Mallory Hurwitz Lewis (née Tarcher; born July 8, 1962) is an American

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of video production on a television show, television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television net ...

ventriloquist Ventriloquism, or ventriloquy, is a performance act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) creates the illusion that their voice is coming from elsewhere, usually a puppeteered prop known as a "dummy". The act of ventriloquism is v ...

, and

puppeteer A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object, called a puppet, to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. The puppet is often shaped like a human, animal, or legendary creature. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from ...

. Lamb Chop is a

sock puppet A sock puppet or sockpuppet is a puppet made from a sock or a similar garment. The puppeteer wears the sock on a hand and lower arm as if it were a glove, with the puppet's mouth being formed by the region between the sock's heel and toe, and ...

created by Lewis' mother,

Shari Lewis Shari Lewis (born Phyllis Naomi Hurwitz; January 17, 1933 – August 2, 1998) was a Peabody-winning American ventriloquist, puppeteer, children's entertainer, television show host, dancer, singer, actress, author, and symphonic conductor. She wa ...

Early life

Mallory Lewis was born as Mallory Tarcher in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

into a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family. She is the daughter of Jeremy Tarcher and

(1933–1998), creator of Lamb Chop. Growing up, Lewis used to sleep with Lamb Chop. She is of Jewish faith.

Career

Lewis worked closely with her mother as producer of ''

Lamb Chop's Play-Along ''Lamb Chop's Play-Along!'' is a half-hour preschool children's television series that was shown on PBS in the United States from January 13, 1992 until September 22, 1995, with reruns airing on PBS until January 4, 1998, and on KTV FAVE - KIDZ ...

'' and ''

The Charlie Horse Music Pizza ''The Charlie Horse Music Pizza'' is an American children's television show that was shown on PBS Kids in the United States from January 5, 1998, to January 17, 1999, with reruns continuing to air until September 5, 1999. Reruns again aired on PB ...

.'' Jeremy Tarcher had also been part of Shari Lewis's shows on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

. After her mother's death in 1998, on the advice of family and family friend, the late

Dom DeLuise Dominick DeLuise (August 1, 1933 – May 4, 2009) was an American actor, comedian, director, producer, chef, and author. Known primarily for his comedic performances, he rose to fame in the 1970s as a frequent guest on television variety shows ...

, Tarcher decided that Lamb Chop should live on for her many fans. In 2009, she started performing with Lamb Chop. It was during this time that she changed her surname to Lewis, as an homage to her mother. While Lamb Chop may be described as "sassy", "please" and "thank you" are part of the

repertoire A repertoire () is a list or set of dramas, operas, musical compositions or roles which a company or person is prepared to perform. Musicians often have a musical repertoire. The first known use of the word ''repertoire'' was in 1847. It is a l ...

. Lewis has the same hand size as her mother. Lewis said of her decision to take up the puppet: "My mom was one of the world's greatest entertainers. I don't want to challenge that. I don't think it's wise to go there. But I do want to do everything that I can do for Lamb Chop. I'll help keep her going". Lewis had never attempted to imitate Lamb Chop's voice but upon receiving a

posthumous award A posthumous award is granted after the recipient has died. Many prizes, medals, and awards can be granted posthumously. Australian actor Heath Ledger, for example, won many awards after his death in 2008. Military decorations, such as Hero of ...

for Shari, Lewis performed with the puppet, discovering that she had her mother's ability to effect the voice without lip movement. Lewis is also a writer of children's books, some of which star Zoey, a baby orangutan character she also puppeteers. Lewis performs extensively for military support organizations such as the

USO The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

and the

Fisher House Foundation Fisher House Foundation is a charity and foundation that builds comfort homes where military & veterans families can stay free of charge, while a loved one is in the hospital. Fisher Houses are located at major military and VA medical centers n ...

, performing arts centers, and at state fairs around the country. In 2002, Lewis helped raise $275,000 for

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

Neuro-Oncology Neuro-oncology is the study of brain neoplasms, brain and Spinal neoplasms, spinal cord neoplasms, many of which are (at least eventually) very dangerous and life-threatening (astrocytoma, glioma, glioblastoma multiforme, ependymoma, pontine glio ...

Program, as well as being a founder of Jump For The Cause, a women's world record skydiving organization that has raised nearly $2 million for Breast Cancer Research. Lewis is also on the board of the Blue Ribbon. Lewis was the co-host of the 2014 AMG Heritage Awards with host

Billy Gilman William Wendell Gilman III (born May 24, 1988) is an American singer. Starting as a young country artist, he is known for his debut single " One Voice", a top 40 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and a top 20 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country ...

and

David L Cook David L. Cook (born November 11, 1968) is an American Christian country music singer, songwriter and comedian. Born to Donnell and June (née Mercer) Cook, David is the oldest of six children. He has written more than 2,500 songs and has won ...

. During the broadcast, she accepted the Sandy Hosey Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the

Artists Music Guild The Artists Music Guild was a dba company of the International Academy of Music Arts and Sciences, Inc., until April 2014 when it incorporated into a non-profit corporation. The company opened its doors on January 1, 2010. The corporation is an ...

. Prior to her death, Shari Lewis sold most of the rights pertaining to Lamb Chop to

Golden Books Family Entertainment ''Family Entertainment'' is the second album by the British progressive rock band Family, released in March 1969. The cover of the album was a takeoff from the sleeve of the Doors' second album, '' Strange Days'', as Family admitted. Backgrou ...

. A series of transactions resulted in these rights being held by Classic Media (now

DreamWorks Classics Classic Media, LLC, doing business as DreamWorks Classics, is an American entertainment company owned by DreamWorks Animation, which is a subsidiary of Universal Pictures and a division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was founded as Classic Medi ...

, part of NBCUniversal), though Mallory still owns the live performing rights to Lamb Chop. Lewis wishes one day to put Lamb Chop back on television. In the same way Lamb Chop was passed down from mother to daughter, the legacy of Lamb Chop has been passed on to Lewis' son, James Abraham Tarcher Hood. James usually travels with his mother as a road manager, working behind the scenes by setting up sound equipment and selling merchandise. And he is the only person aside from Shari and Mallory to have had his hand inside Lamb Chop. "She is so real in his life, as she was in mine," Lewis said.

Awards

Mallory Lewis has won an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

for ''Outstanding Writing in a Children's Series'' and has been nominated several times. She and her mother shared an Emmy Award.

Notes

References

Mallory Lewis and Lamb Chop
Retrieved 2010-05-22.

External links

*
Mallory's page on MySpace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Mallory 1962 births Living people American entertainers Daytime Emmy Award winners American children's writers Jewish American writers American puppeteers Ventriloquists American women children's writers Writers from New York City 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women