Charlie McCarthy Puppet

Charlie McCarthy Puppet

Charlie McCarthy was the creation of ventriloquist Edgar Bergen (1903-1978). Bergen was born to Swedish immigrant parents in Chicago in 1903, and at 16, began taking lessons in ventriloquism from Harry Lester. Bergen paid a Chicago woodcarver, Theodore Mack, $36 to sculpt a likeness of a local redheaded newsboy. This head went on a dummy's body to become Bergen's lifelong sidekick, Charlie McCarthy. Bergen gave his first performances with Charlie at the Waveland Avenue Congregational Church in Lakeview. They performed on a long-running radio show and in movies for the rest of Bergen's career.

Mack, Theodore

National Museum of American History

1922

Bergen, Edgar

Wood, plastic, cloth, human hair, glass, leather

Puppet