BW - EP152—024: D-Day's 80th Anniversary—The Last Red Skelton Show Before He Left For The War

Breaking Walls: The Podcast on the History of American Network Radio Broadcasting

At 10:50PM on D-Day, The Red Skelton Show took to the air with a final abbreviated episode before Skelton left for World War II. When his show debuted on October 7th, 1941 critics were skeptical. Skelton was a pantomimist. How could he succeed on radio? But he was soon getting laughs every eleven seconds and for three seasons more than twenty-five million people were tuning in as he pulled ratings in the 30s. His supporting cast of Lurene Tuttle, Ozzie, and Harriet Nelson were heavily featured. But then Skelton got divorced and lost his marriage deferment. The army drafted him in 1944. MGM and radio sponsor Raleigh Cigarettes tried to help with no avail. The Draft Board also turned down his request to join the Special Services branch for entertainers. This was questioned by some critics, who noted that he had worked tirelessly to entertain servicemen. Skelton’s last radio program was on D-Day, June 6th, 1944. The next day the thirty-year-old Skelton was formally inducted as a private. Without its star, the program was discontinued until he could come back from the war. Skelton lost eighteen months of his career, eventually suffering a nervous breakdown in Italy, and having to be hospitalized for three months. He would be discharged in September of 1945.