Ventriloquist Peter Rich and Zingo

It was Peter Rich’s birthday just last week and I just had to share this great picture with all of you. It was sent to us by one of our great friends and regular contributor, George Boosey.

peterrichandzingo

This is Peter’s figure named Zingo and he was built by Frank Marshall. A most unusual figure to be sure with the telephone dial (for those young people reading this, yes telephones had a dial) and a light bulb in the top of his head.

Boy I wish this figure was a part of the Ventriloquist Central Collection but alas he now resides with ventriloquist Jay Johnson.

Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com

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Dan Willinger is a ventriloquism enthusiast and ventriloquist figure collector. He has been collecting for over 25 years. His collection of ventriloquist figures now numbers over 100 figures of which there are over 50 Frank Marshall figures. Because of his love for the art of ventriloquism, Mr. Willinger created the website Ventriloquist Central. For more information about the website, go to: http://www.ventriloquistcentral.com

Copyright 2009 by Dan Willinger

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This entry was posted in Frank Marshall Figure (Dummy), Ventriloquism/Ventriloquist, Ventriloquist Central, Ventriloquist Figure (Dummy) Makers, Ventriloquist Figure Building, Ventriloquist Figures. Bookmark the permalink.

6 Responses to Ventriloquist Peter Rich and Zingo

  1. bob abdou says:

    you can see this dummy in Jay Johnson’s dvd, the story behind this is Peter had it specially built by Frank Marshall for a Westinghouse gig, once the gig was over, so was using the dummy, even though the dummy was almost brand new, being used just a few times, Peter sold it to Jay Johnson. A few months past and Peter turns on the tv and sees Jay on a talk show ( Mike Douglas or Merv Griffin, don’t remember) but when Jay was on the show, he had Zingo with him. Peter says’ I’ll be a son of a gun, I use this dummy just a few times and now here he is on national tv for everybody to see but it now belongs to Jay!!”

  2. Jerry Greene says:

    I remember Peter Rich back in the 1950s when he performed several times at New Gene’s Inn in Brownville (Glen Park), New York. I was interested in ventriloquism in those days, and my dad would take me to see Peter work. Peter took an interest in me and wrote me from the road, sending photos and ads from newspapers regarding his performances in Tampa, San Antonio, and Tucson, among other places. He’s a great man who I’ll never forget. Happy Birthday to Peter Rich!

  3. Jerry Greene says:

    P.S. I still have the letters and ads in a scrapbook, also a picture of Peter, Oscar, and me taken during a performance at New Gene’s Inn. Jerry Greene

  4. John Snabley says:

    Uncle Pete as we call him is my mothers brother who now lives in Texas. I understand he is in hospes for his health. I think he is 94 years God blessed now. Hope you have many years left to make us laugh. He worked mostly cruise ships and I think was on several talk shows like The Merve Griffen show.

  5. judy grumbacher says:

    Peter Rich, my uncle, died Thursday, August 13 in San Antonio.

  6. I have a sined pitcher of him and zinging I put it on my Facebook to look at bought it from a Fleemarket no one know who he was ! It is the same picture on web!

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