Edgar Bergen 1939 11 26 (134) Guest Loretta Young

# The Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy Show — November 26, 1939

Step into the sitting rooms and parlors of America this Sunday evening as Edgar Bergen brings his dummy Charlie McCarthy to life with their trademark interplay that has the nation in stitches. When the velvet curtain rises on this November broadcast, listeners will find themselves in the presence of Hollywood royalty: the luminous Loretta Young joins the Bergen household for an evening of sophisticated comedy and musical interludes. What ensues is a delightful collision of dummy wisecracks and starlet glamour, with Charlie's impudent charm somehow managing to hold its own against one of cinema's most radiant leading ladies. The orchestra swells, the live audience roars, and somewhere in that magical space between the microphone and the listener's ear, a puppet becomes real, a wooden face more expressive than any human could manage. Bergen's ventriloquism has reached its zenith by 1939, his control so complete that listeners often forget they're watching a man manipulate his wooden partner—they're simply enchanted by Charlie's personality.

The Bergen-McCarthy phenomenon represents the golden age of American radio at its finest. What began as a vaudeville act has transformed into the nation's most popular variety program, a showcase where the chemistry between man and dummy somehow transcends the medium's limitations. Bergen's popularity rivals that of the film stars who guest on his program, a testament to radio's unique power to create intimacy and invest personality into the most unlikely vessels. This 1939 broadcast captures that magic at its peak, before the war years would shift American entertainment forever.

Tune in to relive this enchanting evening when comedy was sophisticated, when a wooden dummy could make millions laugh, and when an ordinary Sunday night meant extraordinary entertainment beamed into your home. Charlie McCarthy awaits.