Edgar Bergen 1945 03 04 (358) Guest Anne Baxter

# The Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy Show

## March 4, 1945

Step into the wood-paneled studios of NBC on a crisp March evening in 1945, where the unmistakable voice of Edgar Bergen rings out in greeting, his irreverent wooden sidekick Charlie McCarthy perched mischievously on his knee. Tonight's broadcast crackles with the special electricity of Hollywood's golden age, as Academy Award-winning actress Anne Baxter joins the proceedings—a guest whose glamorous presence will surely set Charlie's painted eyes aquiver with comedic longing. Expect the rapid-fire wit Bergen has perfected over a decade of nationwide broadcasts, the ventriloquist's uncanny ability to make his dummy seem more alive than any actor in the room, and the sophisticated banter that made this program essential listening for millions of Americans gathered around their radios during wartime.

What makes this 1945 broadcast particularly remarkable is its position at the apex of The Edgar Bergen & Charlie McCarthy Show's cultural dominance. By this date, Bergen had already revolutionized entertainment by making a wooden puppet a household name, a feat of showmanship that transcended the medium itself—Charlie McCarthy merchandise flooded stores, his name graced newspaper columns, and his personality seemed genuinely independent from his creator. The show itself, which had migrated between networks seeking sponsorship gold, represented the pinnacle of variety entertainment: music, comedy, guest stars from cinema, and the unpredictable rapport between Bergen and his famously impudent creation. This was appointment listening when families huddled together, when comedic timing mattered everything, and when a ventriloquist's skill could captivate an entire nation.

Join Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy for an evening of classic American entertainment, where Anne Baxter discovers that no guest star is safe from a wooden dummy's charms, and where the golden age of radio continues to sparkle with wit and wonder.