The Great Lester: Difference between revisions

The Great Lester
The Great Lester
Born	Maryan Czajkowski; September 8, 1878; Poland
Died	July 14, 1956 (aged 77); United States

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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 ventriloquist. He was a cousin of composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.^[1]

Ventriloquist act

Lester claimed to have carved his dummy, Frank Byron Jr., himself when he was young. Coronet cited Frank Marshall of Chicago as his carver.^[2] 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.

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, 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.

Notes

^ "The Great Lester". 29 September 2021.
^ Drury, Don (March 1945), "Stepfather to Charlie McCarthy" (PDF), Coronet: 117, archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2007, retrieved 11 May 2007

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
Only TV appearance of Lester You Asked For It 27 September 1951 (Windows Media format)
Harry "The Great" Lester Gallery at Vent Haven Museum
Vaudeville Vent – 'The Great' LESTER: 'Grandfather' of Modern Day Ventriloquism at TalkingComedy.com

This article about an entertainer is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] "The Great Lester". 29 September 2021.

[2] Drury, Don (March 1945), "Stepfather to Charlie McCarthy" (PDF), Coronet: 117, archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2007, retrieved 11 May 2007

[1]

[2]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Short description|Polish ventriloquist (1878-1956)}}
+{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
+{{Infobox person
+|name = The Great Lester
+|birth_name = Maryan Czajkowski
+|birth_date = {{Birth date|1878|09|08}}
+|birth_place = [[Poland]]
+|death_date = {{Death date and age|1956|07|14|1878|09|08}}
+|death_place = [[United States]]
+}}
 [[File:The GreatLester 1904 - Wielki Lester 1904.png|thumb|right|320px|The Great Lester with Frank Byron Jr. on his knee, c. 1904]]
+[[File:S-l1600 (15).jpg|thumb|Young 1897 Harry E. Lester in Thanes The Egg.]]
-'''Hernan B''' (1878 &ndash; 1956), born '''Maryan Czajkowski''' in [[Poland]], best known by his stage name '''Big homie Hernan''', was a seminal [[vaudeville]] [[ventriloquist]].
+'''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]] [[ventriloquist]]. He was a cousin of composer [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.wxpr.org/arts-culture/2021-09-29/the-great-lester?_amp=true | title=The Great Lester | date=29 September 2021 }}</ref>
 ==Ventriloquist act==
-Hernan claimed to have carved his dummy, Frank Byron Jr., himself when he was young. ''[[Coronet (magazine)|Coronet]]'' cited Frank Marshall of West New york as his carver.<ref>{{Citation | last = Drury | first = Don | title = Stepfather to Charlie McCarthy | journal = Coronet | volume = | issue = | pages = 117 |date = March 1945| url = http://www.ventriloquistcentral.com/tribute/makers/coronet.pdf|format=PDF}}</ref>  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.
+Lester claimed to have carved his dummy, Frank Byron Jr., himself when he was young. ''[[Coronet (magazine)|Coronet]]'' cited Frank Marshall of Chicago as his carver.<ref>{{Citation | last = Drury | first = Don | title = Stepfather to Charlie McCarthy | journal = Coronet | pages = 117 | date = March 1945 | url = http://www.ventriloquistcentral.com/tribute/makers/coronet.pdf | access-date = 11 May 2007 | archive-date = 28 September 2007 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070928010715/http://www.ventriloquistcentral.com/tribute/makers/coronet.pdf | url-status = dead }}</ref> 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 "Bighomie of Modern-Day Ventriloquism", Hernan claimed to be the first to drink while his dummy spoke; however, Joe Laurie notes that this trick was first performed in 1821.
+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.
-One of Hernan'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.
+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==
@@ Line 23: / Line 34: @@
 ==External links==
+{{Commons category}}
 *[http://www.ventriloquistcentral.com/ventriloquism-tribute/the-great-lester/ Lester gallery, audio and video recordings] at VentriloquistCentral.com
 *[http://www.ventriloquistcentral.com/tribute/video/lester.wmv Only TV appearance of Lester] ''[[You Asked For It]]'' 27 September 1951 (Windows Media format)
 *[http://www.venthavenmuseum.net/images/galleries/gallery4.html Harry "The Great" Lester Gallery] at Vent Haven Museum
-*''[http://www.talkingcomedy.com/SI-Vent-12005/theater-siVENT05/HtgL-THTR-siVENT05.html Vaudeville Vent - 'The Great' LESTER: 'Grandfather' of Modern Day Ventriloquism]'' at TalkingComedy.com
+*''[http://www.talkingcomedy.com/SI-Vent-12005/theater-siVENT05/HtgL-THTR-siVENT05.html Vaudeville Vent – 'The Great' LESTER: 'Grandfather' of Modern Day Ventriloquism]'' at TalkingComedy.com
+{{Authority control}}
-{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2010}}
 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lester, The Great}}
 [[Category:1878 births]]
 [[Category:1956 deaths]]
-[[Category:Jewish entertainers]]
 [[Category:Vaudeville performers]]
 [[Category:Ventriloquists]]
-[[Category:Jewish American entertainers]]
+[[Category:Polish emigrants to the United States]]
-[[Category:American people of Polish-Jewish descent]]
 {{Entertainer-stub}}