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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Lester claimed to have carved his dummy, Frank Byron Jr., himself when he was young.
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Vaudeville Vent – 'The Great' LESTER: 'Grandfather' of Modern Day
Ventriloquism
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number of student recordings have been made available commercially.
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98:; 8 September 1878 – 14 July 1956), best known by his stage name
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The Great Lester with Frank Byron Jr. on his knee, c. 1904
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Lester's main figure, Frank Byron Jr., now resides at
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279:This article about an American entertainer is a
214:Vaudeville: From the Honky-tonks to the Palace.
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87:Young 1897 Harry E. Lester in Thanes The Egg.
216:New York: Henry Holt, 1953. p. 80, 254.
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228:Lester gallery, audio and video recordings
241:27 September 1951 (Windows Media format)
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350:Polish emigrants to the United States
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245:Harry "The Great" Lester Gallery
174:"Stepfather to Charlie McCarthy"
102:, was a Polish-American seminal
16:Polish ventriloquist (1878-1956)
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283:. You can help Knowledge by
234:Only TV appearance of Lester
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230:at VentriloquistCentral.com
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355:American entertainer stubs
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172:Drury, Don (March 1945),
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153:Fort Mitchell, Kentucky
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340:Vaudeville performers
183:: 117, archived from
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247:at Vent Haven Museum
190:on 28 September 2007
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149:Vent Haven Museum
113:Ventriloquist act
96:Maryan Czajkowski
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45:September 8, 1878
35:Maryan Czajkowski
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238:You Asked For It
212:Laurie, Joe Jr.
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100:The Great Lester
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61:(1956-07-14)
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335:1956 deaths
330:1878 births
324:Categories
206:References
104:vaudeville
41:1878-09-08
181:Coronet
120:Coronet
194:11 May
135:Legacy
94:(born
49:Poland
188:(PDF)
177:(PDF)
159:Notes
281:stub
196:2007
56:Died
31:Born
151:in
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
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