Who'd have thought a ventriloquist could make it big on old time radio

By Ned Norris

It may seem hard to believe that a ventriloquist could make a successful career out of a radio show, but incredibly the Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy Show was a massive hit due to the comedic timing and talent of Edgar Bergen.

Bergen was born in 1903 and learned the art of ventriloquism at a young age. Edgar commissioned the creation of a dummy from a local craftsman and gave him the name Charlie McCarthy and the cheeky personality of a boy and womanizer who was able to get away with double entendre.

Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy became a duo that played at talent shows in the Midwest while Bergen was in college at Northwestern. Eventually he left school and began to perform his act full-time.

In the 1930s he performed in New York and even toured Europe and South America with his show, but slowly vaudeville lost popularity due to new forms of media such as film and radio.

Radio wasn't the obvious choice for a ventriloquist, but Bergen didn't let that put him off. In 1936 he and his dummy, Charlie McCarthy, appeared on the Royal Gelatin Hour on NBC. As odd as it seemed to have a ventriloquist on the radio, his humor and wit made him a fan favorite instantly.

In 1937 he was rewarded with his own spot, The Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy Show, on NBC, which became an overnight success. The show was so popular that it ran on various networks until 1956.

In the first year of the show, Bergen was involved in a controversy while performing the Mae West 'Adam and Eve' skit. He made remarks that were considered inappropriate, which brought unwanted attention from the Federal Communications Commission in 1938. However, the controversy passed and the show gained even more popularity.

Over the years, Edgar added more characters to his act. The most famous of these were the slow-witted but loveable Mortimer Snerd and the man-eating Effie Klinker. While one would normally consider a ventriloquist act dependent on visualization, the show continued to be popular on the radio and although it would seem a natural progression he did very few television performances.

In 1978, Bergen made the decision to retire and donated Charlie to the Smithsonian Institute. A week later he passed away after performing in a show with Andy Williams.  

Today, Charlie and two other puppets, Mortimer Snerd and Effie Klinker, are on display at the Radio Hall of Fame and Museum in Chicago and in 1990 The Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy Show was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame.