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ALBERT ALFARO
www.imaginariumgalleries.com
Albert Alfaro has been
sculpting and designing fantasy puppets for over 30 years. Back in
the early 70's he invented and created the first original animated
moving pet. He holds the patent on his creation. His puppets include
dragons, griffins, fairies, and woodland creatures.
Alfaro has designed for Fortune 500 companies as well as the movie
industry. |
|
DOUG
ANDERSON |
|
WILLIAM
ANDERSON
1920-2011 Anderson
was also the first maker to offer a do-it-yourself,
make-your-own-dummy kit. |
|
ROBERT
ANTHONY
From Fort Myers,
Florida. |
|
JOHN ARVITES |
|
STEVE BARRY
gepettosworkshop
eBay Store Link
Steve
Barry's Blog Link |
|
COLONEL BILL BOLEY
See Ventriloquist Central Collection |
|
JOE BOLEY
Located in Kentucky. Ventriloquist and
Figure-Maker. Son of Bill Boley. |
|
DANO and RENEA BRATTON
West Virginia. Makers of Bratton Buddies. |
|
HERBERT BRIGHTON |
|
MICHAEL BROSE
www.puppetsandprops.com
See the article on Brose at
www.talkingcomedy.com/SI-Vent-2005/books-siVENT05/MB-BK-siVENT05.html |
|
FOY BROWN
Ventriloquist & Figure-Maker from Kansas. Picture: Brown poses
in 1946
with figures B. O. Baily and Lon Lundy.
See Ventriloquist Central Collection
|
|
WILLIAM KIRK BROWN
Miami, Florida. Circa 1950s. |
|
PASTOR SCOTT BRYTE
pastorscott@aol.com
See Ventriloquist Central Collection |
|
Ony Carcamo
http://www.geocities.com/thepartyzoo/Carcamofigs.html |
|
GLENN CARGYLE
Cargyle created the twin dummies for the 1954 movie Knock on
Wood. They were made to resemble the star of the film,
Danny Kaye. |
|
JOHN CARROLL
New York figure-maker Carroll created the ventriloquist figure seen
in the Tareyton cigarette ad from the 1960s. This historic figure
was made circa late 1940s or early 1950s. Carroll was known for his
association with pro vent Roy Douglas and made the figures that
Douglas sold through his mail order company. Carroll worked very
much in the style of legendary Frank Marshall.
See
Ventriloquist Central Collection
|
|
GREG CLAASSEN
Click Here For Greg's Website
Claassen is a professional ventriloquist who has been making figures
on the side since 1990. He has built 4 or 5 McElroy replicas,
and he also restores vintage figures for others on occasion.
In addition, he has teamed with Bill Nelson on a couple of projects. |
|
BRYAN CLARKE
www.punchandjudyman.com
Clarke is primarily a maker of Punch & Judy figures.
He is also a performer of Punch & Judy shows under the name of Prof.
Jingles. |
|
JACK COATS 1931-1973
bellsouthpwp.net/g/k/gkoepke/jack.htm
Ventriloquist and figure-maker. Coats made figures
during the late 60s and early 70s for Paul Stadleman, Jimmy Nelson,
and many others. The two figures in the pictures were rebuilt and
photographed by Al Stevens and belong to ventriloquist Jerry
Goodspeed, who uses them regularly in his performances.
See
Ventriloquist Central Collection
Jack Coats
- By Gary Koepke |
|
TIMOTHY COWLES
www.dummyworks.com
Timothy Cowles is owner and operator of The Dummy
Works, a company specializing in the production of fun and colorful
ventriloquist characters. In addition, he is also a performer at
international ventriloquist and puppetry conferences.
Tim and and his wife Amanda have relocated from northern California
to Dallas, Texas to work as full time performers for Nana Puddin'
Productions (see
www.nanapuddin.com). |
|
CHARLES CRISTADORO
www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/89summer/sculptorimages.htm
Cristadoro sculpted Effie Klinker for Edgar Bergen.
