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ent001330-152
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I agree.10. In 1940, Skelton returned to Hollywood as a result of the recommendation of two people. Lupe Velez saw Red on the stage and suggested to director Frank Borzage that he test Skelton. Almost simultaneously, Mickey Rooney, one of MGM?╟╓s top stars, brought Red to the attention of Louis B. Mayer. Skelton?╟╓s movie career really went fully speed ahead under Borzage*s tutelage in "Flight Command" and continued witti MGM for many years. When Red signed his long-term contract with that Studio after "Flight Command", he insisted on a clause permitting him to star in television as well as radio. "L.B. Mayer and other MGM executives laughed at titiis request", Skelton says, "and gave it to me without an argument. Seven years later they argued themselves blue when I informed them I was going to make a TV appearance. I reminded!them of the clause they had considered inconsequential enough to forget. Then I laughed". Prior toa entering the army in 1943, Skelton starred in 8 pictures for MGM and has appeared in 30 in all. Among the box office successes which headlined Skelton were - "Lady Be Good", "Whistling in the Dark", "Ship Ahoy", Panama Hattie", "DuBarry Was a Lady", "Bathing Beauty", "I Dood It", and "Three Little Words". Prior to his engagement with Uncle Sam, Red appeared in some 3,500 shows before GI audiences. In the service, he moved from field artillery to special services to the transportation corps. The number of shows in which he entertained as a member of the armed forces defy an accurate count. Suffice it to say that the audiences ranged from one to thousands. In 1945, he was honorably discharged and returned w to the world of show business - for pay.