Edgar John Bergen (February 16, 1903 – September 30, 1978) was an American The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the actor The word actor refers to a person who acts regardless of sex, while actress refers specifically to a female person who acts; therefore a female can be both. The Oxford English Dictionary states that originally "'actor" was used for both sexes. The English word actress does not derive from the Latin actrix, probably not even by way of and radio Radio is the transmission of signals by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space. Information is carried by systematically changing some property of the radiated waves, such as performer, best known as a ventriloquist Ventriloquism is an act of stagecraft in which a person manipulates his or her voice so that it appears that the voice is coming from elsewhere. The act of ventriloquism is ventriloquizing and the ability to do so is commonly called in English the ability to "throw" one's voice. However, the term "throwing one's voice" is.

Early life

Bergen was born Edgar John Bergren in Chicago Chicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and with over 2.8 million people is the third largest city in the United States. Located on the southwestern shores of Lake Michigan, Chicago is the third-most densely populated major city in the U.S., and anchor to the world's 26th largest metropolitan area with over 9.5 million people, Illinois The State of Illinois (pronounced /ˌɪlɨˈnɔɪ/ IL-i-NOY), the 21st state admitted to the United States of America, is the most populous and demographically diverse Midwestern state and the fifth most populous state in the nation. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and western, the son of Swedish Sweden (pronounced /ˈswiːdən/ ), officially the Kingdom of Sweden (Swedish: Konungariket Sverige (help·info)), is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden has land borders with Norway to the west and Finland to the northeast, and it is connected to Denmark by the Öresund Bridge in the south immigrants Nilla Svensdotter (née Osberg) and Johan Henriksson Berggren.^[1] He grew up in Decatur, Michigan Decatur is a village in Van Buren County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 1,838 at the 2000 census. The village is located within Decatur Township. This town is named after war hero Stephen Decatur, Jr. He taught himself ventriloquism from a pamphlet when he was 11. A few years later he commissioned Chicago woodcarver Theodore Mack to sculpt a likeness of a rascally Irish Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɪrlənd/ , locally [ˈaɾlənd]; Irish: Éire, pronounced [ˈeːɾʲə] ( listen); Ulster Scots: Airlann, Latin: Hibernia) is the third-largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of newspaperboy he knew. The head went on a dummy named Charlie McCarthy Edgar John Bergen was an American actor and radio performer, best known as a ventriloquist, who became Bergen's lifelong sidekick A sidekick is a stock character, a close companion who assists a partner in a superior position. Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, Sherlock Holmes' Doctor Watson, Batman's companion Robin, and Xena's partner, Gabrielle are some well-known sidekicks in fiction. At age 16, he came to Chicago, where he attended Lake View High School Lake View High School is a public coeducational high school located in Chicago's prominent Lake View neighborhood. Lake View High School is the oldest operating High School in the state of Illinois for over 130 years since 1874 and worked at a silent movie A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially spoken dialogue. The idea of combining motion pictures with recorded sound is nearly as old as film itself, but because of the technical challenges involved, synchronized dialogue was only made possible in the late 1920s with the introduction of the Vitaphone system. After The house.

