Ventriloquism, or ventriloquy, is an act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) creates the illusion that their voice is coming from elsewhere, usually a puppeteered prop, known as a "dummy". The act of ventriloquism is ventriloquizing, and the ability to do so is commonly called in English the ability to "throw" one's voice.
Originally, ventriloquism was a religious practice. The name comes from the Latin for to speak from the stomach, i.e. venter (belly) and loqui (speak). The Greeks called this gastromancy (Greek: εγγαστριμυθία). The noises produced by the stomach were thought to be the voices of the unliving, who took up residence in the stomach of the ventriloquist. The ventriloquist would then interpret the sounds, as they were thought to be able to speak to the dead, as well as foretell the future. One of the earliest recorded group of prophets to use this technique was the Pythia, the priestess at the temple of Apollo in Delphi, who acted as the conduit for the Delphic Oracle.
Ventriloquist Darci Lynne
Pythia: Oracle and High Priestess of Delphi
One of the most successful early gastromancers was Eurykles, a prophet at Athens: gastromancers came to be referred to as Euryklides in his honour. Other parts of the world also have a tradition of ventriloquism for ritual or religious purposes; historically there have been adepts of this practice among the Zulu, Inuit, and Māori peoples. The shift from ventriloquism as manifestation of spiritual forces toward ventriloquism as entertainment happened in the eighteenth century at the travelling funfairs and market towns. An early depiction of a ventriloquist dates to 1754 in England, where Sir John Parnell is depicted in the painting "An Election Entertainment: by William Hogarth as speaking via his hand. In 1757, the Austrian Baron de Mengen performed with a small doll.
WILLIAM HOGARTH (1697-1764) British An Election Entertainment From the Humours of an Election
Series Oil on canvas 141 x 111 cms,
By the late 18th century, ventriloquist performances were an established form of entertainment in England, although most performers threw their voice to make it appear that it emanated from far away, rather than the modern method of using a puppet. A well-known ventriloquist of the period, Joseph Askins, who performed at the Sadler's Wells Theatre in London in the 1790s advertised his act as "curious ad libitum Dialogues between himself and his invisible familiar, Little Tommy". However, other performers were beginning to incorporate dolls or puppets into their performance, notably the Irishman James Burne who "... carries in his pocket, an ill-shaped doll, with a broad face, which he exhibits ... as giving utterance to his own childish jargon," and Thomas Garbutt.
Oriel Ross, 1907-1994
Portrait of a Ventriloquist and his Dummy -
pencil and watercolour
34 x 24 cm 13.1/4 x 9.3/4 in.
The entertainment came of age during the era of the music hall in the United Kingdom and vaudeville in the United States. George Sutton began to incorporate a puppet act into his routine at Nottingham in the 1830s, but it is Fred Russell who is regarded as the father of modern ventriloquism. In 1886, he was offered a professional engagement at the Palace Theatre in London and took up his stage career permanently. His act, based on the cheeky-boy dummy "Coster Joe" that would sit in his lap and 'engage in a dialogue' with him was highly influential for the entertainment format and was adopted by the next generation of performers. (A blue plaque has been embedded in a former residence of Russell by the British Heritage Society which reads 'Fred Russell the father of ventriloquism lived here').
Fred Russell
(1862 – 1957)
The Father Of Modern Ventriloquism
Born Thomas Frederick Parnell on September 29, 1862 in Poplar, east London. In 1879, at the age of 16, he took up ventriloquism as a hobby and studied with Frederic Maccabe*, a famous ventriloquist of the day. Later that year, at the age of 17, Parnell performed on stage for the first time. In 1882, he took up journalism as a profession. Parnell married Elizabeth White in 1883. Over the course of their marriage they would have six children. To support his family, he was working as the chief reporter and later became the editor of the Hackney and Kingsland Gazette. Parnell made his semi-professional debut as a ventriloquist in August 1886. He changed his name to Fred Russell for the stage. According to his obituary in The Times, he changed his name because of the political flavour of “Parnell”. Charles Morton, the music hall impresario, saw Russell’s ventriloquism act. He offered Russell a one-week engagement at the Palace Theatre in 1896. Russell quickly dropped his journalism career for the stage. After what was initially supposed to be a one-week residence at the Palace Theatre, Russell was extended. His run at the Palace turned into an 82-week stint of 400 performances. This run turned Fred Russell into a star.
At the time, most ventriloquists performed with a group of three to ten mechanical figures. Russell felt a quick set-up, along with short, punchy performances would work better on the variety stage. Russell is often credited with inventing the single small doll, perched on the ventriloquist’s knee. The truth is, there was more to Russell’s genius than that. Russell started performing with just one character: Cockney ‘Coster Joe’. Russell endowed ‘Coster Joe’ with a personality. This was something that had been lacking in other ventriloquist performances. With a fast-paced verbal banter between ventriloquist and dummy, Russell established new roles. The ‘vent’ became the ‘straight man’ and the dummy was cracking the jokes. This concept was pioneering and literally revolutionized the presentation of ventriloquism. Russell’s act set a precedent. His work influenced Edgar Bergen, Paul Winchell, and even Jeff Dunham. The comedy team format for ventriloquism has survived with little variation ever since. This is why Fred Russell is known as the Father of Modern Ventriloquism.