Cristadoro worked at the Walt Disney Studios where
he became a character model artist. He created a figure of Pinocchio
to assist the animators of the film. He also made the
acquaintance of movie actor William S. Hart around 1917 and produced
a number of statues of the film star. |
|
KENNY CROES
http://www.kennycroes.com
http://ventintothemic.blogspot.com
(Vent Into The Mic)
|
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VIRGINIA AUSTIN CURTIS
1903-1986
Curtis sculpted Mortimer Snerd, the Effanbee
Charlie, and the face which Rene Zendejas and Jerry Layne use on
their standard cheeky boy.
Virginia Curtis was an honored member of Los Angeles
Guild of Puppetry. She is best known for her Clippo the Clown and
for her creation of Edgar Bergen's Elmer, who became famous as
Mortimer Snerd. She was a dedicated puppeteer.
Click here for Video about
Virginia Austin Curtis
A very young Curtis appears in
Unusual Occupations in volume II of
Bergen/McCarthy Shorts.
This is a color "documentary" on how Mortimer was created,
from drawings, through sculpture and casting.
|
|
CLINTON DETWEILER
www.newsyvents.blogspot.com
Located in Colorado. Detweiler began his career as a
ventriloquist in the late 1950s. He built his first
ventriloquist figure for his own use in 1958, and built his first
figure for resale in 1969. Detweiler and his wife Adelia purchased
Maher Ventriloquist Studios from Madeleine Maher in 1969.
They closed Maher Studios in 2006. |
|
LEE DUNN
Email address:
vent.figurerepair@yahoo.com
Click here to read more about Lee Dunn
See Ventriloquist Central Collection |
|
JAMES "JIMMY"
EISENBERG
http://ventriloquistsideshow.com/ |
|
D.T. ELLIS
From England, Ellis sold his figures through
Davenports, which also sold Insull figures. |
|
GEOFF FELIX
www.geofffelix.com
Located in Middlesex, UK. Felix is a
puppeteer,
ventriloquial figure maker, and Punch and Judy performer. |
|
BRANT GILMER
brangilm@adelphia.net
Located in Ohio. Gilmer has been carving figures from basswood
since 1985. He also occasionally makes musical instruments and
furniture. His vent figures include standard boys or girls, old men,
animals, and even a talking bar stool.
See Ventriloquist Central
Collection |
|
CECIL GOUGH |
|
RAY GUYLL
Click Here For
More Information Located in
Washington state. Although he has been a professional
ventriloquist, Guyll focuses on making dummies. Guyll started
building figures professionally in 1968. In 1971Guyll was
hired by Chicago television for a program on ventriloquism
that featured legendary ventriloquist Jimmy Nelson.
In 1984, Guyll went on the road for three years with his own act.
His original character was Lucky Louie, who started as a Western
sheriff and morphed into a hobo.
Guyll's creations include (1) an Al Gore figure for
ventriloquist Taylor Mason and (2) Jose Jalapeno on a Stick
for ventriloquist Jeff Dunham.
See Ventriloquist
Central Collection |
|
BRIAN HAMILTON
Brian Hamilton was a flash in
the pan so to speak, as far as figure makers are concerned. He
started at the age of 14 and at 15 he was making carved wood figures
in the Marshall style. Unfortunately passed away at the early age of
28 in 1988. He was such an accomplished builder that he actually
acquired all of Frank Marshall's tools to do his work.
He carved heads out of wood and then went on
to build figures out of Fiberglass. The McElroy brothers George &
Glen took Brian under their wing and taught him a lot of their
techniques in building figures and he made some very fine McElroy
style figures of which there is less than a handful known. He also
did repair work too. We can wonder what would have been had he still
been alive and building today.
Ventriloquist
Central Collection
|
|
CONRAD HARTZ
personal.lig.bellsouth.net/g/k/gkoepke/hartz/
Hartz Puppetry Workshop. Hartz has been building a variety of
puppets since 1975 and has developed a reputation as one of the
finest makers of quality hand puppets, marionettes, and
ventriloquist figures.
All of his puppets are hand carved from basswood, the traditional
material for making quality puppets and figures. Being completely
hand made, no two are exactly alike. He uses brass mechanics
for quiet, smooth, and trouble free movement.
The Mandarin Head-in-the-Box pictured on the left is an example of
Hartz's novelty-type figures.
