Red’s Balm for Hospital: Laughs, Tears

Before a packed house at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, Red Skelton dedicated his show Saturday night to his mother-in-law--who, he quipped, “called me a son without ever finishing that sentence.”

“She was lovely,” the 73-year-old comedian said of Helene Haskins Krause, the late mother of his wife, Lothian, 49. “My wife is lovely too,” Skelton added, inviting his auburn-haired spouse of almost 16 years to stand up and take a bow.

Skelton’s performance at the Center in Costa Mesa was a benefit for the South Coast Medical Center in South Laguna, where his mother-in-law died of cancer in 1980. In August, hospital officials said, a radiation therapy center will be dedicated in Krause’s memory.

Her mother had such feeling for the people at the medical center, Lothian Skelton said, that she bequeathed a large sum to the hospital.

“That’s how it (Skelton’s benefit appearance) all began--our mutual respect for the medical center,” she said. “I feel privileged to be part of something like this. Red is wonderful and warm, and has helped me grow in those areas. My wanting to help the medical center is part of that growth.”

Before the performance, benefactors who had donated $125, $500 or $1,000 to attend met in the Center lobby for a champagne reception. Afterward, 70 supporters (who had paid for $500 and $1,000 seats) gathered in the Center Club for a buffet supper.

Skelton, his bushy gray brows still sporting traces of red, began a two-hour show with a giggly jab at construction in Orange County: “Your county bird must be the crane,” he said with a shake of his arms. “There’s one on every vacant lot; I’ve never seen so much construction in all my life!”

Then he launched into a series of one-liners about preacher Oral Roberts: “I went shopping at Saks (in South Coast Plaza) and saw Oral Roberts’ wife returning a black dress.

“I bought Roberts’ Christmas album and couldn’t play it because the hole healed. . . . “

Skelton sparkled throughout the no-intermission performance, which combined original material and the comedian’s classic characterizations and pantomimes.

Afterward, benefit chairman Grace Boyd said the veteran funnyman had made her laugh and cry. “When he does Heathcliffe, I dissolve,” she said. “All he has to do is start flapping those arms. My heart is happy. My cheeks hurt from laughing so hard. It was, well, everything.”

Boyd, widow of William (Hopalong Cassidy) Boyd, said her own involvement with the medical center began when she lost her husband to cancer there in 1972. “The staff was wonderful to Hoppy and me,” Boyd said, her eyes welling up. “They saved my life. He was there three months. I had a cot and stayed by his side. We had only been separated twice in our 35-year marriage.”

In an interview, Skelton said he first met his wife, with whom he lives in Rancho Mirage, when she was a mere infant. “I pushed her around in a stroller on one of the sets I’d visited,” he said. “Her father was Gregg Toland, the great cinematographer (who filmed ‘Citizen Kane,’ ‘Wuthering Heights’ and ‘The Best Years of Our Lives’).”

Lothian said her first memory of Skelton was of “a wonderful, funny man--someone with red hair and freckles who was always laughing.”

Skelton spoke of death in a reference to his late son, who died of leukemia many years ago, and his late wife, Georgia: “I don’t think people die. They put on invisible coats. Their memories are always here. And with all of life’s tragic experiences, you learn. You learn that each breath is an adventure. Losing someone has helped me understand my fellow man. To be a comedian, you have to understand . . . .”

Ticket sales from the benefit performance resulted in estimated proceeds of $140,000, hospital officials said. The money will go to the medical center’s general fund, said Merle Minks, board chairman of the South Coast Medical Center Foundation, which sponsored the event.

Proceeds of $100,000 were netted from the second annual Orange County Performing Arts Center Triathlon, staged over the weekend in Mission Viejo. The event was sponsored by Center 500, an Arts Center support group.

The Triathlon, presented by First Interstate Bank, marked the second time the support group has staged the event. Dale LeMasters directed the Triathlon’s organizing committee. He was assisted by Jane O’Toole, Dennis Russo, Denny Freidenrich, Valerie Camarda, John Garakian, Shelle Evans, Gary Babick, Kevin Bossenmeyer, Terry Goldfarb and Katherine VanDeusen.

Also assisting were Wendy Mickelson, Jim Phillips, Ron Meer, Mary Ann Ramsey, Keith Parker and Marcia Hanscom.