Shari Lewis was an M&A Graduate

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Every baby-boomer remembers getting up on Saturday morning to watch "The Shari Lewis Show." Shari was best know as the ventriloquist and puppeteer for this popular children's program but prior to that, she attended the High School of Music and Art.

She was born Sonia Phyllis Hurwitz, January 17, 1933, and lived in the Parkchester Projects in East Bronx, NY.  As a teenager, Phyllis studied piano and violin while at M&A and graduated in 1949 (see the above graduating class photo from the spring 1949 yearbook). As she moved forward as a performer, she changed her first name to Shari and despite a short marriage to Stan Lewis, she decided to keep her new last name. After a long and fulfilling career, Shari Lewis died from uterine cancer and pneumonia on August 2, 1998.

The Shari Lewis Show made its debut on the NBC Television network on October 1, 1960. The show ran until September 28, 1963. As you're reminiscing, check out how talented Shari was as she performed the craft that she loved.