See
Ventriloquist Central Collection
|
|
TONY HORN
Click here for more
information:
Tony Horn, Ventriloquist Figure Builder |
|
CHARLIE HORNER
www.charliehornerboys.homestead.com/figures.html
Horner acquired the entire shop of Finis Robinson.
|
|
LEN INSULL 1883-1974
Began a stage property business around 1918, and later made his
first figure for Tom Coram. Later he made figures for Peter
Brough and Ray Alan. His son, Len Insull, Jr., carried on the family business. The son also was known
for installing pneumatic devices in figures and for the Toby jug. Insull Jr. died before his father in 1957. Insull Senior died
in 1974.
See Ventriloquist Central Collection
|
|
CHUCK JACKSON
Produced figures for Maher Studios in the mid-1980s. |
|
LES LAMBORN
Lamborn comes from Michigan and makes figures in all
mediums (carved, sculpted, etc). |
|
DAN LAVENDER
www.dlavender.com
Click here to see more about Dan Lavender
and one of his ventriloquist figures
|
|
JERRY LAYNE
www.jerrylayne.com
Professional Ventriloquist and Figure-Maker for over 35 years.
Layne makes 40" replicas of Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smiff
in addition to his own original creations.
Jerry Layne ventriloquist figures have been featured on many TV
shows such as: "Tales from the Crypt", "Captain Kangaroo", "Three's
Company", "News Radio", "Nash Bridges", "Everybody Loves Raymond",
"Sister Sister", "The Drew Carey Show", and the motion pictures
"Zapped", "Beautiful", as well as many TV commercials.
They are being used by ventriloquists all over the world. |
|
JOEL LEDER
www.dummyproductions.com |
|
ALFRED LEMARE
Began business in 1861 making property for theaters,
but he later specialized in magic and ventriloquial goods at his
shop in Manchester, England. Supplied figures for Fred Russell
and Arthur Prince. |
|
CRAIG LOVIK
Began making figures in
1965. He was also one of the major figure-makers for Maher
Studios for many years.
FEATURE: Read an article
about Craig and Keith Lovik that
appeared in the March 2006 issue of Seattle Business
Monthly. |
|
KEITH LOVIK
www.lovikspuppets.com
Keith is the son of
Craig Lovik. From 1996 to 2006 Keith Lovik has built all the
35" and 40" figures sold by Maher Studios. In 2006, with the
closing of Maher Studios, he went independent. |
|
|
THEODORE MACK
The Mack woodworking shop
first opened in 1880 by Theodore Mack's father. Later Theodore
worked with son Charles Mack in Chicago. Their first figure
was Frank Byron Jr., carved for Harry Lester. They also
employed Frank Marshall when he was just 14 years of age in 1914.
Both Theodore and Charles died in 1923.
QUESTION: Who made Frank Byron? Lester
or Mack? In the book by Stan Burns and in the TalkingComedy.com
article (which used Burns' book as a source), Lester reportedly
stated that he made his famous figure himself with a little guidance
from Theo Mack. Yet in a 1945 article in Coronet magazine, Mack is
credited with the making of Frank Byron. Mack is more likely the
actual maker. Lester is not known for making any other figures. Read
the article: CORONET.
QUESTION: Who made Charlie McCarthy?
Mack or Marshall? Both Mack and Marshall can take credit for
Charlie McCarthy. Mack made an early version (see photo on
left); but Marshall made subsequent versions, as the 1955 article in Mechanix Illustrated
indicates. Read the article:
MECHANIX ILLUSTRATED.
Ventriloquist Central
Collection
|
|
FRED MAHER
1896-1952
Figure: Skinney Dugan, built by Glenn and
George McElroy. Founder of Maher Studios. |
|
JOHNNY MAIN 1938-2003
Figures: Gutters McGraw; Archie, made by Frank Marshall. TV personality during
the 1970s and 1980s. Voted best
ventriloquist in the world in 1981.
Main also made figures, including Gutters.
See
Ventriloquist Central Collection
Tribute To Johnny Main |
|
JAMES MANALLI
http://www.jamesmanalli.com
See
Ventriloquist Central Collection |
|
FRANK MARSHALL
1900-1969
BORN: Frank Marzalkiewicz, Poland, 1900 (died 1969). First Great Vent Figure Maker. 1914:
Begins work at Theodore Mack & Son Furniture Factory. 1922:
Charlie McCarthy made for Edgar Bergen at Mack Factory (possibly made by
Marshall). 1937:
Jerry Mahoney made for Paul Winchell. 1945:
Danny O'Day made for Jimmy Nelson.
