart and very congenial on “What’s My Line” and “To Tell the Truth”.
Soupy knew the kids were in on the joke. He treated kids like young adults and gave us the benefit of the doubt-better than our parents did!
one more Soupy memory –
One day, I escorted Melba Tolliver from Channel 7 Eyewitness News to be a panelist on What’s My Line. At the end of the day, Soupy was not happy… “how the *** did she get three out of 5 mystery guests?” It was because I coached her.
He didn’t know about Celebrity Service -a daily mimeo newsletter in the mail, listing what stars were in NY to plug what film, and their PR contacts. Arlene Francis was the only panelist on the network version with a talk show, so she had access to the information, and she always got the mystery guest. Soupy was a TV great game player, and he could always guess the mystery guests – without any help.