Follow a Star · 1937–1966
Edgar Bergen
A ventriloquist on the radio
The most absurd success in broadcasting: a ventriloquist act on a medium where nobody can see the dummy — and the country's number one programme for years. The journey shows why it worked, which is that Charlie McCarthy was allowed to say things no human comedian would be permitted to say on a Sunday night.
262 recordings across 3 chapters
Chapter 1 · 1937–1956
showing 40 of 255
The Chase and Sanborn Hour
Bergen, McCarthy, Mortimer Snerd and a queue of film stars waiting to be insulted by a block of wood.
- Series
Guest - Ann Harding & Rodgers & Hart
Edgar Bergen and Charlie Mccarthy · 1937 · 59 min
- Series
Guest - Carole Lombard, Joseph Bentoelli
Edgar Bergen and Charlie Mccarthy · 1937 · 59 min
- Series
Guest - Mary Boland, Sonja Henie
Edgar Bergen and Charlie Mccarthy · 1937 · 59 min
- Series
Guest - Josephine Hutchinson, Jose Iturbi
Edgar Bergen and Charlie Mccarthy · 1937 · 59 min
- Series
Guest - Constance Bennett, Ray Middleton
Edgar Bergen and Charlie Mccarthy · 1937 · 59 min
- Series
Guest - Joan Blondell, Rodgers & Hart
Edgar Bergen and Charlie Mccarthy · 1937 · 59 min
- Series
Guest - May Robson, Grisha Goluboff
Edgar Bergen and Charlie Mccarthy · 1937 · 59 min
- Series
Guest - Sonja Henie, Ray Middleton
Edgar Bergen and Charlie Mccarthy · 1937 · 59 min
- Series
Guest - Hoagy Carmichael
Edgar Bergen and Charlie Mccarthy · 1937 · 59 min
- Series
Guest - Gladys George
Edgar Bergen and Charlie Mccarthy · 1937 · 59 min
- Series
Guest - Bruna Castagna
Edgar Bergen and Charlie Mccarthy · 1937 · 59 min
- Series
Guest - Nelson Eddy
Edgar Bergen and Charlie Mccarthy · 1937 · 59 min
- Series
Guest - Alice Brady, Allan Jones
Edgar Bergen and Charlie Mccarthy · 1937 · 59 min
- Series
Guest - Glenda Farrell
Edgar Bergen and Charlie Mccarthy · 1937 · 59 min
- Series
Final appearance by W C Fields as a regular cast member
Edgar Bergen and Charlie Mccarthy · 1937 · 59 min
- Series
Guest - Ida Lupino
Edgar Bergen and Charlie Mccarthy · 1937 · 59 min
- Series
Guest - Bette Davis
Edgar Bergen and Charlie Mccarthy · 1937 · 59 min
- Series
Guest - Clark Gable, The Stroud Twins
Edgar Bergen and Charlie Mccarthy · 1937 · 59 min
- Series
Guest - Mae West
Edgar Bergen and Charlie Mccarthy · 1937 · 1h 0m
- Series
Edger Bergen Remembers Radio Part 1
Edgar Bergen and Charlie Mccarthy · 1937 · 28 min
- Series
Edger Bergen Remembers Radio Part 2
Edgar Bergen and Charlie Mccarthy · 1937 · 23 min
- Series
Tribute to Edgar Bergen - "The Skunk Trap" With W C Fields & 1971 KSFO Interview (date approximate)
Edgar Bergen and Charlie Mccarthy · 1937 · 19 min
- Series
Guest - Jack Benny
Edgar Bergen and Charlie Mccarthy · 1937 · 20 min
- Series
Guest - Margo
Edgar Bergen and Charlie Mccarthy · 1938 · 59 min
- Series
Guest - Margaret Sullavan
Edgar Bergen and Charlie Mccarthy · 1938 · 59 min
- Series
Guest - Alice Brady
Edgar Bergen and Charlie Mccarthy · 1938 · 59 min
- Series
Guest - Boris Karloff
Edgar Bergen and Charlie Mccarthy · 1938 · 59 min
- Series
Guest - Marlene Dietrich
Edgar Bergen and Charlie Mccarthy · 1938 · 59 min
- Series
Guest - Barbara Stanwyck
Edgar Bergen and Charlie Mccarthy · 1938 · 59 min
- Series
Guest - Gladys Swarthout
Edgar Bergen and Charlie Mccarthy · 1938 · 59 min
- Series
Guest - Rosalind Russell
Edgar Bergen and Charlie Mccarthy · 1938 · 59 min
- Series
Guest - Spencer Tracy
Edgar Bergen and Charlie Mccarthy · 1938 · 59 min
- Series
Guest - Fay Bainter
Edgar Bergen and Charlie Mccarthy · 1938 · 57 min
- Series
Guest - Ella Logan, Nelson Eddy
Edgar Bergen and Charlie Mccarthy · 1938 · 57 min
- Series
Guest - Ralph Bellamy, Nelson Eddy
Edgar Bergen and Charlie Mccarthy · 1938 · 59 min
- Series
Guest - Madeleine Carroll
Edgar Bergen and Charlie Mccarthy · 1938 · 59 min
- Series
Guest - Guest Jean Arthur
Edgar Bergen and Charlie Mccarthy · 1938 · 21 min
- Series
Guest - Maureen O'Sullivan
Edgar Bergen and Charlie Mccarthy · 1939 · 59 min
- Series
Guest - Ginger Rogers
Edgar Bergen and Charlie Mccarthy · 1939 · 59 min
- Series
Guest - Jackie Cooper, Alan Mowbray
Edgar Bergen and Charlie Mccarthy · 1939 · 59 min
Chapter 2 · 1942–1949
For the forces
Command Performance and Mail Call turns whose titles name Bergen or McCarthy.
- Series
Gene Tierney, Edgar Bergen, Betty Hutton
Command Performance · 1942 · 29 min
- Series
Betty Grable, Judy Canova, Bergen & McCarthy
Command Performance · 1942 · 29 min
- Series
Herbert Marshall, Bergen and McCarthy
Command Performance · 1943 · 29 min
- Series
Edgar Bergen, Ingrid Bergman, Marion Hutton
Mail Call · 1945 · 31 min
- Series
03 (40) Betty Grable, Judy Canova, Bergen & McCarthy
Command Performance · 1948 · 29 min
- Series
27 (94) Herbert Marshall, Bergen and McCarthy
Command Performance · 1948 · 29 min
- Series
23 (314) Martha Tilton, Edgar Bergen
Command Performance · 1948 · 29 min
Chapter 3 · 1937–1955
Charlie McCarthy elsewhere
The dummy had a bigger guest career than most actors. These are the other transfers that name him.
Nothing survives in the archive under this heading yet. The chapter stays here rather than being quietly dropped, because the gap is part of the record.
Follow someone else