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Senor Wences: Loved as ventriloquist on TV
April 21, 1999
FREE PRESS NEWS SERVICES NEW YORK -- Senor Wences, the master ventriloquist who delighted "Ed Sullivan Show" audiences with his puppet-head-in-a-box, Pedro, and his falsetto-voiced hand-puppet, Johnny, died Tuesday at 103.
The Spanish-born ventriloquist, whose real name was Wenceslao Moreno, died at home in New York City.
During the 1950s, Mr. Moreno bickered and bantered with his puppets while he drank, smoked and juggled.
He conversed with Pedro, a head in a box ("S'OK?" "S'AWRIGHT"). And he was defeated by Johnny, who boasted, "Deefeecult for you; easy for me."
Mr. Moreno created Johnny by scrunching up his fist, drawing a mouth where thumb and index finger met, and draping a blond wig over the top.
His character Pedro was a gravelly voiced head in a box, born of necessity when Mr. Moreno's ventriloquist's dummy was accidentally damaged and only the head was spared.
Mr. Moreno would talk to his puppets with his face right in theirs, as if daring the audience to watch his lips -- which, of course, never moved.
He would stuff a hankie in Johnny's mouth and have the puppet speak with a muffled voice while he himself smoked a cigarette. Then he would give Johnny a drag, and the puppet -- that is, Mr. Moreno's hand -- would somehow emit perfect smoke rings.
Mr. Moreno also entertained four presidents, toured with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, did a Broadway show with Danny Kaye, and played casinos in Las Vegas. He was born in Penarada, Spain.
April 21, 1999
FREE PRESS NEWS SERVICES NEW YORK -- Senor Wences, the master ventriloquist who delighted "Ed Sullivan Show" audiences with his puppet-head-in-a-box, Pedro, and his falsetto-voiced hand-puppet, Johnny, died Tuesday at 103.
The Spanish-born ventriloquist, whose real name was Wenceslao Moreno, died at home in New York City.
During the 1950s, Mr. Moreno bickered and bantered with his puppets while he drank, smoked and juggled.
He conversed with Pedro, a head in a box ("S'OK?" "S'AWRIGHT"). And he was defeated by Johnny, who boasted, "Deefeecult for you; easy for me."
Mr. Moreno created Johnny by scrunching up his fist, drawing a mouth where thumb and index finger met, and draping a blond wig over the top.
His character Pedro was a gravelly voiced head in a box, born of necessity when Mr. Moreno's ventriloquist's dummy was accidentally damaged and only the head was spared.
Mr. Moreno would talk to his puppets with his face right in theirs, as if daring the audience to watch his lips -- which, of course, never moved.
He would stuff a hankie in Johnny's mouth and have the puppet speak with a muffled voice while he himself smoked a cigarette. Then he would give Johnny a drag, and the puppet -- that is, Mr. Moreno's hand -- would somehow emit perfect smoke rings.
Mr. Moreno also entertained four presidents, toured with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, did a Broadway show with Danny Kaye, and played casinos in Las Vegas. He was born in Penarada, Spain.