In 1932, Fred Russell appeared on the Royal Variety Performance at the London Palladium. In 1948 Russell was awarded the OBE, which stands for The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. The OBE is an order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences.
Russell continued to perform, doing televised music hall performances in 1952, billed as “the oldest ventriloquist in the world”. In 1955, Russell made a guest appearance on Ed Sullivan’s “Toast of the Town” which aired on October 30, 1955.
Fred Russell died in Wembley, England on October 14, 1957 at the age of 95.
Fred Russell lived in Kenilworth Court in Putney, London, from 1914 to 1926. A blue plaque by the entrance of Kenilworth Court commemorates him.
Fred Russell's successful comedy team format was applied by the next generation of ventriloquists. It was taken forward by the British Arthur Prince with his dummy Sailor Jim, who became one of the highest paid entertainers on the music hall circuit, and by the Americans The Great Lester, Frank Byron Jr.. and Edgar Bergen. Bergen popularized the idea of the comedic ventriloquist. Bergen, together with his favourite figure, Charlie McCarthy, hosted a radio program that was broadcast from 1937 to 1956. It was the #1 program on the nights it aired. Bergen continued performing until his death in 1978, and his popularity inspired many other famous ventriloquists who followed him, including Paul Winchell, Jimmy Nelson, David Strassman, Jeff Dunham, Terry Fator, Ronn Lucas, Wayland Flowers, Shari Lewis, Willie Tyler, Jay Johnson, Nina Conti, Paul Zerdin, and Darci Lynne. Another ventriloquist popular in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s was Señor Wences.
Arthur Prince (1936)
Arthur Prince (1936)
The Great Lester Ventriloquist Extrordanaire
The Great Lester Ventriloquist Extrordanaire
Harry Lester (8 September 1878 – 14 July 1956), born Maryan Czajkowski in Poland, best known by his stage name The Great Lester, was a seminal vaudeville ventriloquist. Vaudeville meaning (A theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the ened of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition or light poetry, interspersed with songs or ballets. It became popular in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s, but the idea of vaudeville's theatre changed radically from its French antecedent.
The Great Lester and his ventriloquist doll answering the phone.
Lester claimed to have carved his dummy, Frank Byron Jr., himself when he was young. Coronet (Magazine) cited Frank Marshall of Chicago as his carver. 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. 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.
Yeshwant Keshav Padhye was the pioneering Indian Ventriloquist who started ventriloquism in India in the 1920's. He was also a puppetter and maker. As a magician he performed magic shows in India. Eventually he brought puppets from England and then slowly started performing ventriloquism. Padhye started by performing magic shows at small functions when the entertainment industry was in its infancy. However he created a niche for himself when he started combining magic and puppetry. He brought the puppets from England to include in his shows, later gradually introducing ventriloquism, teaching himself from a book which he ordered from U.S.A. This excited audiences as they had never seen a lively ventriloquial puppet talk. Once the art of ventriloquism gained popularity, he also received offers from film makers. His puppets were featured in one Hindi film called Akeli Mat Jaiyo. His famous puppet "Ardhavatrao" appeared along with actor Rajendra Kumar. The puppet was operated by Padhye himself. The music of the film was composed by Madan Mohan with lyrics by Majrooh Sultanpuri. Y.K. Padhye's son Ramdas Padhye, his daughter-in-law Aparna, and his grandsons Satyajit and Parikshit are also ventriloquists and puppeteers in the entertainment field.
Yeshwant Keshav Padhye
Y.K. Padhye
Satyajit Padhye Showreel - Ventriloquist, Puppeteer and Stand-Up Comic
Satyajit Padhye Showreel - Ventriloquist, Puppeteer and Stand-Up Comic
Satyajit Ramdas Padhye
Venky Monkey, Shanthakumar, Dr. K. Rao, an Equine Veterinary Surgeon serving for a reputeed Stud Farm in India and Mimicry Srinivos, the disciples of M. M. Roy, popularized this art by giving shows in India and abroad in thousands of numbers. Mimicrist Srinivos, in particular, did several experiments in ventriloquism. He has popularized this art, calling it "Sound illusion", which was the topic of interest pertaining to the late M M Roy. He goes into the audience without a microphone and entertains with point blank sound illusion in addition to entertaining on stage with dummies.
Prof. M M Roy ( Prof. Mangal Roy) was an active Ventriloquist in India between the years 1944 and 2011. Unfortunately he failed to get the required credit that was due for him to spread the art of ventriloquism in India which he inherited through his father who was a magician and Ventriloquist.
Ventriloquism's popularity waned for a while. In the UK in 2010, there were only 15 full-time professional ventriloquists, down from around 400 in the 1950s and 60s. A number of modern ventriloquists have developed a following as the public taste for live comedy grows. In 2007, Zillah & Totte won the first season of Sweden's Got Talent and became one of Sweden's most popular family/children entertainers. A feature-length documentary about ventriloquism, I'm No Dummy, was released in 2010. Three ventriloquists have won America's Got Talent: Terry Fator in 2007, Paul Zerdin in 2015 and Darci Lynne in 2017.