Radio

His first performances were in vaudeville Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s in which each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill. Types of acts included popular and classical musicians, dancers, comedians, trained animals, magicians,, at which point he legally changed his last name to the easier-to-pronounce "Bergen". He also worked in one-reel movie shorts Short subjects might be in the form of travelogues, human interest films or concert films. The form was so popular that virtually all major film production companies had fully-staffed special units assigned to develop and produce them, and many companies, especially in the silent and very early sound era, produced short subjects exclusively, but his real success was on the radio. He and Charlie were seen at a New York party by Elsa Maxwell for Noël Coward Born in Teddington, England , Coward attended a dance academy in London as a child, making his professional stage début at the age of eleven. As a teenager he was introduced into the high society in which most of his plays would be set. Coward achieved enduring success as a playwright, publishing more than 50 plays from his teens onwards, and, who recommended them for an engagement at the famous Rainbow Room. It was there that two producers saw Bergen and Charlie perform. They then recommended them for a guest appearance on Rudy Vallée Rudy Vallée was an American singer, actor, bandleader, and entertainer. Born Hubert Prior Vallée in Island Pond, Vermont, the son of Charles Alphonse and Catherine Lynch Vallée. Both of his parents were born and raised in Vermont, but their parents were immigrants; the Vallées being of French Canadian origin, while the Lynches were from's program. Their initial appearance, on December 17, 1936, was so successful that the following year they were given their own show, as part of The Chase and Sanborn Hour. Under various sponsors (and two different networks), they were on the air from May 9, 1937 to July 1, 1956. The popularity of a ventriloquist on radio, when one could see neither the dummies nor his skill, surprised and puzzled many critics, then and now. Even knowing that Bergen provided the voice, listeners perceived Charlie as a genuine person, but only through artwork, rather than photos, could the character be seen as truly lifelike. Thus, in 1947, Sam Berman caricatured Bergen and McCarthy for the network's glossy promotional book, NBC Parade of Stars: As Heard Over Your Favorite NBC Station.

It was Bergen's skill as an entertainer and vocal performer, and especially his characterization of Charlie, that carried the show. Many of the shows have survived and are available for audiences today to experience the phenomenon firsthand. Bergen's success on radio was paralleled in the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK with a land border, sharing it with by Peter Brough and his dummy Archie Andrews (Educating Archie Educating Archie was a BBC Light Programme comedy show broadcast during the 1950s on Sunday lunchtimes featuring ventriloquist Peter Brough and his dummy Archie Andrews. The programme was successful even though a ventriloquist on radio seems illogical. The show averaged 15 million listeners, and a fan club boasted 250,000 members. In 1956 the).

For the radio program, Bergen developed other characters, notably the slow-witted Mortimer Snerd Edgar John Bergen was an American actor and radio performer, best known as a ventriloquist and the man-hungry Effie Klinker. The star remained Charlie, who was always presented as a highly precocious child (albeit in top hat Top Hat is a 1935 screwball musical comedy in which Fred Astaire plays an American dancer named Jerry Travers, who comes to London to star in a show produced by Horace Hardwick . He meets and attempts to impress Dale Tremont (Ginger Rogers) to win her affection. The film also features Eric Blore as Hardwick's valet Bates, Erik Rhodes as Alberto, cape, and monocle A monocle is a type of corrective lens used to correct the vision in only one eye. It consists of a circular lens, generally with a wire ring around the circumference that can be attached to a string. The other end of the string is then connected to the wearer's clothing to avoid losing the monocle. The connoisseur of antiquities Philipp von) – a debonair, girl-crazy, child-about-town. As a child, and a wooden one at that, Charlie could get away with double entendre A double entendre is a figure of speech in which a spoken phrase is intended to be understood in either of two ways. In most cases, the first meaning is straightforward, while the second meaning is less so; often risqué, inappropriate, or ironic which were otherwise impossible under broadcast standards of the time.

Charlie: "May I have a kiss good-bye?"

Dale Evans Dale Evans was the stage name of Frances Octavia Smith , a writer, movie star, and singer-songwriter. She was the third wife of singing cowboy Roy Rogers: "Well, I can't see any harm in that!"

Charlie: "Oh. I wish you could. A harmless kiss doesn't sound very thrilling."

Similar lines given to Mae West Mae West was an American actress, playwright, screenwriter, and sex symbol in a sketch on the show broadcast December 12, 1937, resulted in her fifteen-year broadcasting ban.^[2] "Charles, I remember our date and have the splinters to prove it."^{[cite this quote]}

Charlie's feud with W. C. Fields W. C. Fields was an American comedian, actor and juggler. Fields created one of the great American comic personas of the first half of the 20th century: a misanthropic and hard-drinking egotist who remained a sympathetic character despite his snarling contempt for dogs, children, and women was a regular feature of the show.

W.C. Fields: "Well, Charlie McCarthy, the woodpecker's pinup boy!"

Charlie: "Well, if it isn't W.C. Fields, the man who keeps Seagram's in business!"