Frank Marshall's creation of Jerry
Mahoney is more securely confirmed. In fact Marshall even
appeared on the television show What's My Line in 1956
and mentioned his work on Paul Winchell's famous figure.
Comments about the episode are available at
www.tv.com/episode-320/episode/95470/summary.html.
Frank Marshall
Catalog 1931
Frank Marshall
(Marzalkiewicz) - By Bob Isaacson
Click Here
See Ventriloquist
Central Collection
Frank Marshall Audio Interviews
Click Here
|
|
JOHN MATHENY
John Matheny works out of
VentWorks, a sculpture studio specializing in creating unique, custom-made
ventriloquist dummies. Each original figure is hand-carved from basswood.
His figures are lightweight with smooth operating, brass levers and
mechanics. Note: Matheny's website (ventworks.com) is no longer
operational. |
|
ROBERT McCRAY
www.robertmcray.net
McCray turned professional at only 13 years of age. As an actor in
Hollywood, he starred in many television shows and feature films, becoming
known as the sidekick to "Conan" on the television series. "Since my
character was mute from birth, I utilized many of the figure manipulation
skills I learned as a ventriloquist to bring the character to life."
McCray has also worked as a writer, producer, and casting director for
both feature films and television (comedy and drama). He has worked
for Disney/Touchstone Studios and Showtime.
McCray later returned to the world of ventriloquism. From his rural
location in the mountains of northern Idaho, he creates large scale
sculptures. His "BIGHEAD" mechanical creations have many celebrity
performers and serious art collectors considering him to be the "McElroy"
of this generation. Using only a 4 or 5 sentence description from a
client, McCray hand-sculpts incredible characters, which are capable of
amazing movements. He creates only three or four each year for select
clients. However, neither the client nor McCray ever knows what the
final figure will look like until it has been finished.
See Ventriloquist
Central Collection
|
|
GEORGE & GLENN McELROY
BORN: circa 1912 in Harrison, Ohio. Great Vent Figure Makers, Figures are the "Cadillacs"
of the Vent World. c. 1932:
King Kong Marionette -- Tribute to Movie. 1937:
Cecil Wigglenose created for Valentine Vox. 1939:
Jacko the Monkey for WS Berger. George created the designs and
models. Glenn created and built the complex mechanisms.
The entertainer Rudy
Vallee (pictured at left) was a big fan of ventriloquism and owned
several McElroy figures.
Ventriloquist Central Collection |
NO PHOTO |
FRANK MILLIS
Working c. 1883, Millis was from Australia. Used a
red-headed Irish doll, among other figures, in the British Music
Hall. During the 1890s Millis used pneumatic bladders to animate
figures. |
|
BILL NELSON
nelson_studios@hotmail.com
Nelson is also a professional illustrator whose works have
appeared in The Wall Street Journal and
Playboy Magazine. |
|
HOWARD OLSON
Died: 1992. Figure: Cowboy Eddie. For 11
years Olson hosted Circus 3, a TV show for kids in Madison . It ran daily throughout the 1960s.
During the late 70s and early 80s, Olson made ventriloquist
figures and conducted ventriloquism workshops. Trivia: Howard Olson is the son of The Great
Chesterfield. |
|
MIKE PALMA
Ventriloquist
Workshop
http://www.VentriloquistWorkshop.com
Click here to see Mike's
work
Click here to read Mike's story
|
|
FRANK PARIS
Operated his Distinctive Puppets shop in
New York City. |
|
JOHN PARISI
johnparisi51@comcast.net
|
|
DAN PAYES
www.danpayespuppetry.com |
|
REVELLO PETEE
Made figures used by Foy Brown, among others.
See Ventriloquist
Central Collection
|
|
MADAM GRACE PINXY
Pinxy and her husband George Larsen made figures from 1916 to
1948.
The figure of Uncle Sam (pictured) was made by George Larsen and
used by Stanley Burns.
SPECIAL FEATURE: Ventriloquism by Pinxy.
Available on MEDIA
PAGE.