Zillah & Totte
Back in monkey business - Totte (g)apar igen
Back in monkey business - Totte (g)apar igen
Zillah & Totte is a Swedish ventriloquist act consisting of Cecilia "Zillah" Ustav and her puppet monkey Totte. Zillah was the winner of the first season of Talang, Sweden's version of Got Talent, in 2007, and received the 1,000,000 SEK prize. The following year she won the gold medal in the World Championships of Performing Arts in Hollywood and was awarded the title of Grand Champion of the World in the Variety class. Since then she has hosted four seasons of her own TV show called APTV med Zillah & Totte on the major Swedish television network TV4, and two seasons of the hidden camera show Cheeese on Swedish Nickelodeon. She continues touring with her family entertainment comedy show all over Sweden. Zillah also does voice acting and plays the lead in the Swedish version of Henry Hugglemonster on Disney Junior. Totte is a three year old chimpanzee with three major interests in life: girls, money and soccer.
Terry Fator America's Got Talent All Performances
Terry Fator America's Got Talent All Performances
Terry Wayne Fator born June 10th, 1965) is an American ventriloquist, impressionist, stand-up comedian, and singer from Dallas, Texas. Fator does ventriloquial impersonations, and uses 15 different puppets in his act. He was the winner of season two of America's Got Talent, and received the million dollar prize. The following year, he was signed on as the headliner at The Mirage hotel and casino in Las Vegas, Nevada with a five-year, $100 million contract. The beginning of Fator's ventriloquism career dates back to when he was in fifth grade. While searching for a book for an assignment on Valentine's Day, he came across a book about ventriloquism titled, Ventriloquism for Fun and Profit, by Paul Winchell. Fator checked out the book and started learning about ventriloquism. A few weeks later, Fator purchased a Willie Talk dummy from Sears and soon won a $25 prize for a performance at a church picnic.
Fator got his first ventriloquism dummy when he was ten years old. Throughout his childhood, Fator entertained family and friends with his ventriloquism and did impersonations of singers and actors. Fator's mother saved up her money for three years and bought him his first puppet when he was 18 years old. Fator says he found he had the ability to impersonate singers by practicing ventriloquism while driving his car. "One of the reasons I learned how to sing as a ventriloquist was because I like singing in the car," Fator says. "I’d see other people singing in the car, and they looked goofy, so I’d do it without moving my lips."
Before appearing on America's Got Talent, Fator had almost given up on achieving success in show business as a ventriloquist. "It wasn't easy trying to keep going all these years, and by the time I was in my late 30s, I wasn't sure it was ever going to happen," says Fator. On June 19th, 2007, Fator made his first national appearance on America's Got Talent. Speaking on the experience, he said, "Not in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would win that show ... Essentially I auditioned because the guy that was the ventriloquist the first season got on Late Show with David Letterman... So I figured I'd do three episodes like he did and end up on 'David Letterman'." After winning the show, Fator actually had to turn the Letterman gig down fourteen times before his schedule was clear so he could appear. "My schedule got so packed, and it broke my heart every time I had to turn him down," Fator says.
Ventriloquists Terry Fator and Darci Lynne perform on Wednesday's "America's Got Talent" Season 12 finale. Photo by Trae Patton, NBC
When Fator first came on stage, judge and Nightrider star David Hasselhoff said, "Oh, no, a ventriloquist." "I was thinking, there's no way I would win," Fator says. "I gave myself zero percent [chance]." The judges, Piers Morgan, Sharon Osbourne and David Hasselhoff loved Fator and he won the competition. Judge Piers Morgan told Fator "You’re a great impersonator, a great singer and a great comedian." "You put a twist on the whole being a ventriloquist thing," added Judge Sharon Osbourne. Even Simon Cowell approved. "Simon Cowell said Fator was one of the top two entertainers on the planet," says the ventriliquist expert. "And getting a compliment from Simon Cowell, well, not many people get a compliment like that." On May 30th, 2013, Fator celebrated his 1,000th show at The Mirage Hotel & Casino.
This is a list of character names for the puppets that Fator uses during his shows at The Mirage:
Winston the Impersonating Turtle – Fator's main puppet. A talking turtle who can do impressions; designed by Paul Andrejco and built by Puppet Heap.
Walter T. Airdale – A country singer.
Emma Taylor – A little girl who sings and does impressions of female singers (mostly Etta James, for example); designed by Paul Andrejco and built by Puppet Heap.
Maynard Thompkins – The world's most famous Elvis impersonator who does not know any songs by Elvis.
Julius – A soul singer; people are sometimes initially shocked by Julius as an African-American puppet: designed by Lauren Attinello and built by Puppet Heap.
Monte Carlo (formerly known as Johnny Vegas) – A lounge singer; often impersonating Dean Martin, Tony Bennett, etec.
Duggie Scott Walker – Introduced as Fator's annoying neighbor, he is a heavy metal music lover; loves AC/DC. Guns N' Roses, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and others; partied so much at concerts he always thinks there are strobe lights flashing; designed by Paul Andrejco and built by Puppet Heap.
Vikki the Cougar – A (perpetual) 49-year-old female singer, singing songs from the Pussycat Dolls as an example; as her name implies, she prefers dating younger men, between the ages of 21 and 25, as she revealed in an interview for Las Vegas CBS affiliate KLAS-TV; built by Axtell Expressions.
Hyphen - The 5th member of The Beatles until he got kicked out and decided to go solo.