W.C. Fields: "I love children. I can remember when, with my own little unsteady legs, I toddled from room to room."

Charlie: "When was that? Last night?"

W.C. Fields: "Quiet, Wormwood, or I'll whittle you into a venetian blind."

Charlie: "Ooh, that makes me shutter!"

W.C. Fields: "Tell me, Charles, is it true that your father was a gate-leg table?"

Charlie: "If it is, your father was under it."

W.C. Fields: "Why, you stunted spruce, I'll throw a japanese beetle on you."

Charlie: "Why, you bar-fly you, I'll stick a wick in your mouth, and use you for an alcohol lamp!"

Charlie: "Pink elephants take aspirin to get rid of W. C. Fields."

W.C. Fields: "Step out of the sun Charles. You may come unglued.

Charlie: "Mind if I stand in the shade of your Nose?"

Bergen was not the most technically skilled ventriloquist – Charlie McCarthy frequently twitted him for moving his lips, but Bergen's sense of comedic timing was superb, and he handled Charlie's snappy dialogue with aplomb. Bergen's wit in creating McCarthy's striking personality and that of his other characters was the making of the show. Bergen's popularity as a ventriloquist on radio (where the trick of "throwing his voice" was not visible) suggests his appeal was primarily the personality he applied to his characters.

Bergen and McCarthy are sometimes credited with "saving the world" because, on the night of October 30, 1938, when Orson Welles George Orson Welles was an Academy Award-winning American film director, writer, actor and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television, and radio. Welles was also an accomplished magician, starring in troop variety spectacles in the war years. Noted for his innovative dramatic productions as well as his distinctive voice and performed his War of the Worlds The War of the Worlds was an episode of the American radio drama anthology series Mercury Theatre on the Air. It was performed as a Halloween episode of the series on October 30, 1938 and aired over the Columbia Broadcasting System radio network. Directed and narrated by Orson Welles, the episode was an adaptation of H. G. Wells' novel The War of radio play hoax that panicked many listeners, most of the American public had instead tuned in to Bergen and McCarthy on another station and never heard Welles's play. Conversely, it has also been theorized that Bergen inadvertently contributed to the hysteria. When the musical portion of Bergen's show, The Chase and Sanborn Hour, aired approximately twelve minutes into the show, many listeners switched stations and found the War of the Worlds presentation already underway, with a realistic sounding reporter detailing terrible events.

Ray Noble Ray Noble was a British bandleader, composer, arranger and actor. Noble studied music at the Royal Academy of Music and became leader of the HMV Records studio band in 1929. The band, known as the New Mayfair Dance Orchestra, featured members of many of the top hotel orchestras of the day. The most popular vocalist with Noble's studio band was Al was the musical director and composer and teenage singer Anita Gordon provided the songs on his show. Gordon was said to have been discovered by Charlie, who had a crush on her.

Other media

In addition to his work as a ventriloquist, Bergen was also an actor and comic strip creator. He established the syndicated comic strip Mortimer & Charlie, which ran in 1939. He appeared as the shy Norwegian suitor in I Remember Mama (1948). He also appeared in Captain China (1949) and Don't Make Waves (1965).

Bergen and his alter-ego McCarthy appeared together with top billing in several films, including the Technicolor Technicolor is the trademark for a series of color film processes pioneered by Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation , now a division of Thomson SA. Technicolor was the second major color film process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color motion picture process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952. Technicolor became known and extravaganza The Goldwyn Follies (1938), opposite the Ritz Brothers Although there were four brothers, the sons of Austrian-born haberdasher Max Joachim and his wife Pauline, only three of them performed together. There was also a sister, Gertrude. The fourth brother, George, acted as their manager. The performers were:. That year they also appeared in You Can't Cheat an Honest Man with W. C. Fields W. C. Fields was an American comedian, actor and juggler. Fields created one of the great American comic personas of the first half of the 20th century: a misanthropic and hard-drinking egotist who remained a sympathetic character despite his snarling contempt for dogs, children, and women. At the height of their popularity in 1938, Bergen was presented an Honorary Oscar Academy Honorary Award · Academy Special Achievement Award · Academy Award, Scientific or Technical · Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award · Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award · Gordon E. Sawyer Award (in the form of a wooden Oscar stauette) for his creation of Charlie McCarthy.