Dan Willinger's Pinxy Collection |
|
KEM POYNER
www.ventriloquistdummy.com
Born circa 1959, Poyner now lives in Phoenix, Arizona.
Kem Poyner and his identical twin brother, Kern, performed
regularly at parties and church functions when they were young.
Later, the twins were booking shows from Nashville to Las Vegas.
Kem sat in on a workshop about Ventriloquist figure-making taught
by Ray Guyll. Based on the knowledge gained by that workshop,
Poyner built a couple fiberglass figures that resembled the twins
themselves. A short time later he was designing and building his
own figures. |
|
RICK PRICE 1953-2002
"Outstanding maker of molded figures
with a superbly artistic finish and excellent quality mechanics." |
|
ARTHUR QUISTO
Lived 1882-1960. Real name: Edwin Simms. Known
primarily for his Punch & Judy Shows, Quisto also built figures for
Coram and Prince. He used pneumatic devices and was the first to
use electromagnetic devices to animate his figures.
See
Ventriloquist Central Collection |
|
GLEN RAPPOLD
glenvent@san.rr.com
Glen Rappold was born in Connecticut in 1955. Drawing
inspiration from Paul Winchell and Jimmy Nelson, Rappold started
performing and making figures in the late 1970s. He worked as a
ventriloquist and actor for eleven years in Los Angeles. In 1991
Rappold moved to San Diego. He continues to make classic style
figures in the tradition of Frank Marshall. Rappold also plays
guitar in a jazz ensemble. |
|
RENE
www.ventfiguresbyrene.com
Professional puppeteer and maker of puppets,
marionettes, and ventriloquist figures.
Rene’s television
appearances began on the Dave Garroway, Ed Sullivan, and Hollywood
Palace shows. His own educational program for children, “Domingo,”
enjoyed a run of three years on ABC-TV in Los Angeles, and won a
local Emmy award for excellence in children’s programming.
His creations have
been seen on “Fantasy Island,” “Fridays,” “Benson,” “You Bet Your
Life,” “Mrs. Columbo,” “Bill Cosby’s Christmas Special,” and many
others. His special work in movies and television commercials has
found him animating a Model T for Coberly Ford, hamburgers for
McDonald’s, the Pillsbury Doughboy used in their television
specials, and characters in the Lily Tomlin film, “The Incredible
Shrinking Woman.” His puppets have also been seen in commercials
for Toyota, Continental Airlines, R. C. Cola, Bill-Mar Farms and
the California Dairy Association.
Rene also created
Bob, which was used by Jay Johnson (playing Chuck Campbell) in the
popular TV series "Soap" from the 1970s.
|
|
JEREMY ALBERT RINGERMACHER
Ringermacher is a sculptor and illustrator
in the United States. He is a graduate of the California Institute
of the Arts with a bachelors degree in fine art. He launched
JAR Productions in the Fall of 2003. |
|
FINIS ROBINSON
1908-2001 George "Pinxy" Larson took Finis under
his tutelage, teaching how to make great figures.
SPECIAL FEATURE: See a double-page flyer advertisement for
Finis & Co.
See
Ventriloquist Central Collection
|
|
RAY ROSEBERRY
Circa 1940s.
Pictured: 6" basswood head. Repaired by
Detweiler: for details, see
newsyvents.blogspot....mystery-revealed.html |
|
SHANNON SCHRUM
SCHRUM STUDIOS
http://www.schrumstudios.com/bergen.htm
Schrum sculpts figures in the style of Maher,
Mack, Insull, & The McElroy Brothers. Pieces include Jacko
(from Vent Haven) and Toby Jugs.
Schrum Studios is officially authorized by the
Bergen Foundation to create non-working museum replicas of Edgar
Bergen's famous characters. Designed primarily for private and
museum exhibitions. |
|
TIM SELBERG
www.selbergstudios.com
As a young
boy Selberg became fascinated with the art of ventriloquism. "As a
kid, I saw Jimmy Nelson do commercials on television with his
characters Danny O'Day and Farfel. I wanted to be the next Jimmy
Nelson, so my mother got me his record Instant Ventriloquism
and a plastic Danny!"
By the time he was 12, Selberg was
making dummies and performing. . He carved his first basswood head
at age 16. He studied art at the Center for Creative
Studies in Detroit, as well as Cranbrook Academy, and NOVEC.