Wrex the Crash Test Dummy – A crash test dummy that sings automobile--themed songs; designed by Paul Andrejco and built by Puppet Heap.
Barry Fabulous - Terry's attorney.
Rusty the Robot - The Mirage's prototype robot, designed to do the jobs of any or all employees.
Fernando V. Francisco - A lover of beautiful women and beautiful songs, if Julio Iglesias and the Most Interesting Man in the World had a child it would be Fernando.
Kani Kapila - A popular Hawaiian singer.
In recent years, Fator has created numerous puppets based on real performers:
Bing Crosby - based on multimedia star Bing Crosby
Donald Trump - based on billionaire and 45th President of the United States.
Singer and songwriter David Bowie, Painist and singer Elton John, Michael Jackson, based on The King of Pop: singer dancer and actor Michael Jackson.
Paul McCartney - based on one of the members of the popular band, "The Beatles."
Justin Bieber - based on the Canadian singer-songwriter, Sammy Davis Jr, based on The Candy Man: singer and dancer. Others include Willie Nelson, Old Blue Eyes Frank Sinatra and Singer and songwriter Stevie Wonder.
Fator was the lead singer of a local band called Texas The Band during the late-1980s through 2001, and met his first wife, Melinda, after she began to follow the band extensively. They married on January 8, 1991. Melinda left Terry in January 2009 and returned to Texas from Las Vegas where they had recently moved. She filed for divorce in February 2009 in Texas. Terry married Taylor Makakoa (who, identified in the closing credits as "Taylor Dew", appears on Terry's DVD as his on-stage assistant) in Las Vegas. They had a wedding ceremony in Hawaii on November 7, 2010. After 4 years of marriage Terry and Taylor divorced. In April 2015 Terry was performing for a charity event in Corsicana TX and his sister Debi Beard had hired a caterer with the intention of hiring to set Terry up with Angela Fiore. Angie and Terry began to date and Terry proposed to Angie Fiore on stage in 2015, and subsequently married Angie Fiore a few months later in November 2015.
In 2007 Fator performed a benefit for families of miners in Huntington, Utah. In 2010, Fator did a doodle for a charity celebrity doodle auction for Neurofibromatosis, more commonly known as NF. 100% of the profit from all the doodles went to help families with NF. On September 3, 2007, Fator made a special appearance in the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon at the South Point Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, thanking the crowd for the support. He brought back Emma Taylor to sing "At Last" and Winston the Turtle to sing "What a Wonderful World". He returned to the Telethon on September 1, 2008 and brought Julius to sing "Only You" from The Platters, Marvin Gaye's song, "Let's Get It On," and "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley. Maynard Thomkins was also brought on to sing "Viva Las Vegas" to finish the show. Fator made his 3rd consecutive telethon appearance (this time via satellite from his showroom during a performance of his show) on September 6, 2009 with puppets The Fifth Beatle and Vikki The Cougar with special guests The Commodores, who joined Fator performing "Brick House". All proceeds from Fator's original song "Horses in Heaven" go to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
Terry Fator ~ Horses in Heaven
Terry Fator ~ Horses in Heaven
One difficulty ventriloquists face is that all the sounds that they make must be made with lips slightly separated. For the labial sounds f, v, b, p, and m, the only choice is to replace them with others. A widely parodied example of this difficulty is the "gottle o' gear", from the reputed inability of less skilled practitioners to pronounce "bottle of beer".[10] If variations of the sounds th, d, t, and n are spoken quickly, it can be difficult for listeners to notice a difference. Modern ventriloquists use a variety of different types of puppets in their presentations, ranging from soft cloth or foam puppets (Verna Finly's work is a pioneering example), flexible latex puppets (such as Steve Axtell's creations) and the traditional and familiar hard-headed knee figure (Tim Selberg's mechanized carvings). The classic dummies used by ventriloquists (the technical name for which is ventriloquial figure) vary in size anywhere from twelve inches tall to human-size and larger, with the height usually falling between thirty-four and forty-two inches. Traditionally, this type of puppet has been made from papier--mâché or wood. In modern times, other materials are often employed, including fiberglass-reinforced resins, urethanes, filled (rigid) latex, and neoprene.
Great names in the history of dummy making include Jeff Dunham, Frank Marshall (the Chicago creator of Bergen's Charlie McCarthy, Nelson's Danny O'Day, and Winchell's Jerry Mahoney), Theo Mack and Son (Mack carved Charlie McCarthy's head), Revello Petee, Kenneth Spencer, Cecil Gough, and Glen & George McElroy. The McElroy brothers' figures are still considered by many ventriloquists as the apex of complex movement mechanics, with as many as fifteen facial and head movements controlled by interior finger keys and switches. Jeff Dunham referred to his McElroy figure Skinny Duggan as "the Stradivarius of dummies." The Juro Novelty Company also manufactured dummies.
