Shari Lewis

Shari Lewis is best remembered as a ventriloquist, puppeteer & children's entertainer. Her sock puppet Lamb Chop is loved by many. She was born in the Bronx, New York, as Sonia Phyllis Naomi Hurwitz to parents Ann Ritz (1908 - 1994) and Abraham Hurwitz (1906 - 1981). She had one sister. Abraham was born in Lithuania and Ann was born in Manhattan, New York. Entering the world of entertainment might have been inherited from her father Abraham since he was named New York City's "official magician" by Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia during the Great Depression. Shari married Stan Lipschitz or Lewis in 1953 and they divorced in 1957. She married again, to Jeremy Phillip Tarcher, in 1958 and they were married until her passing in 1998. She had one daughter named Mallory Tarcher who legally changed her last name to Lewis in the year 2000 and took over her mother's work with Lamb Chop. Shari entertained millions and won her first puppetry prize on the CBS tv series Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts in 1952. NBC gave Shari her first network program called 'The Shari Lewis Show' which introduced the world to Lamb Chop and debuted on October 1st, 1960. Fun fact: this tv program is what replaced the famous 'The Howdy Doody Show". See Shari Lewis: Professions.