19. She Tried College
In the Hurwitz home, Lewis studied not only ballet but learned acrobatics, juggling, ice skating, baton twirling, magic, and even learned to play musical instruments, the piano, and the violin. A nod to her liberal upbringing, it was a famous black ventriloquist named John W. Cooper who taught her ventriloquism, but the young Lewis didn’t love puppets. Ballet was the dream. When her dream of becoming a ballerina failed to take flight, she enrolled at Barnard College to study acting, get a degree, and become a serious actor or something like that. That idea lasted for about year. Lewis dropped out to pursue working as an entertainer.
18. Competing on Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts
Shortly after Lewis dropped out of school, in 1952, she took her talent for ventriloquism—thanks, John W. Cooper—to Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts show on CBS. She won first prize. Lewis wasn’t officially in the game yet, but that show set in motion what would eventually become her life’s work. From there she landed other work in New York, hosting children’s shows. In the back of her mind, the idea of a plushy puppet named Lamb Chop started to take shape.
17. Hosting Kartoon Klub
In 1953, Lewis took over as the host of Kartoon Klub, replacing the previous host, Ted Steele. The popular format at that time was a variety show with cartoons woven in between the acts, which were mostly silliness. As such, Lewis’ costars were Randy Rocket and Taffy Twinkle. Shari was a good enough host that the station changed the name of the show to Shari & Her Friends. Later they changed it again to Shariland. Lewis would later win an Emmy Award for her work on Shariland.