A Funny Remembrance: The Life of Illustrious Brother Red Skelton, 33°

“A comedian goes out and hits people right on. A clown uses pathos. He can be funny, then turn right around and reach people and touch them with what life is like. I just want to be known as a clown, because to me that's the height of my profession. It means you can do everything—sing, dance and above all, make people laugh.” - Illustrious Brother Richard Bernard “Red” Skelton, 33°

The Gourgas Medal is conferred by the Supreme Council upon a Scottish Rite Freemason in recognition of notably distinguished service in the cause of Freemasonry, country or humanity. While it may be surprising to those who only knew Brother “Red Skelton” for his comedic genius, his commitment and embodiment of the Scottish Rite’s values earned him the most distinguished honor conferred by this Supreme Council.

The Masonic journey of Illustrious Brother Richard Bernard “Red” Skelton, 33° began when he was just a boy in Vincennes, Indiana. Throughout his life he retold the story of a gentleman who bought a paper from his newsstand with a five dollar bill, telling young Richard to keep the change – a significant sum for a poor boy during the early 1920s. When young Richard asked why he gave him so much money, the man explained he was a Mason, and that Masons are taught to give and help others. It was that very moment where the boy decided he would become a Freemason as soon as he was grown. 

Not long after this chance encounter, young Richard hit the stage, working the vaudeville circuit. Over the next 35 years he would thrill audiences from the stage to radio and eventually, to television where he had his own variety show for many years. So innately funny and talented was this Brother that he performed for the Queen of England, eight American presidents, and three different popes. 

The Young Performer

Richard “Red” Skelton was born in 1910, in Vincennes, Indiana, the youngest child of Joseph Elmer and Ida Mae Skelton. His parents struggled to provide for their four sons, with his father, once a clown with the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus, working as a grocer. Tragically, Joseph died two months before Richard was born and the family’s financial stress became even more dire. 

Little Richard had to begin working by the age of seven, selling newspapers and doing other odd jobs to help his family survive. Hawking newspapers quickly taught him the art of performance and stirred his early interest in becoming an entertainer. His passion for performance took another leap when comedian Ed Wynn met him selling papers outside a Vincennes theater. The story goes that Wynn purchased every paper so the boy had enough money for the boy to attend that night’s show, which he was starring in. Wynn took young Skelton backstage to introduce him to the cast and the boy’s future was etched in stone.

Skelton dropped out of school at the age of 10 to join a medicine show and began performing wherever he could, including on a showboat called The Cotton Blossom that toured up and down the Missouri River. Around 1929, Skelton joined "Doc" R.E. Lewis's traveling medicine show as an errand boy, eventually becoming a performer after he made the crowd laugh by accidentally falling off the stage. He earned ten dollars a week on this show and sent all of it home to his mother who was still struggling to get by. 

Hitting it Big

When he was 18, Red began working as a master of ceremonies for dance marathons, where he met Edna Marie Stilwell. After winning a contest, she approached him to express her distaste for his jokes. She became his partner, chief writer, manager and wife once they soon married. They took their double act on the road that gradually moved them from vaudeville to burlesque and eventually earned the chance to perform in more respectable music halls.

Throughout the 1930s, Skelton began to gain wider attention. He and Edna had developed their most successful bit “Doughnut Dunkers” which began earning them increasingly high profile and lucrative jobs both writing and performing, including performing at a White House event for President (and fellow Freemason) Franklin Roosevelt. Skelton appeared in his first films for RKO Pictures, marking his first foray into film. But his radio career began in 1937 when he guest starred on the popular NBC radio show "The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour", hosted by Rudy Vallée. His performance on the show was so well received that it caught the attention of radio producers.

Brother Skelton’s signature comedy sketches became a hit with listeners and his success earned him guest spots that led to regular radio work. By 1941, he had his own radio show on NBC, "The Raleigh Cigarette Program, which was later renamed The Red Skelton Program in 1943. 

On the show, Brother Skelton introduced some of his most beloved characters, including Clem Kadiddlehopper, Junior the Mean Widdle Kid, and Freddie the Freeloader. These characters, paired with his talent for voice acting and improvisation, helped him establish a lasting presence on radio. The variety show combined traditional sketch comedy with recurring characters, monologues, and jokes that played off current events and societal quirks. Each episode typically featured a mix of scripted sketches and live interactions with the audience, allowing Skelton to showcase his improvisational skills.

He also starred in several films throughout the 1940s, from comedies like the Whistling in the Dark trilogy, to musical comedies like Lady Be Good. 

