Line #4 Creator/EdgarBergen


1	[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/edgar_bergen.JPG]]
2	[[caption-width-right:310: Edgar Bergen with Charlie [=McCarthy=] (left) and Mortimer Snerd (right).]]
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4	Edgar John Bergen (February 16, 1903 – September 30, 1978) was an American entertainer, and easily the best-known [[{{Ventriloquism}} ventriloquist]] of the 20th century.
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6	Self-taught from the age of 11, Bergen became a professional performer as a teenager, complete with commissioning a professional woodcarver to create his most famous dummy, [=Charlie McCarthy=]. He went on to become a popular star on {{Vaudeville}} and in film shorts, before landing a regular engagement (on a recommendation from Creator/NoelCoward) at the upscale Manhattan restaurant the Rainbow Room. There, he soon attracted the attention of a couple of Creator/{{NBC}} radio producers, who booked him an appearance on Rudy Vallée's popular variety program ''The Royal Gelatin Hour'' in 1936.
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8	That appearance turned out so well that the following year he became the headlining act on ''The Chase & Sanborn Hour'', which soon proved a top-rated series for the network. The admittedly strange circumstance of a ventriloquist performing on the non-visual medium of radio was easily countered by Bergen's flair for voicing comedic characters that could get away with the kind of moderately risqué gags which got other performers banned in that era. (In fact, the program was such a ratings powerhouse that Creator/OrsonWelles's competing series on Creator/{{CBS}}, ''Radio/TheMercuryTheatreOnTheAir'', had to be sustained at network expense without sponsorship for months until its classic radio adaptation of ''Radio/TheWarOfTheWorlds''--and the infamous mass panic it supposedly produced--boosted its profile.) Bergen continued on the series (later cut to a half-hour and retitled ''The Chase & Sanborn Program'') through 1948, then went over to CBS and ''The Charlie [=McCarthy=] Show'' from 1949–56.
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10	Bergen never had a sustained series again after ''The Charlie [=McCarthy=] Show'' ended, but continued to perform (with and without his dummies) in various guest spots on radio and television and in films. He even played Grandpa Walton in the PilotMovie for ''Series/TheWaltons''. Along the way, Bergen served as an inspiration for younger performers, such as the great puppeteer Creator/JimHenson. When the Franchise/TheMuppets sang "Consider Yourself" to Bergen and Charlie during their guest appearance on ''Series/TheMuppetShow'', the puppeteers meant every word of it. Sadly, that episode, and his subsequent cameo in ''Film/TheMuppetMovie'', proved to be Bergen's final major media appearances before his death from kidney disease at the age of 75. The original Charlie [=McCarthy=] dummy resides at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History.
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12	Bergen was married to model and actress Frances Westerman from 1945 until his death. They had two children, including actress Creator/CandiceBergen.
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15	!!Works Edgar Bergen appeared in with TV Tropes pages:
16	* ''WesternAnimation/FunAndFancyFree'' (1947) as Himself/Charlie [=McCarthy=]/Mortimer Snerd
17	* ''Film/IRememberMama'' (1948) as Peter Thorkelson
18	* ''Series/BachelorFather'' (1 episode, 1962) as Himself/Charlie [=McCarthy=]/Mortimer Snerd
19	* ''Series/TheLittlestHobo'' (1 episode, 1964) as Hjalmer
20	* ''Series/VoyageToTheBottomOfTheSea'' (1 episode, 1964) as Kenner
21	* ''Series/BurkesLaw'' (3 episodes, 1964–65) as George Smith/Horton Galbraith/Clyde Olsen
22	* ''Film/DontMakeWaves'' (1967) as Madame Lavinia
23	* ''Series/{{Police Story\|1973}}'' (1 episode, 1975) as Mr. Farber
24	* ''Series/TheMuppetShow'' (1 episode, 1977) as Himself/Charlie [=McCarthy=]/Mortimer Snerd
25	* ''Film/TheMuppetMovie'' (1979) as Himself/Charlie [=McCarthy=]
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28	!!Tropes displayed in Edgar Bergen's work:
29	* CountryMouse: Mortimer Snerd, whose hayseed clothes, buck teeth, and simple-mindedness contrasted with Charlie [=McCarthy=]'s formal attire and lively wit.
30	* CrossCastRole: Effie Klinker, a female dummy performed by Bergen.
31	* DeadpanSnarker: Charlie [=McCarthy=]
32	* FakeIrish: Bergen, who was of Swedish extraction, gave Charlie [=McCarthy=] a slight Irish lilt.[[note]]The dummy's appearance, and some of his personality, were based on an Irish-American newsboy Bergen was acquainted with in his youth.[[/note]]
33	* HighClassGlass: Charlie [=McCarthy=] sported a monocle along with his IconicOutfit of formal attire and top hat.
34	* OldMaid: Effie Klinker, who's always on the lookout for a man. "''Any'' man."
35	* PlayingAgainstType: Bergen had straight dramatic roles in such films as ''Film/IRememberMama'' and the TV movie ''The Homecoming'' (the latter the pilot movie for ''Series/TheWaltons'').
36	* {{Retirony}}: Bergen's death came in the midst of a two-week engagement in Las Vegas which was to be his farewell to show business before retiring.
37	* SimpletonVoice: Mortimer Snerd sounds like this.
38	* SelfDeprecation: Bergen knew very well that he was not the most skilled ventriloquist around, and Charlie [=McCarthy=] often jabbed that he could see Edgar's lips moving.
39	* ShoutOut:
40	** Charlie [=McCarthy=], or [[{{Expy}} expies]] of him, can be seen in a lot of classic 1930s and '40s animated cartoons.
41	** The voice and appearance of ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' character Beaky Buzzard (and, to a lesser extent, Cecil Turtle) was based on Mortimer Snerd.
42	** Creator/BillCosby did an imitation of Mortimer Snerd in one of the routines ("Special Class") from his ''Wonderfulness'' album.
43	** While not mentioning Bergen by name, Creator/WoodyAllen's 1987 film ''Film/RadioDays'' lampshaded the oddity of a ventriloquist performing on radio.
44	** ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS4E22KrustyGetsKancelled Krusty Gets Kancelled]]" parodied the act with the one-shot comedy team of Arthur Crandall and Gabbo, with Gabbo the dummy being even snarkier and meaner than Charlie [=McCarthy=].
45	* SitcomArchNemesis: Creator/WCFields served as one for Charlie on ''The Chase & Sanborn Hour'', with the two of them VolleyingInsults at each other every week. This carried over into the 1939 film ''You Can't Cheat an Honest Man''.
46	* StraightManAndWiseGuy: Edgar and Charlie, respectively.
47	* VirtualCelebrity: Despite being a character created by Edgar Bergen, Charlie [=McCarthy=] existed in the same space as other celebrities of his era. Not only did he interact with other radio personalities as if he were also a real person, but he was [[CharacterAsHimself credited as himself]] in films and there were magazine articles describing his activities just with like any other celebrity. Some people who heard him on the radio didn't even realize he was a wooden dummy! This was likely Jim Henson's inspiration for doing the same with his own Muppet characters, a tradition [[MuppetCameo that continues to this day]].
48	* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Creator/RankinBassProductions approached Bergen in the 1960s about creating a weekly StopMotion animated series starring him and his dummy characters, and even produced an unaired {{pilot}} episode, but health problems ultimately prevented Bergen from committing.

Context Creator / EdgarBergen