Jeff Dunham
LIVE! In the workshop building the next character! AMA (Ask Me Anything) | JEFF DUNHAM
LIVE! In the workshop building the next character! AMA (Ask Me Anything) | JEFF DUNHAM
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jeff Dunham (born April, 1962) is an American ventriloquist and stand-up comedian who has also appeared on numerous television shows, including Star Search, Late Show with David Letterman, Comedy Central Presents, The Tonight Show and Sonny With a Chance. He is familiar to Comedy Central audiences for his three specials on that network: Jeff Dunham: Arguing with Myself, Jeff Dunham: Spark of Insanity, and Jeff Dunham's Very Special Christmas Special. Dunham also starred in The Jeff Dunham Show for one season on the network in 2009.[1] His style has been described as "a dressed-down, more digestible version of Don Rickles with multiple personality disorder". Describing his characters, Time observes, "All of them are politically incorrect, gratuitously insulting and ill tempered." Dunham has been credited with reviving ventriloquism, and doing more to promote the art form than anyone since Edgar Bergen.
Dunham has been called "America's favorite comedian" by Slate.com, and according to the concert industry publication Pollstar, he is the top-grossing standup act in North America, and is among the most successful acts in Europe as well. As of March 2009, he has sold over four million DVDs, an additional 7 million dollars in merchandise sales, and received more than 350 million hits on YouTube (his introduction of Achmed the Dead Terrorist in Spark of Insanity is the ninth most watched YouTube video). A Very Special Christmas Special was the most-watched telecast in Comedy Central history, with its DVD going quadruple platinum (selling over 400,000) in its first two weeks. Forbes.com ranked Dunham as the third highest-paid comedian in the United States behind Jerry Seinfeld and Chris Rock, and reported that he was one of the highest-earning comics from June 2008 to June 2009, earning approximately $30 million during that period.
Top 10 Videos of the Decade! | Jeff Dunham
Top 10 Videos of the Decade! | Jeff Dunham
.jpg)
Magic is a 1978 American psychological horror film starring Anthony Hopkins, Ann-Margret and Burgess Meredith. The film, which was directed by Richard Attenborough, is based on a screenplay by William Goldman, who also wrote the novel upon which it was based. The musical score was composed by Jerry Goldsmith. The film received positive reviews from critics receiving a "certified fresh" 83% on Rotten Tomatoes. Film critic Gene Siskel gave the film a very positive review, and ranked it at #9 on his list of the 10 best films of 1978. However, The Science Fiction, Horror and Fantasy Film Review 1990 writeup of the film remarks that Hopkins appears stiff in the lead role, but praised the supporting cast: "Ann-Margret...invests her role with a considerable sparkle. Particularly good is the great and underrated Burgess Meredith whose sharp and alert Hollywood agent is a real plum of a performance.
Magic 1978 720p Unknown TINYMZ।।HD।।Full Movie...
Magic 1978 720p Unknown TINYMZ।।HD।।Full Movie...
Pilot - It's Magic • TopPop
Pilot - It's Magic • TopPop
FNAF SONG "The Puppet Song Duet" (Animated)
FNAF SONG "The Puppet Song Duet" (Animated)
The Twilight Zone - The Dummy
The Twilight Zone - The Dummy
Devil Doll is a 1964 British horror film about an evil ventriloquist, "The Great Vorelli", and his dummy Hugo, directed by Lindsay Shonteff. It stars William Syvester and Yvonne Romain.
PLOT SYNOPSIS
Hypnotist/magician "The Great Vorelli" )Bryant Haliday) and his dummy Hugo perform before a packed audience in London. The audience observes tension between the ventriloquist and his dummy. American reporter Mark English (William Sylvester) becomes fascinated with Vorelli, and solicits his girlfriend Marianne Horn (Yvonne Romain) to go with him to another show. From the beginning, the film drops strong hints that Hugo is actually alive and mobile. At the following show, Vorelli asks a member of his audience onto the stage. When no one volunteers, English encourages Marianne to go up. Vorelli succeeds in hypnotizing her and making her dance the Twist with an uncredited Ray Landor, an "expert in modern dance". Marianne is left partially hypnotized by Vorelli, who recognizes her as a wealthy heiress. English, wanting to do a story on Vorelli and his unique powers, gets Marianne to invite Vorelli to her aunt's charity ball. Vorelli has already decided to go to the ball, having read about it in the newspaper and seeing it as an opportunity to seduce Marianne.
The night of the ball, Vorelli stays at the mansion of Marianne's aunt, where he seduces her after using his power to subdue her will. In the meantime, Hugo miraculously appears in English's room and asks him for help. Hugo repeats "1948" and "Berlin" before disappearing. The next day, English begins an investigation into Vorelli's past. Meanwhile, Marianne falls into a semi-coma that the doctors cannot alleviate. In one lucid moment, she tells English that, "He keeps calling me" and, "Make him stop". Through a colleague, English discovers that Vorelli had once been a disgraced medical doctor who dabbled in Eastern magic. The colleague traces Vorelli to Berlin and guides English to a former female assistant of Vorelli's who lives there. She tells English that another assistant, "Hugo", had worked for Vorelli in 1947, and would be hypnotized into a state where he could not feel pain as part of their act. The female assistant says that she would catch the two in strange conferences. One night, Vorelli killed Hugo on stage and simultaneously transferred his soul into the dummy. Vorelli was cleared in the death, and no one believed the female assistant's story.