As a Freemason

During this period of burgeoning success, Brother Skelton finally accomplished his goal of joining the fraternity and was raised to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason in Vincennes Lodge No. 1 on September 20, 1939.  He completed the Scottish Rite degrees in the Valley of Evansville, Indiana in 1940 and also joined the Shrine and York Rite. He was a recipient of the Gold Medal of the General Grand Chapter, Royal Arch Masons, for Distinguished Service in the Arts and Sciences.

Brother Skelton was coroneted an Inspector General Honorary Thirty-third Degree by the Northern Masonic Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite on September 24, 1969. A Freemason for 58 years, Illustrious Brother Skelton was awarded Supreme Council’s highest honor, the Gourgas Medal on July 14, 1995, as a recognition of his activities as a Freemason, philanthropist, and patriot.

Divorce, Acts of Service, and Remarriage

In 1943, Edna and Brother Skelton amicably divorced, maintaining a positive working relationship following the dissolution of their marriage. He was now in the midst of a rigorous contract with MGM Studios that lasted will into the 1950s, during which he appeared in dozens of movies. He was then drafted into the Army during World War II and while on furlough married actress Georgia Maureen Davis on March 9, 1945 with whom he had two children: Valentina and Richard. 

During his time in the U.S. Army, Brother Skelton served double duty as a serviceman in the field artillery at Camp Roberts, California, and an entertainer at Camp Ord. At his peak, he performed up to 12 shows per day before troops in both the United States and in Europe, eventually driving him to succumb to the intense pressure and work schedule of being in the military and working for MGM. He had a nervous breakdown and developed a stutter.

From Radio to TV and Beyond

By 1950, Brother Skelton had managed to renegotiate his contract with MGM so he could begin working on television. He brought many new characters he had created in the army, and in 1951, after more than a decade on radio, "The Red Skelton Program" transitioned to television on NBC, where it became one of the longest-running and most beloved shows in the early days of TV. 

Tragically, during the peak of Brother Skelton's fame in 1957, his 9-year-old son Richard was diagnosed with leukemia. Brother Skelton took his family on a trip abroad so his boy could see as much of the world as possible. When they returned home, Richard was hospitalized, and the father and son pair tried to heal themselves by keeping up the spirits of the other children undergoing treatment. His strength and willingness to help others even in his own dark time is a great example of how Brother Skelton embodied our Masonic principles.

After Richard Jr.’s passing in 1958, Brother Skelton returned to work, but his family and life was forever changed. The Red Skelton Show remained on the air until 1970 while Red continued appearing in films, maintaining a rigorous work schedule until his show had completed its run. Following the cancellation of his show, he divorced Georgia in 1971 and married Lothian Toland two years later.

He attempted to make a permanent return to television after appearing on The Merv Griffin Show. However, his former wife Georgia Skelton committed suicide in 1976 on the 18th anniversary of their son’s death after years of her own declining health. Following yet another tragedy, Brother Skelton halted all professional activities so he could properly mourn his former wife.

Return to the Stage, Death, and Legacy

Ill. Brother Skelton always called theaters his "palaces," so it should be no surprise he returned to where it all started after his career in TV ended. He focused on live performances, doing up to 125 shows a year, often promoting his shows personally and letting audiences vote on which of his routines they wanted to see. He even added a sign language interpreter after learning his pantomimes were popular with the hearing-impaired. He continued performing live until 1993, when he celebrated his 80th birthday. 

Illness, Death and Legacy

Ill. Brother Skelton’s career as an entertainer lasted an astonishing 70 years. It began on the smallest of stages, took him to the highest and most popular format of his day, and back to theater. He made specials for HBO, acted in over 30 films, was a pivotal part of the switch from radio to televised entertainment, and created a brand of humor all his own. He passed to the Celestial Lodge on September 17, 1997, at the age of 84, from pneumonia.

Ill. Brother Skelton won an Emmy in 1952 for Outstanding Comedy Series and another in 1961 for Writing for a Comedy Series. He also earned the Cecil B. DeMille Award, which is given to honor outstanding contributions in entertainment. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Screen Actors Guild in 1987, has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his radio and television accomplishments, and was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Television Hall of Fame. 

Most importantly, Ill. Brother Skelton was a tremendously generous, philanthropic man. Even as he grew up impoverished, endured family tragedies, and had an unceremonious end to his TV career, he always sought to better the world. He remembered his very humble beginnings and established a fund that provides new clothes to low-income children in his hometown of Vincennes. While no longer active today, the fund was a testament to Brother Skelton’s dedication to our Core Value of Service to Humanity and his belief in building a better life for those in need. 

Red Skelton may have portrayed a clown, but there is no question that he was serious about his contributions to Freemasonry, his country, and humanity.