Newsboy Red Skelton

Vincennes, Indiana

As a kid in the 1920s, Richard "Red" Skelton had a job selling newspapers in his hometown of Vincennes. He was standing outside the downtown Pantheon Theatre when vaudeville comedian Ed Wynn caught his newspaper sales spiel. Ed asked Red if he wanted to go into show business. Red said yes. Ed bought all of Red's newspapers so that he could afford a ticket to Ed's show that night. Red quit his job, ran off to join a circus, and eventually became a bigger star than Ed Wynn.

Red died in 1997, but a bronze statue of Red the newsboy was unveiled by his widow outside of the theater in June 2022.