Shari Lewis’ Daughter Is Keeping Mother’s Legacy Alive With Lamb Chop Puppet

Captain Kangaroo introduced television watchers to a slew of colorful characters throughout the ’50s, with one of the most enduring proving to be Lamb Chop, puppetted by Shari Lewis. Lewis sadly passed away in 1998, but her work and the spirit of beloved Lamb Chop are reverently maintained by her daughter, Mallory.

Mallory Lewis, neé Tarcher, was born on July 8, 1962, the daughter of ventriloquist Shari Lewis and publisher Jeremy Tarcher. Mallory is the new puppeteer for Lamb Chop and has creatively brought the television icon to a new generation through TikTok.

This is the legacy that never ends

Lewis and Lamb Chop were an iconic pair for nearly 50 years, permanently gracing ears with the song that never ends. Lewis also blazed new ground as a businesswoman when that was still nigh unheard of at the time.

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“She was powerful. She was smart. She was strong,” said daughter Mallory. “She was a woman in the 50s who not only had her own production company, but had her own credit card, which was almost impossible in the ’50s.”

Her career was positively gilded with accolades, including 12 Emmy Awards, a Peabody Award, the Women in Film Lucy Award, and the John F. Kennedy Center Award for Excellence and Creativity.

Mallory had a front-row seat to every triumph and creative feat by Shari Lewis, and she is determined to keep that remarkable momentum going and thriving in people’s hearts to this day.

Mallory learned straight from Shari Lewis

Mallory is using her lessons from Lewis to perfectly capture the whimsy of her routines with Lamb Chop. That’s because she learned by doing, and by working directly with the source.

By age 12, she was ghostwriting newspaper columns under her mother’s name. In the immediate aftermath of her mother’s passing, Mallory traveled around to accept posthumous awards dedicated to Lewis until her then-husband asked what her longterm plans were. Mallory brought Lamb Chop in secret to the next ceremony and when she brought him out, the reaction was powerful.

There were still other logistics to contend with, to book a gig, promote it, get from one destination to another. That’s why TikTok has helped bring Mallory and Lamb Chop – and the groundwork set by Shari Lewis – to a whole new generation.

Lamb Chop’s influence is blossoming; on TikTok, the puppet and Mallory have over 200k followers, with over 1.2 million likes across their many whimsical posts! Have you given them a follow?