In 1987 he opened Selberg Studios.
Selberg was featured in Belly Talkers, a
documentary on ventriloquism, and given credit as the top figure
maker in the world. He was also exclusively featured in a
documentary for Japanese television
entitled The Worlds' Greatest Craftsmen.
Selberg lives in Michigan. |
|
ALAN SEMOK
homepage.mac.com/asemok/dummies.html
Also known as the Dummy Doctor. Born in 1952, Semok has been
building ventriloquist figures and puppets since 1966.
Obtaining a theatre degree in 1975 and embarking on an acting
career, Semok also took up the tools again and began making
dummies on a larger & more complex scale to supplement his
show-biz income.
When not in his workshop studio, Alan works as an actor, having
appeared on stage, film and television in a variety of dramatic
and comic roles. In February of 2000, he appeared as Aaron Burr on
the PBS series, The American Experience.
Bottom Photo: Actor Adrien Brody with a Semok creation in the feature
film Dummy.
See Ventriloquist
Central Collection
|
|
JIM SMITH
Lived in Florida. Died 2002. Smith began
performing ventriloquism in a circus. Later, during the
1970s, he managed his own magic store and sold there the figures
that he built himself. |
|
JOSEPH SMITH
sloperjoe@netzero.net
Located in Washington. Smith builds each
figure completely from scratch starting with a new clay head
sculpture, so each one is unique. |
|
GERALD SNELSON
faculty.frostburg.edu/engl/snelson/gallery.html
Snelson is a native of Frostburg, Maryland, and was born on April
10, 1943. He works as an English professor at Frostburg
State University and makes musical instruments in addition to
figures. |
|
KEN SPENCER
Ken Spencer was born in Fontenelle, Iowa, August 30th, 1899.
Ken's interest in ventriloquism started in 1915, but his first
lessons were not entirely satisfactory. Later he met Harry
Fetterer, a professional ventriloquist working with a colored
figure with a soft squeaky negro voice. Harry agreed to teach Ken,
for $1.00 per hour.
Ken purchased his first good professional figure from Theodore
Mack & Son, then located at West Harrison Street, Chicago. Ken
loafed around the carving department so much that Charlie Mack
decided to put him to put him to work roughing out hands, etc.
In 1934 Spencer began figure-making professionally as well as
continuing with his performances.
See
Ventriloquist Central Collection
|
|
JOHN STALLKNECHT |
|
AL STEVENS
www.alstevens.com
Located in Florida, Stevens is a jazz musician,
comedy ventriloquist, and figure-maker. |
|
MARTIN STEVENS 1904-1983
Stevens was a marionette entertainer who
occasionally made figures. The figure of Eddie (pictured)
was used by Earl Estenson and later by Dick Weston. |
|
JAMES TATTERSALL 1917-1999
James (or Jimmy) Tattersall was both a
ventriloquist and maker of life-sized dolls. Among his figures he
had a life-sized drunk doll and an old lady who traveled across
the stage by remote control and landed in the old man's arms.
Tattersall was well-known for the figures he made with big eyes
and big expressions.
During the 1940s Tattersall performed as "Tattersall
and Jerry'" (top photo). He also also used a figure named Tony, a
Liberace-like pianist (2nd photo).
Tattersall performed in a children's series on Scottish TV,
Mr. Fixit, which featured puppets Rosabell and Hoppy.
There was one human in the show, Mr. Fixit, who was played by
Roddy McMillan or Roy Kinnear.
Click here for more information about
James Tattersall
Click here to see Tattersall Figure in
Ventriloquist Central Collection |
|
JOHN TURNER
Turner made figures circa 1940s and 1950s.
He made Elmer Jones (in Salinas, California) for Harry
Lester (in picture at left) and also a figure for Maxine (Lillian
Dawes).
See Ventriloquist
Central Collection |
|
Kirk
Wickizer
Resides in Huntsville Alabama.
He has been building vent figures since 2004. He also paints and
draws when he gets a chance. He had a Danny O Day dummy as a kid
and thought it would be fascinating to build his own someday. He
has been a product designer in different industries for 30+ years
and enjoys building figures more than anything else.
kcwickizer@gmail.com
|