Jerry Mahoney & Knucklehead Smiff
Here are a pair of characters for sure. These are the only legally made exact copies of the famous Duo Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smiff. These are full size figures made from the original molds taken from Mr. Winchell’s original figures.
Jerry is the upgraded version because he has side to side eyes, slot jaw and full shell blinkers. He stands 42″ tall and has 360 degree heat rotation with ball and socket neck. His head stick is wood. His body is also wooden. His suit is the original style 2 tone suit done to Mr Winchell’s specification. Jerry’s wig is also made by Rene of Paris and was done for Winchell on special order.
Knucklehead Smiff is also full size with the same wooden body and wooden headstick as Jerry. He has just slot jaw movement just as the original. His cloths are also original design.
In my opinion these are the best figures that Jerry Layne produced and that may be because Paul Winchell was a stickler on his product. These are a must for any collector of ventriloquist figures or television memorabilia.
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. He created the Ventriloquist Central Collection. It now has over 100 ventriloquist figures and over 50 of them are 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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I totally concur!
My wife bought me a Jerry at the ’97 Convention in Vegas.
Paul was kind enough to sign the head-stick!
That Jerry is a prized possession who sits in my office.
Beautiful figures. A good statement on Winch’s life, figures both original and modified, and patents including heart appears in http://www.answers.com/topic/paul-winchell although fails to mention his contribution to vent for autism work.
I saw Paul Winchell at May Company department store with his dummys in North Hollywood Ca. in 1967. I got a Knucklehead as a christmas gift. Still have him.
Having an 8 year old autistic son and also a fan of Paul Winchell I would like to find out more about the work Paul Winchell did for autistic children that Mr. Dean refered to in his response above.
Jim Manalli