EDGAR BERGEN - INSCRIBED SIGNATURE CO-SIGNED BY: CHARLIE McCARTHY, ILKA CHASE - HFSID 590

EDGAR BERGEN, CHARLIE McCARTHY, and ILKA CHASE
Edgar Bergen, Charlie McCarthy and Ilka Chase signs a blue piece of paper
Inscribed Signature:"To Elizabeth/Edgar Bergen/and/Charlie" and on verso "Ika Chase", 5x4½ piece of paper. Ventriloquist EDGAR BERGEN (1903-1978) and his dummy CHARLIE McCARTHY were first heard over Rudy Vallee's radio program on December 17, 1936 and were an immediate hit. Bergen was promptly signed, and Bergen and McCarthy starred on NBC and later on CBS from 1937-1956. Charlie McCarthy was a sarcastic boy who managed to get into trouble, which always worried Edgar Bergen. McCarthyisms included: "Ambition is just an excuse for those without the good sense to be lazy" and "Hard work never killed anyone, but why take the chance?" Bergen signed McCarthy's name. Stage, screen and television actress ILKA CHASE (1905-1978), the daughter of the editor of "Vogue", made her Broadway debut in 1924 in The Red Falcon. She appeared in her first "talkie" feature film, Paris Bound, in 1929, the year she also made Why Leave Home?, The Careless Age, Red Hot Rhythm, Rich People and South Sea Rose, and would go on to appear in such features as The Florodora Girl (1930), The Animal Kingdom (1932), Now, Voyager (1942), Johnny Dark (1954), The Big Knife (1955) and Ocean's Eleven (1960). A fixture on early TV, Chase hosted the early talk show, Glamour-Go-Round (1950) and appeared as a panelist on Celebrity Time (1948), Masquerade Party (1952), It Should Happen to You (1954) and Keep Talking (1958-1959). Her TV guest appearances include The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre (1949), Kraft Television Theatre (1952, 1953, 1958), Playhouse 90 (1958), The Defenders (1961), Checkmate (1962) and The Patty Duke Show (1963). Chase was also a widely read newspaper columnist, essayist and novelist. Irregular margins. Pencil name (unknown hand) on verso (no show through). Fine condition.