Archive Interviewee Soupy Sales has died

Soupy Sales was interviewed by the Archive in 2002. Click here to read highlights from his interview.



Detailed Interview Description:
Soupy Sales (1926-2009) was interviewed for one hour at the Friar’s Club in New York City by Charles Salzberg. Sales talked about breaking into television in 1950 at local station WKRC-TV in Cincinnati, with The Soupy Soda Show, a teenage dance show. He talked about other local markets where he worked including Cleveland’s WXEL-TV where his show Soup’s On provided him the opportunity for getting the first pie in his face— which would become his trademark gag. Sales talked about his several year run with WXYZ-TV Detroit’s Lunch with Soupy Sales, a children’s show, which also had an adult following. Sales described the series in detail including the look of the set and the characters who appeared (including lion puppet “Pookie” and dog puppet “White Fang,” whose great white hairy arm was all that was seen). Sales described his network break, with a replacement series at ABC in the mid-50s. He talked about his work as host/ performer on The Soupy Sales Show that ran on ABC, first originating in Detroit, then in Los Angeles. He also described his show’s second primetime incarnation on ABC in 1962. Sales detailed the celebrities who appeared on his show, which famously included Frank Sinatra. Finally, Sales described reviving his series at WNEW in New York (and talked about the incident which got him suspended— when he told children to send money to him care of the station).