BERGEN, Edgar (1903 – 78)
Price: $95.00
Description:American star of stage, screen and radio. Gifted ventriloquist and father of actress Candace Bergen. Creator of the inimitable dummy Charlie McCarthy (who was pretty darn smart).
SIG – Vintage signature display. Consists of small sheet of paper on which the ventriloquist has penned Edgar Bergen and Charlie and drawn a doodle of Charlie avec tophat. Professionally matted in siena – tone board along with an early litho – print color image of Bergen with Charlie McCarthy.
The Charlie McCarthy Show premiered on CBS in 1949. It went through several incarnations with sponsorships by Coca Cola, Richard Hudnut and Kraft Foods, eventually going silent in the summer of 1956.
Bergen’s talent wasn’t limited to ventriloquism or the screen. He also was a comic strip creator. He established the syndicated comic strip Mortimer & Charlie which ran in newspapers from 1939 to 1940. Between 1947-54, Harvey Eisenberg also drew a comic strip based on Charlie McCarthy, scripted by Bergen.
Bergen and his alter ego were given top billing in several films with a total of 22 co-starring roles in films. He was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960.
A trip down memory lane.