The Great Lester
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Harry Lester (born Maryan Czajkowski; 8 September 1878 – 14 July 1956), best known by his stage name The Great Lester, was a Polish-American seminal
vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...
ventriloquist Ventriloquism or ventriloquy is an act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) speaks in such a way that it seems like their voice is coming from a different location, usually through a puppet known as a "dummy". The act of ventrilo ...
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Ventriloquist act

Lester claimed to have carved his dummy, Frank Byron Jr., himself when he was young. ''
Coronet In British heraldry, a coronet is a type of crown that is a mark of rank of non-reigning members of the royal family and peers. In other languages, this distinction is not made, and usually the same word for ''crown'' is used irrespective of ra ...
'' cited Frank Marshall of Chicago as his carver. The most likely provenance of Frank Byron Jr., however, indicates that he came from the Chicago workshop of Theo Mack & Son, probably a number of years before Frank Marshall was employed there. Called the "Grandfather of Modern-Day Ventriloquism", Lester claimed to be the first to drink while his dummy spoke; however, Joe Laurie notes that this trick was first performed in 1821, long before Lester was born. One of Lester's most noted acts was a bit where he called up Heaven and Hell in search of his sister. He was also the first ventriloquist to walk among the audience while his dummy whistled.


Legacy

Lester was also a noted teacher of the art of ventriloquism, having developed a rigorous program of breathing and speech articulation exercises. Students were encouraged to make tape recordings of their sessions with Lester and, as a result, there are many examples of his course to be heard and a number of student recordings have been made available commercially.
Edgar Bergen Edgar John Bergen (né Berggren; February 16, 1903 – September 30, 1978) was an American ventriloquist, comedian, actor, vaudevillian and radio performer. He was best known for his characters Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd. Bergen ...
, one of the most famous ventriloquists of all time, was one of the Great Lester's pupils. Lester's main figure, Frank Byron Jr., now resides at Vent Haven Museum in
Fort Mitchell, Kentucky Fort Mitchell is a home rule-class city in Kenton County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 8,702 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Cincinnati metropolitan area. History Fort Mitchell was the site of one of seven Civil War forti ...
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Notes


References

*Laurie, Joe Jr. ''Vaudeville: From the Honky-tonks to the Palace.'' New York: Henry Holt, 1953. p. 80, 254.


External links


Lester gallery, audio and video recordings
at VentriloquistCentral.com

at Vent Haven Museum *

' at TalkingComedy.com 1878 births 1956 deaths Polish vaudeville performers American vaudeville performers Ventriloquists Polish emigrants to the United States {{US-entertainer-stub