Shari Lewis Documentary Film Sets Theatrical Release with Kino Lorber

Shari & Lamb Chop, a new documentary portrait of children’s entertainer Shari Lewis and her sock puppet Lamb Chop, has been acquired by Kino Lorber for distribution rights in North America. The movie made its World Premiere at DOC NYC and will be released theatrically by Kino Lorber on July 18, followed by a digital, educational, and home video release.

Before Fred Rogers and Jim Henson, there was Shari Lewis, a children’s television pioneer whose whimsical characters and ebullient spirit have guided generations of children as they came of age. Raised in the Bronx by a proud feminist mother and a professor father who moonlighted as Peter Pan the Magic Man, Shari became a multitalented dancer, singer, and magician. But when an injury sidelined her dance aspirations, she channeled her creativity into a passion for ventriloquism, creating the now beloved sock puppet characters Charlie Horse, Hush Puppy and, of course, Lamb Chop.

From her early years of TV success to the crush of her show’s cancellation to her 1990s comeback in her 60s, Lisa D’Apolito’s heartfelt doc charts the life, loves, and career hits and misses of the spunky perfectionist whose talent and perseverance stand as a testament to women’s power and forever changed the landscape of children’s entertainment. Featuring interviews with ventriloquists inspired by Lewis alongside nostalgia-rich clips and home movies, this vibrant portrait brims with the same warmth, wit, and magic that defined her, celebrating the power of imagination and the inner child within.

The documentary is directed by Emmy-nominated filmmaker Lisa D’Apolito (Love, Gilda), produced by White Horse Pictures and MoJo Global Arts and presented by Concord Originals and Olive Hill Media in association with The 51 Fund, Carlene Laughlin and Chicago Media Project. 

Shari & Lamb Chop is produced by White Horse’s Cassidy Hartmann (The Apollo) and Nicholas Ferrall (The Beatles: Eight Days A Week), MoJo’s Morris Ruskin (Murder in a Small Town), Douglas Warner (Paul Rodriguez: The Here & Wow), and D’Apolito.  White Horse’s Nigel Sinclair (The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend A Broken Heart) and Jeanne Elfant Festa (Pavarotti) executive produced.

The film is also executive produced by Bob Valentine, Sophia Dilley and Wesley Adams for Concord Originals; Joseph Mellicker for MoJo Global Arts; Jordan Walker-Perlman; Michael Cho, Mimi Rode and Tim Lee for Olive Hill Media; Caitlin Gold, Naomi McDougall Jones and Lindsay Lanzillotta for The 51 Fund; Carlene C. Laughlin; Steve Cohen and Paula Froehle for Chicago Media Project; and Benjamin J. Murphy.  White Horse’s Robert Dietz and Concord’s Scott Pascucci and Charles Hopkins served as Co-Executive Producers. The documentary is produced with the full cooperation of the Shari Lewis estate, through her daughter Mallory Lewis who continues her mother’s legacy performing with Lamb Chop regularly across the U.S.

Watch the trailer below: