Sales died at Calvary Hospice in the Bronx, New York, said his former manager and long-time friend, Dave Usher. Sales had many health problems and entered the hospice last week, said Usher.

At the peak of his fame in the 1950s and ‘60s, Sales was one of the best-known faces in the United States, said Usher.

“If President Eisenhower would have walked down the street, no one would have recognized him as much as Soupy,” said Usher. At the same time, Sales retained an openness to fans that turned every restaurant meal into an endless autograph-signing session.

“He was just good to people,” said Usher, a former jazz music producer who managed Sales in the 1950s.