This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/26/2024
THE GREAT LESTER (Harry Lester, 1878 - 1956). Signed Lobby Photograph of the Famous Ventriloquist. New York: Apollo Studio, ca. 1920. Oversize matte-finish image shows the “grandfather of modern-day ventriloquism” and his dummy, Frank Byron, Jr. at a table; Lester holds a phone to his ear. 12 ¾ x 10 ½”. Scrapbook remnants to verso. Inscribed and signed, “Wishing you all the best passes from one happy day into another … Magically and ventriloqually yours, Lester. … Kindly draw a card please.”
Perhaps the greatest ventriloquist of the vaudeville era, Lester later became a prolific teacher of the art. Among his many pupils was another famous voice-thrower, Edgar Bergen.