Biography

Shari Lewis

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Shari Lewis was born on January 17, 1933 in The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress and writer, known for Lamb Chop's Play-Along (1992), The Charlie Horse Music Pizza (1998) and Star Trek (1966). She was married to Jeremy Tarcher and Stanley Harry Lipschitz (Lewis). She died on August 2, 1998 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

When asked by TV Guide to supply an item for a celebrity recipes issue, she submitted a recipe for lamb chops.
Was an accomplished symphony conductor.
Co-wrote Star Trek (1966)'s third season episode, The Lights of Zetar (1969), with her husband Jeremy Tarcher, and hoped to be cast as the female guest star. The role of Lieutenant Mira Romaine went to Jan Shutan.
She and her husband Jeremy Tarcher were both science fiction fans and were friends with many major writers, including Frederik Pohl, Ray Bradbury, and Harlan Ellison.
Her parents encouraged her to perform and, by the age of 13, her father taught her to perform specialized magic tricks. She also received instructions in acrobatics, juggling, ice-skating, baton twirling, violin and piano. She was taught ventriloquism by John W. Cooper. She continued piano and violin at New York's High School of Music and Art, dance at the American School of Ballet and acting with Sanford Meisner of the Neighborhood Playhouse. She attended Barnard College for one year but left college to go into show business.

[on the enduring appeal of Lambchop] I don't contemplate these things. I'm very intuitive and instinctive about what I do. There's a story about a man with a long beard. Somebody asked him one day, "Do you sleep with your beard outside of the blanket or under the blanket?" and from that moment on he didn't sleep! He kept watching where his beard was. What I do works and I'm not analytic.
All fantasy is about exploring facets of your personality that aren't surface, facets not dealt with in everyday life. When you deal with a puppet, you're allowing a sub-personality to emerge and create itself. You don't create it; it does what it wants to do. You know how you hear writers say the character takes over? Well, if the puppet doesn't take over, the puppet isn't worth doodley-squat!
[about MTV] I can sit and watch it for hours. I love rap, when the lyrics aren't foul. I like a lot of rock and country. And I like zappy, high-energy visuals.
[on "Lamb Chop's Play-Along" being an anti couch potato show] This is totally an audience participation program. The audience gets to participate physically, vocally, musically and imaginatively. They get to join in the songs, the games, the stories. They get to hop along and sing along and count along.

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