Other film roles for the team include Look Who's Laughing (1941) and Here We Go Again (1942), both with Fibber McGee and Molly Fibber McGee and Molly was a radio show that played a major role in determining the full form of what became classic, old-time radio. The series was a pinnacle of American popular culture from its 1935 premiere until its demise in 1959. One of the longest-running comedies in the history of classic radio in the United States, Fibber McGee and Molly. Later, Bergen and McCarthy were featured in Fun and Fancy Free (1947), and much later in The Muppet Movie The Muppet Movie is the first of a series of live-action musical feature films starring Jim Henson's Muppets. Released in 1979, the film was produced by The Jim Henson Company under their second name and ITC Entertainment (1979). Bergen died shortly after completing his scenes in the latter film, marking it as his final public appearance. The film was subsequently dedicated to him.

Although his regular series never made the transition to television Commercially available since the late 1930s, the television set has become a common communications receiver in homes, businesses and institutions, particularly as a source of entertainment and news. Since the 1970s the availability of video cassettes, laserdiscs, DVDs and now Blu-ray discs, have resulted in the television set frequently being used, Bergen made numerous appearances on the medium during his career. In a filmed Thanksgiving Thanksgiving Day is a harvest festival. Traditionally, it is a time to give thanks for the harvest and express gratitude in general. It is a holiday celebrated primarily in Canada and the United States. While perhaps religious in origin, Thanksgiving is now primarily identified as a secular holiday special, billed as his TV debut, sponsored by Coca-Cola Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants and vending machines internationally. The Coca-Cola Company claims that the beverage is sold in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company in Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke or (in European and American countries) as cola, pop, or in on CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American television network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the Eye Network or more simply The Eye, in reference to the shape of the company's logo. It has also been called the Tiffany Network, which alludes to the in 1950, the new character Podine Puffington was introduced. This saucy Southern belle was as tall as a real woman, in contrast to Bergen's other sit-on-the-knee sized characters. Bergen also hosted the television game show Do You Trust Your Wife? in 1956-'57, later succeeded, in a daytime edition, by Johnny Carson John William “Johnny” Carson was an American television host and comedian, known as host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 years (1962-92). Carson received six Emmy Awards including the Governor Award and a 1975 Peabody Award; he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987. He was awarded the Presidential. Bergen appeared in the Christmas Modern customs of the holiday include gift-giving, Church celebrations, and the display of various decorations—including the Christmas tree, lights, mistletoe, nativity scenes, and holly. Santa Claus is a popular mythological figure often associated with bringing gifts at Christmas for children. Santa is generally believed to be the result of a, 1957, episode of NBC The National Broadcasting Company is an American television network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center. It is sometimes referred to as the Peacock Network due to its stylized peacock logo, created exclusively for color broadcasts variety series, The Gisele MacKenzie Show. In 1959, he appeared in the second episode entitled "Dossier" of the NBC The National Broadcasting Company is an American television network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center. It is sometimes referred to as the Peacock Network due to its stylized peacock logo, created exclusively for color broadcasts espionage Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, as the legitimate holder of the information may change plans or take other countermeasures once it is known that the information is in unauthorized series A television program , television programme (in most Commonwealth countries and Ireland) ), or television show (USA/UK) is something that people watch on television. It may be a one-off broadcast or part of a periodically recurring television series, Five Fingers, starring David Hedison.

Bergen continued to appear regularly on television during the 1960s. He guest starred as Charlie in the 1960 episode "Moment of Fear" of CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American television network, which started out as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the Eye Network or more simply The Eye, in reference to the shape of the company's logo. It has also been called the's The DuPont Show with June Allyson. He did a stint as one of the What's My Line? mystery guests on the popular Sunday night CBS series. His colleague Paul Winchell happened to be a panel member during this episode.[1] He also appeared on the NBC interview program Here's Hollywood.