Vorelli's current assistant, who is also his lover, becomes jealous of his relationship with Marianne. Vorelli either manipulates or taunts Hugo into murdering his lover/assistant when Vorelli is visiting with stage crew elsewhere. Vorelli then hires a new, younger assistant whom he also puts under his physical and sexual control. During English's trip to Berlin, Vorelli visits the still-hypnotized Marianne in her home and tells her to announce that she is going to marry him. Vorelli confides to Hugo that he plans to marry Marianne in Spain and transfer her spirit into a companion doll for Hugo before letting her body die.
Hugo escapes from his cage, smashes the face of the female doll intended for Marianne, and attacks Vorelli. Vorelli seemingly succeeds in wrestling the irate Hugo back into his cage just as English enters the room. "Vorelli" speaks in Hugo's voice and tells English that Hugo has now transferred his soul into Vorelli's body and vice versa. From Hugo's former body, Vorelli begs for help from English, who does not respond as the film ends.
Dead Silence is a 2007 American supernatural horror film directed by James Wan and written by Leigh Whannell. The film stars Ryan Kwanten, Judith Roberts, Donnie Wahlberg, and Amber Valletta. The movie grossed over $22 million worldwide against an estimated $20 million budget.
Dead Silence (2007) - White As A Sheet Scene (1/10) | Movieclips
Dead Silence (2007) - White As A Sheet Scene (1/10) | Movieclips
Ryan Kwanten
PLOT
Jamie Ashen and his wife, Lisa, receive an anonymous gift of a ventriloquist doll called "Billy". As Lisa is playing with Billy while Jamie goes to pick their carry-out dinner order, a figure approaches her, causing her to scream. Later, Jamie returns home and finds Lisa dead with her tongue cut out. After Jamie is released from custody by Detective Jim Lipton due to lack of evidence, he spots inside Billy's box a mysterious message about "Mary Shaw", a deceased ventriloquist from his hometown, Raven's Fair.
Dead Silence (2007) - Sleeping with the Enemy Scene (2/10) | Movieclips
Actress Judith Roberts
Dead Silence (2007) - Sleeping with the Enemy Scene (2/10) | Movieclips
Returning to Raven's Fair, Jamie visits his estranged and wealthy father, Edward, who uses a wheelchair, and his much-younger wife, Ella, for information regarding Mary Shaw. Dismissing them as superstitions, Jamie arranges for Lisa's funeral with the help of a local mortician named Henry Walker. Henry's senile wife, Marion, warns Jamie that Mary Shaw's spirit is dangerous and vehemently urges him to bury Billy. Jamie does so, but shortly afterward is confronted by Detective Lipton in his motel room, the latter still doubting Jamie, after returning from the cemetery where Mary Shaw and the rest of her dummies are buried.
Dead Silence (2007) - The Story of Mary Shaw Scene (3/10) | Movieclips
Donnie Walberg
Dead Silence (2007) - The Story of Mary Shaw Scene (3/10) | Movieclips
Henry tells Jamie that Mary Shaw was a famous and popular ventriloquist who was publicly humiliated when a young boy named Michael rudely claimed that he could see her lips moving during one of her performances. Some weeks later, Michael disappeared, and his family blamed it on Mary Shaw and lynched her. Mary's last wish was to have her body turned into a dummy and buried with her 101 dolls. Henry, then the young son of the local mortician, saw Shaw (after she was turned to a dummy) rise up, but was spared thanks to keeping his mouth shut, because Mary takes her revenge by killing only those who scream. Jamie then finds out that Michael, who was indeed murdered by Mary Shaw, was his great-uncle. As part of their lynching of Mary, the Ashen family forced her to scream and permanently silenced her by cutting her tongue out; as such, she has since been seeking revenge against their entire bloodline by killing them using the same method.
Dead Silence (2007) - Mortuary Massacre Scene (4/10) | Movieclips
Dead Silence (2007) - Mortuary Massacre Scene (4/10) | Movieclips
Amber Valletta
While crawling under his house after discovering Marion with Billy, Henry is killed by Mary, who steals his tongue. Detective Lipton then discovers that all of Mary Shaw's dolls have been dug up, and informs Jamie, who receives a call from "Henry", asking him to go to Shaw's theatre as he has a way to prove Jamie's innocence. There, both Jamie and Lipton discover 100 of the dolls lined up in their massive display case, along with Michael's body, which has been turned into a marionette. Through a clown doll, Mary reveals to Jamie that she killed Lisa because, unbeknownst to Jamie, she was pregnant with his son, thereby killing any potential newborn of the Ashen family. Jamie and Lipton then burn the theatre and all of Shaw's dolls, though in the process, Lipton falls and screams, causing him to be killed by Mary.
Dead Silence (2007) - Our Family's Curse Scene (5/10) | Movieclips
Dead Silence (2007) - Our Family's Curse Scene (5/10) | Movieclips
Dead Silence (2007) - It's a Boy Scene (6/10) | Movieclips
Bob Gunton as Edward Ashen
Dead Silence (2007) - It's a Boy Scene (6/10) | Movieclips
Back at his father's residence, Jamie is confronted by Mary, but he repels her by throwing Billy (the 101st and last dummy) into the fireplace. He then learns, much to his horror, that his father had already died long ago; the current "Edward" is actually a doll converted from his corpse and controlled by Ella who, it turns out, is the "perfect doll" that Mary Shaw created just before her death. Jamie then screams in terror as Ella, possessed by Mary, lunges forward and kills him. The film ends with Jamie reciting a nursery rhyme about Shaw while a photo album with human puppets is shown: Lisa, Henry, Detective Lipton, Edward, Ella, and Jamie himself.
