The Great Lester

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]

The Great Lester
Born
Maryan Czajkowski

(1878-09-08)September 8, 1878
Poland
DiedJuly 14, 1956(1956-07-14) (aged 77)
United States
The Great Lester with Frank Byron Jr. on his knee, c. 1904
Young 1897 Harry E. Lester in Thanes The Egg.

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
  1. https://www.wxpr.org/arts-culture/2021-09-29/the-great-lester?_amp=true
  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

References
  • Laurie, Joe Jr. Vaudeville: From the Honky-tonks to the Palace. New York: Henry Holt, 1953. p. 80, 254.
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