Bergen appeared as Grandpa Walton in the original Waltons The Waltons was an American television series created by Earl Hamner, Jr., based on his book Spencer's Mountain, and a 1963 film of the same name, starring Henry Fonda and Maureen O'Hara. The show centered on the titular family growing up in a rural Virginia community during the Great Depression and World War II. The series pilot was a television movie, The Homecoming: A Christmas Story (1971). The part was played by Will Geer in the subsequent series. Throughout the run of The Waltons – which took place in the late 1930s through the 1940s – the voices of Bergen and Charlie McCarthy were sporadically heard from the Walton family's radio, as family members regularly tuned in for that program.

Family

In 1941, Bergen met Frances Westerman after a radio program when he was 39 and she was 19. Westerman, who had graduated from Los Angeles High School the year before, was in the audience of Edgar Bergen's radio program as the guest of a member of his staff. Sitting in the front row, the young fashion model's legs caught Bergen's attention and he asked to meet her. The two were married in Mexico after years of long distance courtship, on June 28, 1945. Westerman and Bergen were together until his death in 1978 at age 75. They were the parents of actress Candice Bergen, whose first performances were on Bergen's radio show, and film and television editor Kris Bergen.

Death

On September 30, 1978, Bergen died in his sleep of kidney The kidneys are paired organs seen in many types of animals, including vertebrates and some invertebrates. Part of the urinary system, they are responsible for urine production as well as a number of other homeostatic functions. These include regulation of electrolytes, acid-base balance, and blood pressure; excretion of wastes such as urea and disease in Las Vegas Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada, the seat of Clark County, and an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, fine dining, and entertainment. Las Vegas, which bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, is famous for the number of casino resorts and associated entertainment. A, Nevada, at age 75. Bergen died at Caesar's Palace Hotel, just three days after opening, Wednesday September 27, at Caesar's for a two-week engagement that was to be part of his farewell to show business. It was in mid-September that he had announced that he was retiring after 56 years in show business and sending his monocled, top-hatted partner to the Smithsonian Institution.

Today the iconic wooden 'Charlie McCarthy' rests in Washington D.C.'s Smithsonian Institution. Bergen was interred with his parents (who are buried under their true surname of 'Bergren'), in the Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California. Edgar Bergen's wife of 33 years, Frances Westerman Bergen died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on October 2, 2006 aged 84, from undisclosed causes.^[3] She is also buried in Inglewood Cemetery. In 1990, Bergen was elected to the Radio Hall of Fame, the same year that The Charlie McCarthy Show was selected as an honored program. A message in the closing credits dedicates The Muppet Movie (which featured Edgar and Charlie in their last screen appearance) to the memory and magic of Edgar. In 1991, the United States Postal Service honored him with a 29 cent commemorative stamp.

Further reading

• Grams, Jr., Martin. "The Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy Show: An Episode Guide and Brief History"
• Strickler, Dave. Syndicated Comic Strips and Artists, 1924-1995: The Complete Index. Cambria, CA: Comics Access, 1995. ISBN 0-9700077-0-1.
• Funni, Arthur. "The Radio Years of Bergen and McCarthy." Thesis. The Margaret Herrick Library. 2000.

References

1. ^ http://www.genealogy.com/famousfolks/candice-bergen/index.html
2. ^ http://repsonline.homestead.com/pageCharlieMcCarthy.html
3. ^ http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/15671633.htm

External links

• Edgar Bergen at the Internet Movie Database
• Edgar Bergen at Allmovie
• Edgar Bergen at the Radio Hall of Fame
• "Charlie's Big Night" by Elizabeth McLeod
• Knock On Wood: An Insider's View of Belly Speaking
• "A Pictorial History of Ventriloquism" by Bob Albano

Categories: 1930s American radio programs | 1940s American radio programs | 1950s American radio programs | Academy Honorary Award recipients | American film actors | American radio actors | Burials at Inglewood Park Cemetery | Comic strip cartoonists | Deaths from renal failure | Peabody Award winners | People from Van Buren County, Michigan | Swedish-American actors | Vaudeville performers | Ventriloquists | 1903 births | 1978 deaths

See Also:

• Edgar Bergen

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