I think it is safe to say that most of you have
never heard of Len James the ventriloquist figure builder. He
actually went from England to Toronto Canada where he set up shop. I
too have to say until I became friends with Fred Anderson of Canada
I also had never heard of Len James.
Fred became a ventriloquist in the 1950's and it was from Len James
that he purchased his first pro vent figure head. This was back in
1955. A year later he purchased a second head. Fred did use the
first one for a long time but didn't really use the second.
You can look at Fred's web site here
http://dummyman.ca/
and read his bio page.
We skip to today and Fred has wound down and the heads were stored
away and decided he wanted them to reside with the Ventriloquist
Central Collection so we made a deal and they are now here.
These are carved from basswood and have side moving self centering
eyes, also wooden and slot jaw. The are done with the leather under
the jaw. These heads are still in original condition except for the
under jaw leather and the loss of hair on the first head.
I pictured the heads on a body just to give the idea as to how they
look. I kind of compare the carving as a cross between Ken Spencer
and Foy Brown.
I am pleased to now have them in the collection and happy to share
Len James' work with all of you. And, if you happen to have any
information on Len James I would love to have it.
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