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Jamie Farr owed his career to Red Skelton
Skelton cleared the way for Jamie to go "Farr"
When Jamie Farr was drafted in 1957, he served his country as a Broadcast Specialist. After his basic training at Fort Ord in California, Farr assisted in creating training videos at Fort Knox, the Army Pictorial Service, and Fort Huachuca. Then, when he shipped out to Korea, Farr was part of the Special Services, where he worked at the Far East Network.
While his military background would change his life, it was a chance encounter with a showbiz legend that would, in turn, alter Farr's career forever.
"I served with Red Skelton as he had requested me to be his assistant through the Department of the Army," Farr told the military publication We Are the Mighty in 2024.
"After Red’s son passed away, he wanted to do a tour to entertain troops and he wanted to do his shows with me. We flew on a United Nations airplane just me and him. I had VIP status which surprised me. We went to every encampment all the way up to the DMZ in Korea."
When it was time to comeback stateside, Skelton didn't forget about his new friend.
"I did two years of active duty, two years of reserve, and two years of inactive reserve. I came back to Hollywood and my father passed away. I went by CBS Studios to say goodbye to Red Skelton and he wouldn’t let me go and put me under personal contract and said I was one of us. A doctor of comedy.
"He pulled out several hundred-dollar bills and told me to send those home to my mom. He said, ‘From here on in you are working for me and I will see you up at the house in the morning.’ I went with Red for a whole year and helped him in his nightclub act at the Sands (Las Vegas), Fontainebleau (Miami Beach), Moulin Rouge (Los Angeles), and the Chez Paree (Chicago). I then branched out to get my career started again where Carl Reiner working on the 'Dick Van Dyke Show' took a chance on me and put me as the Snappy Service delivery man. The part helped to resurrect my career again."
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