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ent001330-151
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I agree.9. For a period of time, Skelton played vaudeville dates with mixed success, then returned to Montreal for a year's engagement at Loew*s. It was during this run that Skelton came up with his famed "doughnut dunker's routine" which has since become a classic. Bbk Between 1935 and 1937, Red's stock in vaudeville continued to cliiab.- Although 1935 found hima a distinct flop at the Chez Paree in Chicago where the management paid his hotel bill of $300 to get him off the stage, he was back not long afterward at $1,250 per week. Skelton's fame as a vaudeville show stopper resulted in his first picture, "Having a Wonderful Time," in 1937. For whatever the reason,"Red reminisces, "I couldn't get a job after I checked off the RKO lot. So I became an impressario." He put together a show for one-night stands, gathering a cast including Zasu Pitts, John Boles and the Gay Foster Girls. Before long, Skelton was clearing $2,500 per week and back in the big time. Red made his radio, debut on "The Red Foley Show" in Cincinnati in 1937, although he was at the time starring in vaudeville in Chicago. He wasn't headlined at first, but eventually became the star of the program which in 1939 was retitled "The Red Skelton Show". One engagement stands out in Skelton's memory for 1939. It began on New Year's night at Sheds Buffalo. The movie was "Balaleika". The star of the vaudeville bill was Skelton. Also on the bill were Burt Lancaster in an acrobatics act and Frank Sinatra and Jo Stafford fof vocalizing with Harry James and his Orchestra. "That array would be rather costly to put together today", Skelton grins wryly. That same year, Skelton held forth at the Paramount in New York for 16 weeks. His theatrical pay was $4,300 a week. Sideline personal appearances rbought his weekly income up to $7,000, making Rdd one of the highest paid entertainers in shew hxiaxH business.