Sales, Soupy (1926—)
Sales, Soupy (1926—)
Comedian Soupy Sales built his reputation on the unlikely skill of pie throwing; he is reputed to have thrown 19,000 pies in a career that stretched from the 1950s into the 1990s. Sales, born Milton Supman, planted pies in the faces of some of America's most noted celebrities, including Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Tony Curtis. The comedian appeared on local television variety shows for both children and adults in several major markets before taking the Soupy Sales Show national in the mid-1960s. Sales, who delighted fans with his antics, went too far on New Years day in 1965 when he asked the children who watched his show to "go to Daddy's wallet and get those little green pieces of paper with pictures of George Washington on it and send them to me." They did, to the tune of $80,000, but the prank led to the show's brief suspension. Sales made frequent guest appearances on TV and in movies into the 1990s.
—Naomi Finkelstein
Further Reading:
Brooks, Tim. The Complete Directory of Prime Time Network and Cable TV. New York, Ballentine, 1995.