If you were an American kid between the late 1950s and the end of the 20th Century, chances are you watched some incarnation of children’s entertainer, educator and ventriloquist Shari Lewis’ shows for television. Baby boomers would have seen Lewis on NBC when she was charting her own path by creating an hour of television with just her and her puppets every weekday (Lewis had found a lamb puppet on the set of Captain Kangaroo in 1956, and Lamb Chop came into the world). Lewis also voiced Lamb Chop’s friends Hush Puppy and Charlie Horse, with Lewis operating and voicing two puppets at the same time (!) while maintaining their distinct voices and personalities. After years away, she returned to the small screen in the 90s and found a new audience with Lamb Chop’s Play-Along on PBS.
The documentary Shari & Lamb Chop, directed by Emmy-nominated filmmaker Lisa D’Apolito (Love, Gilda), showcases her pioneering work on television more than a decade before Fred Rogers and Jim Henson. It features interviews with her daughter Mallory Lewis, SNLs Sarah Sherman, David Copperfield and many archival moments with Lewis, who passed away in 1998. Shari & Lamb Chop gives a fascinating look at her childhood in a Jewish enclave in the Bronx (her father, an academic, was known around New York for his other gig as Peter Pan the Magic Man, and her feminist mother – who never read her any fairy tales about submissive women – designed the curriculum for the music departments of the high schools in the Bronx).
They gave their daughter a no-nonsense approach to being a professional who shows up no matter what, which started before she was five, already in front of audiences. They also gave her tremendous drive and resilience, which Lewis had to harness after NBC canceled her show (despite reaching 4.5 million households) and over and over until her comeback for public television. Most importantly, the documentary is a testament to how remarkable her success was, especially at that time for an unmarried woman in the early days of the medium, and the keen ability she had in using puppets to talk to children in a way that no one else was, touching on taboo subjects like grief, anger, divorce and death.
Shani Friedman talked with D’Apolito and Mallory Lewis.
Shani R. Friedman: What part did Lewis’ parents play in her decision to pursue performing?
Lisa D’Apolito: Because both her parents were educators, they had an enormous influence on Shari’s performance and her ability to educate through entertainment. She was trained in all aspects of vaudeville, including puppeteering. I truly think Shari would have been the next Judy Garland.
SRF: What was is like having Shari Lewis as a mom, and being surrounded by puppets? What made you want pick up where your mother left off and tour with Lamb Chop?
Mallory Lewis: Growing up with mom and the puppets was just normal to me. I have always known that the puppets, especially Lamb Chop, were my younger siblings (even. though they are older than I am. [It’s] my legacy to protect. There was no question that I would take up the mantle. Mom was literally on her deathbed when she made that request.
SRF: Lewis started performing as a child and never wanted to not be working. How did she get through being in the wilderness for a good 20 years, performing on telethons and at state fairs after NBC unceremoniously dropped her in 1961?
LDA: As Shari said, if you want to be a successful performer, you have to be able to go out of fashion a lot. Shari was always reinventing herself, from Las Vegas nightclub acts to conducting orchestras.
SRF: Is there any children’s entertainer today doing anything approaching what she did?
ML Megan Piphus [who worked with Lewis on the PBS show], like mom, is the ONLY children’s entertainer who comes close to mom: Ventriloquist, singer, dancer, entertainer, and all-around lovely human. Danny LeBrecque is also a fantastic kids entertainer and educator, and communicator of wisdom and kindness.
SRF: What was the most memorable or meaningful moment of the documentary for each of you?
LDA: It was finding the footage of Shari singing the song Hello Goodbye on her last show and feeling the emotion of the crew as they watched her perform after she had told them she had terminal cancer.
ML: For me, the moments of Hello GoodBye still bring me to tears. I remember them so clearly and with such intimacy.
SRF: What would you say Lewis’s legacy is? Where can people see the PBS shows and her early work?
LDA: I think Shari’s legacy lives on in the generations who watched her shows. At film screenings, audiences have expressed that the film takes them back to their childhood.
ML: Lamb Chop and I have well over half a million followers. So many reach out and tell me that mom raised them to be kind, caring, accepting, loving humans. I believe THAT is her true legacy. And sadly, due to rights issues, other than bootlegged copies on YouTube, her work is basically unavailable.
SRF: What’s next for you both, and what are you hoping for with the documentary?
ML: My focus is on social media, and with luck, regular guest appearances on an upcoming TV show titled LOVE SUCKS produced by Josh Disney.
LDA: I’m working on a film about another unsung hero: the singer-songwriter Laura Nyro. I hope the film brings audiences back to the magic of childhood and that it makes them happy.
Shari Lewis & Lamp Chop is available on Apple TV, Amazon Video and Fandango at Home (Vudu).