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ent001330-149
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I agree.7. By 1921, Red was the busiest 8 year old in Vincennes, He went to school by day, sold papers before and aftei^ ushered at the Moon Theatre at 50 cents per night. On leaving the theatre at 9 , he would visit Kramer*s Pool Hall to collect playing cards dropped by the customers, they would hitchhike to neighboring towns in pants and a sweater doing song and dance routines and selling the cards for magic tricks. All in all, his work paid off both in money and experience. Oneof Red*s fondest memories of Vincennes involves an incident which took plas e around six in the evening when the boy was trying to sell his last dozen papers. A passerby bought one, asking Red what amusements the town had to offer. Re d suggested the theatre where Ed Wynn was appearing, wistfully adding he*d love to go. The customer gave Red a dollar for the balance of his papers and suggested to the boy that he meets him in front of the theatre that night. Red appeared, was given a ticket, settled himself in his seat, jumped out of his skin when his benefactor proved to be the star o f the show. He couldn?╟╓t wait to get backstage to thank Wynn. Learning that young M Skelton was show business-struck, Ed told Red: "Always stick to comedy." Says Red: "I've tried to follow his advice - even when I wasn't funny." Almost four decades later, Red appeared as himself in a Desilu Playhouse presentation dealing with Wynn's actual TV debut in "Requiem for a Heavyweight." And Wynn has made frequent guest starring appearances through the years in "The Red Skelton Show." When Red was 10 he joined the Doctor Lewis* medicine show at the princely salary of $10 a week. He performed with voice and ukelele on the tailg&te of a truck while fellow cast members gathered the customers/for the good doctor's pitcha and medicine sales. Skelton graduatdd to tent shows, riverboats, burlesque,and minstrel shows and vaudeville. One one riverboat, he fell