Skeeter - Pet nickname of sexy Naomi Harper (Dorothy Lyman) used by her husband Vinton (Ken Berry) on the sitcom MAMA'S FAMILY/NBC/SYN/1983-90. Skeeter worked as a check-out clerk at Food Circus in Raytown, USA.

Skid  See - "Hardcase"

Skippy - The childhood nickname of Arthur Fonzarelli, a hip mechanic who rode a motorcycle on the sitcom HAPPY DAYS/ABC/1974-84. The sitcom FAMILY TIES/NBC/1982-89 featured actor Marc Price as the nerdy neighbor Irwin "Skippy" Handleman, who had a crush on Mallory, the eldest daughter of the Keaton family. See also - "The Fonz"

Skitch Henderson - The showbusiness sobriquet of the bearded Lyle Russell Cedric Henderson who was the bandleader for THE TONIGHT SHOW starring Steve Allen from 1954-57 and THE TONIGHT SHOW starring Johnny Carson from 1962-66 on the NBC network. Henderson claimed somewhere along the line he was dubbed "Skitch" and it just stuck. Entertainment lore claims that Henderson earned his nickname because of his ability to "sketch" out a score quickly. People soon began to call him "the sketch kid," which singer Bing Crosby urged him to shorten to "Skitch." Born in England, Skitch Henderson died peacefully at his home in America of natural causes on October 31, 2005. He was 87. Henderson was the founder of the New York Pops Orchestra.

Sky King - Kirby Grant starred as aviator Skylar King known as "Sky" who owned a large spread called the Flying Crown Ranch on the adventure series SKY KING/ABC/NBC/1951-54. Called "America's Favorite Flying Cowboy," he flew over his property in an aircraft named the Songbird. The program began with the narration "Out of the clear blue of the western sky comes...SKY KING!" TRIVIA NOTE: Kirby Grant retired in 1970 settling in Winter Springs, Florida with his wife and three children. Tragically, on 10/30/85, Kirby Grant drowned when his car ran off the road while driving to Cape Canaveral to view the launch of the space shuttle Challenger. He had been invited by the mission astronauts who were fans of his 1950s show.

Sky Marshal of the Universe - The nickname of the outer space crimefighter Jeff King a.k.a. "Commando Cody" (Judd Holdren) on the Saturday morning live-action sci-fi adventure COMMANDO CODY/NBC/1955 (a twelve-episode series). Assisted by Aline Towne as Joan Albright, and William Schallert as Ted Richards, Commando Cody battled evil including Retik the Ruler (Gregory Gay), a villain from the planet Saturn. Commando Cody wore a leather jacket, and flew aided by a special helmet and a rocket pack strapped to his back which sailed him through both atmosphere and outer space in search of the bad guys. The half-hour episodes produced for TV imitated the Saturday matinee movie shorts produced for the motion pictures in the 1930s and 40s. See also - "The King of the B Movies"

Slider of Death  See - "Mayday Malone"

Slim - When actress Nancy Kulp appeared as Miss Jane Hathaway on the sitcom THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES/CBS/1962-71 she was nicknamed "Slim" by fellow actor Raymond Bailey who played the Milburn Drysdale, the banker.

Smartest Dumbbell in the History of Show Business, The - The nickname given to comedienne Gracie Allen for her scatterbrained housewife characterizations performed as part of her stage act in vaudeville, radio and television. She costarred with her husband George Burns on the sitcom THE GEORGE BURNS AND GRACIE ALLEN SHOW/CBS/1950-58. While the audience laughed at her apparent stupidity, Gracie actually believed she was extremely smart. Examples of her brainpower:

In the 1940s she purchased some presents for her brother who was in the Army. Knowing how lazy her brother could be, she bought him a yo-yo. That way when he rode a camel its swaying motion would be able to move it up and down. When asked by her husband, George what she would get in case he goes to the Pacific Islands. She replied "A knife and hatchet." However they weren't to be used for hacking through the jungle. "No!," she continued. "They grow bananas and coconuts there, don't they? Well, he likes banana splits with chopped nuts." Despite her acting stupid, Gracie was very sharp-witted. In 1939, she appeared on NBC's quiz show INFORMATION PLEASE and amazed the audience by answering a series of difficult questions along with her fellow panelists. TRIVIA NOTE: George Burns nicknamed Gracie "Googie." During a 1988 interview on 60 MINUTES the veteran comedian visited his wife's tomb at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Los Angeles where he remarked "Googie, this is Ed Bradley. We're going to be on 60 MINUTES. We're working together again!"

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