- BORN: Maryan Czaijkoski , in Poland
- FAME: First Superstar of Ventriloquism, The Greatest
Ventriloquist of the Vaudeville Era
- CHARACTERS: Frank Byron, Jr., and Broadway Eddie
- ANECDOTE: For his act, Lester would often drink a
glass of water while Frank spoke. On one occasion in 1925, the
musicians substituted whiskey for the water as a prank. Lester drank
the whiskey without any apparent difference. However, Frank Byron
started coughing and shaking as if he had drunk the whiskey.
- TRIVIA: In 1913 Lester persuaded figure-maker
Theodore Mack to hire young Frank Marzalkiewicz, who was also from
Poland. Marzalkiewicz later changed his name to Frank Marshall.
- SCRIPT: Heaven and
Hell (NEW: now with alternate ending)
- POEM by LESTER:
A Lock of
Hair
- LINK: Biographical Information
www.talkingcomedy.com/SI-Vent-2005/theater-siVENT05/HtgL-THTR-siVENT05.html
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QUESTION: Who made
Frank Byron? Lester or Mack? In the book by Stan Burns and in the
TalkingComedy.com article (which used Burns' book as a source), Lester
reportedly stated that he made his famous figure himself with a little
guidance from Theo Mack. Yet in a 1945 article in Coronet magazine, Mack
is credited with the making of Frank Byron. Mack is more likely the
actual maker. Lester is not known for making any other figures. Read the
article:
CORONET.
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THE GREAT
LESTER on TAPE
Harry Lester's Home Instruction
Course: Booklet & Cassettes
MAIL ORDER COURSE BOOKLET (PDF)
TAPE GUIDE PAMPHLET (PDF)
CASSETTE LESSONS on WMA AUDIO
FILES
TAPE 2: BEGINNING OF ANIMATION
TAPE 20: NEWSPAPER EXERCISE
TAPE 33: IMITATIONS, DISTANT VOICES
TAPE 34: DISTANT VOICE, TELEPHONE
TAPE 40: LESTER’S ADVICE ABOUT ROUTINING
The audio files were reproduced from extremely old
unprofessionally-recorded tapes, and thus the audio quality is often
extremely poor both on the originals and on these copies. These
files, being incomplete (5 of the original 40 tapes), are presented
here primarily for historical purposes.
The MEDIA PAGE |
(at right)
Lester in Hollywood 1953 teaching ventriloquism to actress Joanne Arnold
In 1951 The Great Lester made his only TV appearance. The weekly
program on which he appeared was called You Asked
For It. The pictures below come from that telecast.
The Host was Art Baker. Lester brought three ventriloquist figures
on the program: Frank Byron, Jr., Broadway Eddie, and Elmer Jones.
Most of his performance was with Broadway Eddie because Frank Byron had
retired.
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Copyright © 2006-2013 -Ventriloquist Central
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