By Laura Ackerman-Shaw
Long-time Culver City resident Evelyn Ackerman shares more than a 1924–2024 centennial with the Culver Hotel, she worked for Red Skelton in his office there.
As a young couple in 1952, my parents Evelyn and Jerome “Jerry” Ackerman moved from Detroit to Los Angeles to set up their first design business. While Jerry spent the first year developing their Jenev ceramics designs, Evelyn supplemented their income by finding a job with comedian Red Skelton.
Friends with John Wayne, once an owner of the Culver Hotel, Richard “Red” Skelton maintained a suite of rooms while he was filming movies at MGM studios. He was even installed as honorary Mayor of Culver City in 1951 by then Mayor J. Ray Klots. A veteran of vaudeville, radio, and movies, Skelton was eager to move into television and The Red Skelton Show premiered in September 1951 and ran until 1970. The sketches on the comedy-variety show were usually built around one of his characters including inept Sheriff Deadeye, country bumpkin Clem Kadiddlehopper, con man San Fernando Red, boxer Cauliflower McPugg, and hobo Freddie the Freeloader. A roster of Hollywood stars made guest appearances.
In 1953 and 1954 for $1 an hour, Evelyn updated scripts and answered fan mail. A notorious ad libber, Skelton went off script frequently, and the day after each show the tape would be brought up to Evelyn where she would listen with earphones and note comments and changes on the script to “correct” it. Her primary role was to answer fan mail, of which there was plenty. While many arrived at the Culver City Hotel, letters from around the world were sent to MGM Studios, CBS, NBC, and even the Skeltons’ home, all of which made their way to the office. Young and old seemed to adore his films (US letters also referenced the television show), and many asked for autographed photos.
A 13-year-old’s request sent from the Philippines in 1954 was typical, “I do sincerely hope you can give me one of your pictures which I will add to my collection.” As they built their midcentury design business, Evelyn and Jerry periodically visited Red and his second wife Georgia at their house in Bel Air. Jerry recalled swimming with them and their children Valentina and Richard (who died at age 9 from leukemia) in their pool.
My parents bought their home in Culver City in 1956 and when Jerry passed away in 2019, I found several large boxes of letters, postcards, and envelopes addressed to Red Skelton in our garage. My parents had saved them—not for the content, but for the stamps! At one time, my father had been an avid stamp collector and the number of countries represented in the fan mail must have delighted him. What better place than the CCHS to donate more than 100 pieces of correspondence, preserving a small piece of the “heart of screenland” for history.
