She began hosting children's television programs on local station in New York in 1953, graduating to network television in 1960 with The Shari Lewis Show as host and puppeteer. The programs featured such characters as Hush Puppy, Charlie Horse, and Lamb Chop, the latter, who was little more than a sock with eyes, serving as a sort of sassy alter-ego for the sweet-natured host. Subsequent television programs introduced the characters to the children of the generation that had first come to know them. She died of uterine cancer in Los Angeles, California.
Shari Lewis was her married name (her first husband being Stan Lewis): she was born Shari Hurwitz Her second husband, Jeremy Tarcher, was the brother of Judith Krantz.
Television Shows