Frank Marshall

Frank Marshall (born Frank Marzalkiewicz on March 9, 1900; died October 10, 1969) was a professional ventriloquist dummy, marionette and Punch and Judy maker who created many of the most famous ventriloquist dummies used during the United States's vaudeville entertainment era through the Golden Age of Television. He is colloquially known as America's Geppetto. Among his creations were Jerry Mahoney and Knucklehead Smiff for ventriloquist Paul Winchell (both known in Marshall's catalogue as "noseys" or "nosey style", a smart-aleck type character) and Danny O’Day and Farfel the Dog for ventriloquist Jimmy Nelson. Some members of the ventriloquial community maintain that Marshall carved Charlie McCarthy for the famous ventriloquist Edgar Bergen while working in Theodore Mack & Sons wood shop, though that is a matter of dispute. However, Marshall's own catalog from 1931 indicated that Bergen did use a Marshall figure. Life and career Marshall was born in Chicago. As a result of immobility as a child suffering from polio, Marshall became interested in puppetry and wood carvings which did not require strenuous activity.