Ventriloquist Central – A Tribute To Ventriloquism

If you watched the Paul Winchell show which we posted on yesterday’s blog you saw that Paul and his helper on the show Milt had a contest with two if the children in the gallery. What I found that is most interesting is the prize give away that Paul made to the children.

The girl won the contest and was awarded a Jerry Mahoney doll as the first place winner. The boy who came in second won a Knucklehead Smiff doll. These were produced in the early 1950’s as this show was from 1954. The dolls were made of composition ( heads and hands ) and unfortunately composition did not stand the test of time. Most often they became cracked and actually layers would peel off.

If both of the children had saved their prizes from 1954 until today 2009 the actual winner ( monetarily ) was not the girl but the boy. You see the Jerry doll was produced in many more numbers than the Knucklehead. The composition Jerry can be found easily but you will look far and wide to find a Knucklehead Smiff. I my self have had many Jerrys in composition but have only had 2 Knuckleheads. As matter of fact I don’t have either in the Ventriloquist Central Collection at present. All of my examples have been traded off for other figures. I guess I will now look to replace them in the collection.

Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com

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Dan Willinger is a ventriloquism enthusiast and ventriloquist figure collector. He has been collecting for over 25 years. He created the Ventriloquist Central Collection. It now has over 100 ventriloquist figures and over 50 of them are Frank Marshall figures. Because of his love for the art of ventriloquism, Mr. Willinger created the website Ventriloquist Central. For more information about the website, go to: http://www.ventriloquistcentral.com

Copyright 2009 by Dan Willinger

NOTE: You may use this blog article provided you run it with the bio box intact. Please email a copy of your publication with the blog article in it to: webmaster@ventriloquistcentral.com

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Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com

***************************************************

Dan Willinger is a ventriloquism enthusiast and ventriloquist figure collector. He has been collecting for over 25 years. He created the Ventriloquist Central Collection. It now has over 100 ventriloquist figures and over 50 of them are Frank Marshall figures. Because of his love for the art of ventriloquism, Mr. Willinger created the website Ventriloquist Central. For more information about the website, go to: http://www.ventriloquistcentral.com

Copyright 2009 by Dan Willinger

NOTE: You may use this blog article provided you run it with the bio box intact. Please email a copy of your publication with the blog article in it to: webmaster@ventriloquistcentral.com

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

We got an email asking if we had routines or scripts of Paul Winchell. The answer is “YES” we do. This actually comes from an original blog post back in September of 2007.

Rick Tolomei kindly donated to Ventriloquist Central this wonderful original script for one of Paul Winchell’s early 1960’s shows.

As you know Paul Winchell was a true genius and so to be able to view one of his original scripts with his own markings is a real treat. You will be able to see how his talent was not just in the performance of ventriloquism but in the actual production of the art.

Thanks Rick for sharing this with me and the vent community and I hope you all enjoy reading this fine script.

Click Here To See Paul Winchell’s script

Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com

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Dan Willinger is a ventriloquism enthusiast and ventriloquist figure collector. He has been collecting for over 25 years. He created the Ventriloquist Central Collection. It now has over 100 ventriloquist figures and over 50 of them are Frank Marshall figures. Because of his love for the art of ventriloquism, Mr. Willinger created the website Ventriloquist Central. For more information about the website, go to: http://www.ventriloquistcentral.com

Copyright 2009 by Dan Willinger

NOTE: You may use this blog article provided you run it with the bio box intact. Please email a copy of your publication with the blog article in it to: webmaster@ventriloquistcentral.com

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Jerry Mahoney & Knucklehead Smiff

Here are a pair of characters for sure. These are the only legally made exact copies of the famous Duo Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smiff. These are full size figures made from the original molds taken from Mr. Winchell’s original figures.

Jerry is the upgraded version because he has side to side eyes, slot jaw and full shell blinkers. He stands 42″ tall and has 360 degree heat rotation with ball and socket neck. His head stick is wood. His body is also wooden. His suit is the original style 2 tone suit done to Mr Winchell’s specification. Jerry’s wig is also made by Rene of Paris and was done for Winchell on special order.

Knucklehead Smiff is also full size with the same wooden body and wooden headstick as Jerry. He has just slot jaw movement just as the original. His cloths are also original design.

In my opinion these are the best figures that Jerry Layne produced and that may be because Paul Winchell was a stickler on his product. These are a must for any collector of ventriloquist figures or television memorabilia.

Click here for more >>>

Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com

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Dan Willinger is a ventriloquism enthusiast and ventriloquist figure collector. He has been collecting for over 25 years. He created the Ventriloquist Central Collection. It now has over 100 ventriloquist figures and over 50 of them are Frank Marshall figures. Because of his love for the art of ventriloquism, Mr. Willinger created the website Ventriloquist Central. For more information about the website, go to: http://www.ventriloquistcentral.com

Copyright 2009 by Dan Willinger

NOTE: You may use this blog article provided you run it with the bio box intact. Please email a copy of your publication with the blog article in it to: webmaster@ventriloquistcentral.com

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Paul Winchell & Jerry Mahoney

This picture was sent in to us by a regular contributor to Ventriloquist Central, Bill Smith. It’s ventriloquist Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney in Milwaukee, WI from the year 1961.

Thanks, Bill for sharing this wonderful picture with us.

Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com

***************************************************

Dan Willinger is a ventriloquism enthusiast and ventriloquist figure collector. He has been collecting for over 25 years. He created the Ventriloquist Central Collection. It now has over 100 ventriloquist figures and over 50 of them are Frank Marshall figures. Because of his love for the art of ventriloquism, Mr. Willinger created the website Ventriloquist Central. For more information about the website, go to: http://www.ventriloquistcentral.com

Copyright 2009 by Dan Willinger

NOTE: You may use this blog article provided you run it with the bio box intact. Please email a copy of your publication with the blog article in it to: webmaster@ventriloquistcentral.com

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!