Ventriloquist, Entertainer. Born Wenceslao Moreno in Peñaranda de Bracamonte, Salamanca, Spain, he was a bullfighter at the age of 15, and after several hundred bullfights, he was gored so badly he had to quit the sport. Told by physicians his injured arm needed exercise, so he turned to performing ventriloquism and juggling professionally. He toured Europe in the 1920s before coming to the United States in 1935, where he made his New York City, New York debut at the Club Chico. He became an overnight sensation on television's "The Milton Berle Show" and later made appearances on "The Ed Sullivan Show" and television specials with Jack Benny and Perry Como. In 1947 he had stand-out cameo in the film comedy "Mother Wore Tights". His stable of characters included 'Johnny', a childlike face drawn on his hand, placed atop an otherwise headless doll, with whom the ventriloquist conversed while switching voices between Johnny's falsetto and his own voice with great speed. He opened his act by drawing Johnny's face on his hand, on stage. In 2009 Señor Wences was featured in the ventriloquist comedy documentary "I'm No Dummy", directed by Bryan W. Simon. He received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the United States National Comedy Hall of Fame in 1996. He was 103 years old at the time of his death.
Ventriloquist, Entertainer. Born Wenceslao Moreno in Peñaranda de Bracamonte, Salamanca, Spain, he was a bullfighter at the age of 15, and after several hundred bullfights, he was gored so badly he had to quit the sport. Told by physicians his injured arm needed exercise, so he turned to performing ventriloquism and juggling professionally. He toured Europe in the 1920s before coming to the United States in 1935, where he made his New York City, New York debut at the Club Chico. He became an overnight sensation on television's "The Milton Berle Show" and later made appearances on "The Ed Sullivan Show" and television specials with Jack Benny and Perry Como. In 1947 he had stand-out cameo in the film comedy "Mother Wore Tights". His stable of characters included 'Johnny', a childlike face drawn on his hand, placed atop an otherwise headless doll, with whom the ventriloquist conversed while switching voices between Johnny's falsetto and his own voice with great speed. He opened his act by drawing Johnny's face on his hand, on stage. In 2009 Señor Wences was featured in the ventriloquist comedy documentary "I'm No Dummy", directed by Bryan W. Simon. He received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the United States National Comedy Hall of Fame in 1996. He was 103 years old at the time of his death.
Bio by: Shock
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