RED SKELTON. Photograph signed: "Red Skelton". B/w, 4x5. Actor, comedian and artist Richard "Red Skelton" (1913-1997), a veteran of vaudeville since childhood, made his Broadway and radio debut in 1937. In 1941, he began The Red Skelton Show on NBC radio, airing on that network until 1949, when he moved to CBS radio. On that show, he developed most of the characters that he would later bring to television: Junior (the Mean Widdle Kid), Freddie the Freeloader, Clem Kadiddlehopper, George Appleby, Sheriff Deadeye, San Fernando Red and others. His TV show, The Red Skelton Show, aired on NBC (1951-1953), CBS (1953-1970) and NBC (1970-1971), ranking in the Nielsen ratings' Top 20 for a record 15 consecutive seasons (1955-1970). Musical groups were also featured on the series (the Rolling Stones made one of their first U.S. appearances in 1964). Skelton, who had made his film debut in 1938, appeared in several feature films, including two Dr. Kildare films in 1941, DuBarry Was a Lady (1943), The Fuller Brush Man (1948), The Clown (1953), Around the World in Eighty Days (1956), Ocean's Eleven (1960) and Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965). Skelton, who used a clown as his trademark, was also a successful artist, once earning over $2.5 million annually for his clown paintings, which often sold for up to $80,000. He was inducted into the International Clown Hall of Fame in 1989 and the Radio Hall of Fame in 1994. Ink note (unknown hand) on verso (no show through). Fine condition.