If you’re between the ages of 50 and 15, you’re part of the generation most
impacted by Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop… which means you can proudly, loudly
sing “The Song That Never Ends” and you can appreciate just how promising a
career in sock puppetry can be.

Born Sonia Hurwitz in 1933, Shari Lewis sprang onto the children’s
entertainment scene at the tender age of 20, hosting radio programs. Those of us
on the more recent arc of the Lewis era probably remember her as a 60-something
lady with a tight cap of auburn curls framing her face. But in her prime, Lewis
was quite the looker. She would’ve been just as at home in front of a motion
picture lens as she was disguising and throwing her voice to animate a sock
puppet.

Fortunately for four decades of children, she chose a road less traveled by
beautiful starlets with media connections. In total, Lewis and her characters
(Lamb Chop, the smarmy sheep-to-be being the most prominent) hosted four tv
shows: The Shari Lewis Show, which began in 1960; The Shari Show
in 1975; Lamb Chop’s Play-Along in 1992; and The Charlie Horse Music
Pizza in 1996.

For her efforts, she is recognized today as the most famous female
ventriloquist of our time. She was also awarded 12 Emmys, seven Parent’s Choice
Awards, the John F. Kennedy Center Award for Excellence and Creativity; and a
Peabody Award.

Though Shari Lewis died in 1998 after a battle with cancer, she lives on
through the 60+ children’s books she authored, as well as a cache of DVDs and
syndicated programs. Savvier pop culture enthusiast also remember her for
cowriting an episode of Star Trek with her husband, Jeremy Tarcher,
called “The Lights of Zetar.”