Word: wenceslao
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...DIED. WENCESLAO MORENO, better known as Senor Wences, 103, ventriloquist who created impish dummies out of his thumb and forefinger; in New York City. As a schoolboy in Spain, Moreno began using his hand as a puppet to amuse himself while in detention for answering for absent friends during homeroom roll call. On the '50s and '60s variety shows of Ed Sullivan, Milton Berle and Sid Caesar, among others, he delighted audiences with sweetly silly exchanges. The often cranky Pedro, a disembodied head in a box, usually answered Wences' inquiry as to whether he was "all right" with a casual...
...staple on TV for three decades, starting on the Ed Sullivan Show, where he conducted absurd conversations with his dummy Pedro, his puppet Cecelia the chicken, or the blond-wigged Johnny, a face he painted on his hand, moving thumb and index finger to simulate a mouth. Born Wenceslao Moreno, he imitated voices as a child. He worked as an amateur bullfighter but, after being gored repeatedly, took up circus juggling. Later his ventriloquist act achieved worldwide fame. In his mid-80s he appeared on the Muppet Show and Late Night With David Letterman; he also toured briefly...