Shari Lewis & Lamb Chop: The Team That Changed Children’s Television

The life of Shari Lewis (1933–1998), a pioneering puppeteer and creator of Lamb Chop, gets a perhaps too loving ovation from historian Segaloff (Arthur Penn: American Director) and Lewis’s daughter Mallory. The book is less a straightforward biography and more a collection of fond reminiscences, accomplishments, and behind-the-scenes anecdotes. Born Phyllis Naomi Hurwitz, Lewis was encouraged by her parents to pursue a career in show business (it didn’t hurt that her father was the “Official Magician of New York City”). She changed her first name in her teens, and her last name later on to avoid antisemitism in the business. Her TV career included The Shari Lewis Show from 1960 to 1963 and Lamb Chop’s Play-Along from 1992 to 1997. The Lamb Chop character is the cornerstone of Lewis’s legacy, though she also wrote dozens of children’s books and toured with musicals. The pastiche of vignettes, unfortunately, tends to be repetitive and prone to gaps; the authors’ claims, for instance, that Lewis created children’s “edutainment” aren’t significantly explored. While readers will get a peek at the personality behind the puppet—Lewis liked to shock people by ordering lamb at restaurants—there’s more admiration than analysis on offer. This one’s for fans only. Photos. (Oct.)