Soupy Sales dead at 83

From LATimes.com:

Even though the occasion is sad, there is something oddly bracing in setting out to write about a man who called himself “Soupy.” We need more Soupys in this self-important, don’t-you-dare-throw-that-pie world—and now there is one less, Soupy Sales having died Thursday at the age of 83.

Born Milton Supman to the only Jewish family in Franklinton, N.C., Sales first got into children’s television in Detroit in 1953—he also had a grown-up nighttime show there—but his years of greatest renown were from 1959 to 1966, when he worked out of Los Angeles and New York and was seen all over the country. His costume, such as it was, comprised a black pullover sweater and a floppy bow tie; early on he also wore a top hat, later on he ditched the tie.

Read the full story at LATimes.com.