Dead Silence (2007) - The Perfect Doll Scene (7/10) | Movieclips
Dead Silence (2007) - The Perfect Doll Scene (7/10) | Movieclips
Dead Silence (2007) - Attack of the Killer Dolls Scene (8/10) | Movieclips
Dead Silence (2007) - Attack of the Killer Dolls Scene (8/10) | Movieclips
_gif.gif)
Rotten Tomatoes rated the film 20%, based on 80 reviews, with an average rating of 3.87/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "More tasteful than recent slasher flicks, but Dead Silence is undone by boring characters, bland dialogue, and an unnecessary and obvious twist ending.
Michael Fairman as Henry Walker
Laura Regan as Lisa Ashen
Keir Gilchrist as Young Henry
Dead Silence (2007) - Kill Billy Scene (9/10) | Movieclips
Dead Silence (2007) - Kill Billy Scene (9/10) | Movieclips
Joan Heney as Marion Walker
Shelly Peterson as Lisa's Mom
Shelley Peterson is the best-selling author of eight young adult novels; ‘Dancer’, ‘Abby Malone’, ‘Stagestruck’, ‘Sundancer’, ‘Mystery at Saddle Creek’, ‘Dark Days at Saddle Creek’, ‘Christmas at Saddle Creek’, and ‘Jockey Girl’. Shelley was trained as an actress, and has over one hundred acting credits to her name, including stage, television, and film Fox Ridge is a horse facility, stabling 22 horses, which Shelley owns and operates. She and her husband David have three grown children and six young grandchildren. They share their time between Toronto and Caledon.
As well as being the mother of three accomplished children, a businesswoman, actress and author, Shelley Peterson has long been active in the charitable, literary and performing arts communities of Toronto and Caledon.
Dead Silence Twist Ending | Dead Silence (2007)
Dead Silence Ending | Dead Silence
-
Steven Taylor as Michael Ashen
Dmitry Chepovetsky as Richard Walker
Dummies mock a scene in Full Metal Jacket.
Dimitry Chepovetsky acted in his first musical at the age of 14 while in high school in Regina (Regina is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan) then began acting in local community. Thinking briefly about a different career path, he was accepted to the University of Toronto on a scholarship for its commerce program. But after three weeks he dropped out to work as an elf at Casa Loma and then worked numerous jobs until he got to Ryerson Theatre School. He also trained with David Rotenberg and Carol Rosenfeld, as well as Kate Hale at the Foursight Theatre. Aside from his numerous acting credits, among them stints on critically acclaimed TV shows and feature films such as The X-Files, Lucky Number Slevin and Stargate, Chepovetsky is likely best known for his recurring role on ReGenesis as Bob Melnikov, the show’s lead biochemist and a person with Asperger syndrome. Th erole has garnered him two Gemimi Award nominations for best actor in a dramatic series; once in 2005 and another in 2007. The show has reached 120 countries in over 18 languages. Chepovetsky enjoys photography, music, movies, theatre and writing.
Enn Reitel as Billy (Voice)
Enn Reitel (born 21 June 1950) is a Scottish actor, voice actor and impressionist who specializes in voice work. He is known for his voice-over work in video games, movies and TV shows.
Fred Tatasciore as Clown Doll (Voice)
Fred Tatasciore is an American voice actor best known for portraying the Hulk Kakuzu, and Magnus in various video games and animated shows, among many other roles. He provides the voice of Soldier: 76 in Overwatch. Date Of Birth: June 15th, 1967
Birth Place: New York City, New York, USA. He has worked on series and in films for Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Disney, Fox, and Dreamworks. His film credits include Kung Fu Panda, Team America: World Police and Enchanted. Some of his earliest roles were for The Heroic Trio, The Enforcer, and Iron Monkey 2 in the early 1990s. He provides minor voices in all three Seth MacFarlane shows, Family Guy, American Dad!, and The Cleveland Show, but he is quite well-known for having played Damon Baird in the Gears of War franchise, Nikolai Belinski and Dr. Ludvig Maxis in the Call of Duty: Zombies series, Ben 10,000, Ripjaws and Cannonbolt in the origin Ben 10 series.
Tatasciore provided voices for Jiralhanae in Halo 3, and the Truth and Reconciliation's AI in Third Terminal of Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary. He also did minor voice acting for Halo 4 and continued working with Bungle as Xûr, Agent of the Nine in Destiny.
Trivia
One of his best known voice acting roles is Nikolai Belinski in the Call of Duty games World at War and Black Ops.
Tales from the Crypt S02E10 The Ventriloquist's Dummy
Tales from the Crypt S02E10 The Ventriloquist's Dummy
Buffy Summers (played by Sarah Michelle Gellar) is the "Slayer", one in a long line of young women chosen by fate to battle evil forces. This mystical calling grants her powers that dramatically increase physical strength, endurance, agility, accelerated healing, intuition, and a limited degree of precognition, Precognition is the ability to see events into the future) usually in the form of prophetic dreams. She has returned from death twice and is known as a reluctant hero who wants to live a normal life. However, she learns to embrace her destiny as the vampire slayer. Buffy receives guidance from her Watcher, Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head). Giles, rarely referred to by his first name (it is later revealed that in his rebellious younger days he went by "Ripper"), is a member of the Watchers' Council, whose job is to train and guide the Slayers. Giles researches the supernatural creatures that Buffy must face, offers insights into their origins and advice on how to defeat them, and helps her train to stay in fighting form.
