Here is a marvelous clip of the legendary Edgar Bergen. Bergen took "heat" from other vents of the day in the 30's-60's because he really moved his mouth quite a bit, as you can see from the clip.
But what made Bergen so great was the characters he created: Charlie McCarthy, Mortimer Snerd and Effie. Charlie was carved by Mack and at the time was considered to be the Cadillac of vent figure makers. Bergen starred in several movies and had his own radio show. The show-downs between McCarthy and comic W.C. Fields were said to be legendary. Candice Bergen, Edgar's daughter, said that Charlie had his own room in the house, with several changes of costume. Originally, Charlie was the "cheeky" boy, dressed as a newsboy of that day. But he evolved into the proper English dressed figure that you see in the clip, while still keeping his "cheeky" personality. Finally the day came when Bergen did his farewell performance and said it was time to pack up his little friends and say goodbye. The original Charlie McCarthy is now on display in the Smithsonian. For a time, there was an authorized Charlie McCarthy non-working reproduction available but at this time I've been unable to locate the dealer.
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