Soupy Sales: 1926-2009

'Lunch With Soupy' made Sales a household name in Detroit and beyond

Mekeisha Madden Toby / Detroit News Television Writer

Soupy Sales never met a pie he didn't like and he gave as well as he took.

Because he was a kid at heart, Sales could get away with throwing the creamy dessert in the faces of legendary celebrities such as Frank Sinatra and Shirley MacLaine. Because he was just as iconic, they asked him to do the honors.

The comedian, who once estimated that his face had met up with about 20,000 pies, died Thursday in a New York hospice. He was 83.

"I'll probably be remembered for the pies, and that's all right," said the comic, in a 1985 interview, who inspired the likes of Pee Wee Herman and Andy Kaufman. "That's fine and dandy."

Born Milton Supman on Jan. 8, 1926, in Franklinton, N.C., he got the nickname "Soupbone" from his parents who referred to his older brothers as "Chickenbone" and "Hambone." The one-time radio disc jockey began his TV career in the 1950s in Detroit with a little show called "Lunch with Soupy Sales" on WXYZ-TV (Channel 7), the local ABC affiliate.

Sales created a whole world of silliness and wonderment on the show with canine puppets White Fang and Black Tooth, Pookie the Lion and other characters that endeared him both to adults and children. In the 1960s, Sales moved to Los Angeles and then New York, turning his show and his shtick into national treasures.

"His death marks the end of an era," said Ed Golick, the creator behind DetroitKidShow.com and a devoted fan who grew up watching Sales. "There's nobody like him. I had the pleasure of having lunch and dinner with him once and he was everything I'd hoped. He was always there with a joke. He was like every Detroit kid's best friend."

Golick, with the help of co-producers Tim Kiska and former WJBK-TV (Channel 2) personality Michael Collins, is putting together a documentary called "A Celebration of Detroit TV." The film is slated to air on local PBS affiliate WTVS-TV (Channel 56) early next year and will focus on shows that were unique to this market from 1947-1980 before local programming all but vanished, programs like "Lunch with Soupy Sales."

"I remember watching just to see what he was having for lunch," Golick said Friday.

Gordon Castelnero, who also came of age in Sales' heyday, tapped into his nostalgia to write "TV Land Detroit" (The University of Michigan Press, $22.95).

"Soupy Sales launched the 'Golden Age' of Detroit television and he was our first big TV star," said Castelnero, who has produced documentaries on local Detroit icons such as John Kelly and Marilyn Turner and Lou Gordon. "Kids used to run home from school to have lunch with him, teenagers danced the Soupy Shuffle, and adults skipped the 11 p.m. news to watch 'Soupy's On.' He was a comedic genius who made us laugh through his wit and simplicity."

Sales is survived by his wife, Trudy, and two sons, musicians Hunt and Tony, who backed the likes of Muskegon native Iggy Pop as well as David Bowie in the band Tin Machine. The family is in the process of making funeral arrangements.

Detroit News wires contributed. mmadden@detnews.com (313) 222-2501