Soupy Sales: 1926-2009

The smiley and sprightly comedian America knew as Soupy Sales passed away Thursday night at Calvary Hospice in the Bronx, N.Y. He was 83.

Sales was best known for his frenzied improvisation and cream pie-throwing antics that splattered 20,000 faces over his half-century career, including the famous ones of Tony Curtis, Shirley MacLaine and Frank Sinatra. The ‘50s and ’60s remain the apex of his career, when his animated expressions, black sweater and over-sized bow-tie coined him as one of the nation’s most recognizable figures.

“If President Eisenhower would have walked down the street, no one would have recognized him as much as Soupy,” said Sales’ former manager and longtime friend Dave Usher to the AP.

Sales won the laughs of children and adults with The Soupy Sales Show, which helped earn him over 5,000 live TV appearances.

In memory of Sales, enjoy this montage featuring some of his best pies to the face: