Shari Lewis was born Phyllis Naomi Hurwitz in 1933. She was best known as the original puppeteer of the sock puppet Lamb Chop. Lewis won New York-area Emmy Awards for her work on Shariland and a succeeding series on WRCA-TV, Hi Mom (1957–1959), which introduced Charlie Horse, Hush Puppy, and Wing Ding, also appearing, had previously been introduced on Captain Kangaroo in March 1956.