- Born
- Died
- Birth nameMilton Supman
- Height5′ 10½″ (1.79 m)
- Soupy Sales was born on January 8, 1926 in Franklinton, North Carolina, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Black Scorpion (2001), The Making of '...and God Spoke' (1993) and A Dirty Shame (2004). He was married to Trudy Carson and Barbara Fox. He died on October 22, 2009 in The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA.
- SpousesTrudy Carson(March 31, 1980 - October 22, 2009) (his death)Barbara Fox(June 8, 1950 - August 27, 1979) (divorced, 2 children)
- ParentsIrving SupmanSadie Supman
- In a 1965 incident that nearly ended his career, Sales jokingly told his young viewers on his syndicated show to "take some of those green pieces of paper with pictures of George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Lincoln and Jefferson on them" from their parents' wallets and send them to him, and he would send them a postcard from Puerto Rico. Several young viewers did send Sales some money, but all were returned. He was suspended from television for two weeks, but the incident made his show "cool" and boosted his ratings when he returned to the air.
- Numerous celebrities have been on the receiving end of Soupy's pies over the years, including, on one memorable occasion (c. 1965), Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Trini López, all on the same program, in the same sketch.
- Was a huge jazz fan and regularly introduced greats like Count Basie, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Thelonious Monk and Charlie Parker to the stage of his Detroit-based, jazz-oriented "Soupy's On" program. Sales utilized his extensive jazz record collection throughout his television career as introductory or character theme music.
- Father of Hunt Sales and Tony Fox Sales, who have played in bands with such rock notables as David Bowie, Todd Rundgren and Iggy Pop. Grandfather of Anthony Tyrone Sales and Valentina Fox Sales (Tony's children).
- According to his autobiography, the name "Soupy Sales" was derived from two things. "Soupy" came from "Soupbone", a nickname he got in his youth which was a mispronunciation of his real last name, Supman; and Sales came from the suggestion of an Ohio television manager who knew of a comic named "Chick Sales". Soupy knew that the man was referring to 1920s comic actor Charles 'Chic' Sale, but did not correct him and accepted the name. Sales also went by the name of "Soupy Hines" for a while, which was a reference to (and a misspelling of) the famous soup company.
- Producers say, "Hey, all he does is throw pies". It kept me off a lot of shows.
- I've never done a pretentious show; it's always had a live feeling, the kind of thing that comes across when you don't know what's going to happen next. I've never done anything simply because I thought I could get away with it. I've just wanted to do the funniest show.
- I'll probably be remembered for the pies, and that's all right.
- One of my younger fans made the mistake of heaving a frozen pie at me before it defrosted. It caught me in the neck and I dropped like a pile of bricks.
- I remember one time we were working with Pookie at the window. He was doing a bit where he was breaking eggs and one of the eggs turned out to be rotten. My God, the smell was terrible! And I'm sure, watching us at home, everyone knew there was something wrong from the look on our faces.
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