Buffy is also helped by friends she meets at Sunnydale High: Willow Rosenberg (Alyson Hannigan) and Xander Harris (Nicholas Brendon). Willow is originally a wallflower who excels at academics, providing a contrast to Buffy's outgoing personality and less-than-stellar educational record. They share the social isolation that comes with being different, and especially from being exceptional young women. As the series progresses, Willow becomes a more assertive character and a powerful witch, and comes out as a lesbian: In contrast, Xander, with no supernatural abilities, provides comic releif and a grounded perspective. It is Xander who often provides the heart to the series, and in season six, becomes the hero in place of Buffy who defeats the "Big Dad". Buffy and Willow are the only characters who appear in all 144 episodes; Xander is missing in only one episode.
Sarah Michelle Prinze Gellar; born April 14, 1977
Alyson Hannigan as Willow Rosenberg
The cast of characters grew over the course of the series. Buffy first arrives in Sunnydale with her mother, Joyce Summers (portrayed by Kristine Sutherland), who functions as an anchor of normality in the Summers' lives even after she learns of Buffy's role in the supernatural world ("Becoming, Part Two"). Buffy's younger sister Dawn Summers (Michelle Trachtenberg) is introduced in season five ("Buffy vs Dracula"). A vampire tortured with a soul in return for horrific deeds committed in the past to many, including a young gypsy girl and her family, Angel (portrayed by David Boreanaz), is Buffy's love interest throughout the first three seasons. He leaves Buffy after realizing he will never be able to give her a normal life. He goes on to make amends for his sins and to search for redemption in his own spin-off, Angel. He makes several guest appearances in the remaining seasons, including the last episode.
Nicholas Brendon as Xander Harris
Kristine Sutherland as Joyce Summers
Dawn Summers as Michelle Trachtenburg
David Boreanaz as Angel.
At Sunnydale High, Buffy meets several other students besides Willow and Xander willing to join her fight for good, an informal group eventually tagged the "Scooby Gang" or "Scoobies". Cordella Chase (Charisma Carpenter), the archetypal shallow cheerleader, reluctantly becomes involved. Daniel "Oz" Osbourne (Seth Green), a fellow student, rock guitarist and werewolf, joins the group through his relationship with Willow. Jenny Calendar (Robia LaMorte), Sunnydale's computer science teacher, joins the group after helping destroy a demon trapped in cyberspace during season 1. She later becomes Giles' love interest. Anya (Emma Caulfield), a former vengeance demon (Anyanka) who specialized in avenging scorned women, becomes Xander's lover after losing her powers and joins the group in season four.
In Buffy's senior year at high school, she meets Faith (Eliza Dushku), the other current Slayer, who was "called" forth when Slayer Kendra Young (Bianca Lawson) was killed by a vampire Drusilla (Juliet Landau), in season two. Although Faith initially fights on the side of good with Buffy and the rest of the group, she comes to stand against them and sides with Mayor Richard Wilkins (Harry Groener) after accidentally killing a human in season three. She reappears briefly in the fourth season, looking for vengeance, and moves to Angel where she voluntarily goes to jail for her murders. Faith reappears in season seven of Buffy, after having helped Angel and his crew, and fights alongside Buffy against The First Evil.
Charisma Carpenter as Cordelia Chase.
Angelus (Angel) and one of Buffy's major enemies in early seasons, although they later become allies and lovers. At the end of season six, Spike regains his soul. Spike is known for his Billy Idol-style peroxide blond hair and his black leather coat, stolen from a previous Slayer, Nikki Wood, her son. Robin Wood (D.B. Woodside), joins the group in the final season. Tara Maclay (Amber Benson) is a fellow member of Willow's wicca group during season four, and their friendship eventually turns into a romantic relationship. Buffy becomes involved personally and professionally with Riley Finn (Marc Blucas), a military operative in "the Initiative", which hunts demons using science and technology. The final season sees geeky wannabe-villian Andrew Wells (Tom Lenk) come to side with the Scoobies after initially being their captive/hostage; they regard him more as a nuisance than an ally. Buffy featured dozens of recurring characters, both major and minor. For example, the "Big Bad" (villain) characters were featured for at least one season (for example, Glory is a character who appeared in 12 episodes, spanning much of season five). Similarly, characters who allied themselves to the group and characters who attended the same institutions were sometimes featured in multiple episodes.
Seth Green as Daniel "Oz" Osbourne
Robia Lamorte as Jenny Calendar
Emma Caulfield as Anya
Eliza Dushku as Faith
Bianca Lawson as Kendra Young
Juliet Landau as Drusilla
Harry Groener as Mayor Richard Wilkins.
James Marsters as Spike
D.B Woodside as Robin Wood
Amber Benson as Tara Maclay
Marc Blucas as Riley Finn
Tom Lenk as Andrew Wells
Clare Kramer as Glory