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Edgar Bergen: Ventriloquist Edgar Bergen
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Ventriloquist Edgar Bergen was a radio and movie star in the U.S. in the 1940s and 50s. He was the father of Candice Bergen, a U.S. movie and TV star. Two of his ventriloquist dummies, Mortimer Snerd and Charlie McCarthy, were featured in the newspaper comic strip, 'Mortimer and Charlie'. Most probably Edgar Bergen did not draw this strip himself. In 1938, Carl Buettner took over the comic.
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Daughter of popular radio ventriloquist Edgar Bergen, Beverly Hills native Bergen was big news before she was even born. She was only an infant when she made her first professional appearance, with her parents in a magazine advertisement. By the age of ten, Bergen ... appeared occasionally on her father's radio program, demonstrating the ability to throw her own voice. At age 11, she was a contestant on the TV quiz show, You Bet Your Life.
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The daughter of famed ventriloquist Edgar Bergen, this cool blonde beauty grew up in the public eye as the "little sister" of Charlie McCarthy, her father's famous wooden dummy. Still in college when she landed her debut film role in the ensemble drama The Group, Bergen went on to enjoy three very different careers: first as a so-so film actress, then as a celebrated photojournalist, and finally as a huge small-screen star as the title character on the sitcom Murphy Brown, a role that earned her two Golden Globes and five Emmys. Although Bergen had undisputed movie-star looks, her big-screen roles were mostly unrewarding, except for her Oscar-nominated turn as a tone-deaf aspiring singer in the 1979 romantic comedy Starting Over. Reportedly choosing her projects based on their filming locations, Bergen launched a concurrent career in journalism, contributing photos and articles based on her travels to numerous prestigious publications including New York, Life and Playboy magazines. Disenchanted with her film offers in the '80s, Bergen did what many aging actresses do and turned to TV. But few former film players find such resounding success on the small screen.
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Edgar Bergen was still in grammar school when he sent away for a 25-cent ventriloquism instruction book. By the time he was 11, Bergen was driving his family crazy with his prankish voice-throwing. While attending medical school at Northwestern University, Bergen paid his tuition by performing a small-time ventriloquist act; it wasn't long before he dropped out of college to hit the vaudeville and tent-show circuit. After a tour of Europe and South America, Bergen filmed a series of one-reel short subjects for Vitaphone between 1930 and 1935; even in these early efforts, top billing went not to Bergen but to his creation, the impish, top-hatted dummy Charlie McCarthy. From time-to-time Bergen would test out other wooden alter egos, including hayseed Mortimer Snerd and man-hungry Effie Clinker, but Charlie would remain his star attraction. After gaining nationwide fame through his appearances on Rudy Vallee's radio program, Bergen launched his own radio series, The Charlie McCarthy Show, a top-rated endeavor which ran from 1937 through 1955.
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Edgar Bergen once said … “You find out your mistakes from an audience that pays admission.” Audiences not only let you know your mistakes they let you know when you've struck gold. For it was Bergen's live audiences that 'told' Edgar Bergen what direction in which to take Charlie McCarthy. And in time Charlie McCarthy the low-brow street kid newsboy became Charlie McCarthy the top hat and tails, high-brow sophisticate. This was the Charlie McCarthy that would end up becoming the most famous ventriloquist figure that ever 'lived.'
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Edgar Bergen (& Charlie McCarthy) - Ventriloquist Edgar Bergen (actually Berggren) and his wisecracking wooden dummy Charlie McCarthy were icons of Americana performing on stage, radio, movies and television from the 1920-70s. At age eleven, Edgar Bergen sent away through the mail for The Wizard's Manual (cost 25 cents). It taught the "secrets of magic, black arts, mind reading, ventriloquism and hypnotism."
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Ventriloquist Edgar Bergen