October 23, 2009, - 4:07 pm
Come Pie With Me in Heaven: Milton Supman a/k/a Soupy Sales, Z”L [Blessed Be His Memory]
Although his humor might seem passe or corny today, Soupy Sales–born Milton Supman–was one of the great comedians and show biz pioneers of his day, making it big after he hosted a TV show on Detroit’s WXYZ-TV. And though he changed his name, Sales was always a proud Jew and a proud American. I followed him over the years because my father was a fan. And when I was a kid, my dad took me to a local event where I met Soupy minus the pies. He was already older then, and no longer as big of a name as he once was. But he still had a show on TV then, and I still thought he was cool because my parents told me about him and his act. Sadly, he passed away, yesterday, at 83.
The comic’s pie-throwing schtick became his trademark, and celebrities lined up to take one on the chin alongside Sales. During the early 1960s, stars such as Frank Sinatra, Tony Curtis and Shirley MacLaine received their just desserts side-by-side with the comedian on his television show.
“I’ll probably be remembered for the pies, and that’s all right,” Sales said in a 1985 interview.
Sales was born Milton Supman on Jan. 8, 1926, in Franklinton, N.C., where his was the only Jewish family in town. His parents, owners of a dry-goods store, sold sheets to the Ku Klux Klan. The family later moved to Huntington, W.Va.
His greatest success came in New York with “The Soupy Sales Show” — an ostensible children’s show that had little to do with Captain Kangaroo and other kiddie fare. Sales’ manic, improvisational style also attracted an older audience that responded to his envelope-pushing antics.
When I think of Soupy Sales, I note that he was the original Bruno/Borat and Pee Wee Herman, minus the disgusting and vulgar and plus a huge infusion of the class they lacked. I could watch the video tribute to the late Soupy a/k/a Supman, “Come Pie With Me,” above, over and over.
Soupy Sales, Zichrono LiVrachah [Blessed Be His Memory].
Bonus Video: Alice Cooper gets pied on “The Soupy Sales Show” in 1978.
Tags: come pie with me, comedians, Dead, Died, Jewish, Jewish-Americans, Of Blessed Memory, pies, Soupy Sales Milton Supman, Z"L, Zichrono LiVrachah
Debbie, I was waiting when a girl like you from Detroit would talk about Soupy Sales and what he meant to Detroit TV, especially WXYZ-TV where the big break came.
And the time you went to see Soupy among his MANY trips to his adopted home of Detroit was 1979 when he had The New Soupy Sales Show. Here in my area it was seen on WPIX Channel 11 in NYC, and not the station where Soupy exploded in popularity WNEW Channel 5 (Fox 5 WNYW).
Soupy also made appearances on game shows like What’s My Line, Match Game and the various Pyramids, including the $50,000 Pyramid where in 1981 he helped someone in the Winner’s Circle win the $50K after one of the show’s disjointed format tournaments. When the top prize went to $100K in 1985, they greatly improved on it.
Also, Soupy was the guy on WNBC 66 Radio between Imus and Howard Stern and he was on the air at WNBC in 1986 when Challenger blew up…or so I read about.
I’m glad you had the chance to see Soupy live sans the pies and that your dad was a fan. Perhaps the two of them are chatting right now. But seeing many of those clips on YouTube made me laugh.
Bob Porrazzo on October 23, 2009 at 11:08 pm