Posted by Jim Burns on October 26, 2009 at 11:54:04:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Soupy Sales R.I.P. posted by Bruce C.; on October 25, 2009 at 12:31:57:
Here's the original version of what I wrote, in today's DAILY NEWS, a nice Soupy story, I think:
In the last few years of his life, Soupy didn't always look like he was in the best of shape, a mean trick fate played on this exuberant entertainer who had delighted so many decades of the young, and young at heart. But as Pookie, Soupy's lion puppet sidekick on his kids shows might have said, appearances can sometimes be deceiving.
At a banquet dinner, one evening (for the New York chapter of the Sons of the Desert, the international Laurel and Hardy appreciation group, in fact), Soupy and I were having a drink at the bar. He had been a bit quiet as we chit-chatted, but I could suddenly tell--simply from his facial expressions--that he was trying to direct my attention to the wall behind me.
Mounted on a plaque was a gigantic moose head...
"Jim," Soupy said, "Can you imagine how FAST that moose must have been going?"
From his earliest shows in Detroit, to his more recent appearances at nostalgia conventions, Sales never stopped trying to please his friends and fans. And he never failed, for over half a century, in making us smile.
James H. Burns