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schillidQuote
Doc
the puppet on 31 is definitely not the one on the photos of Russ Lewis...
Apparently he had a different puppet back in those days...
He talks about it in an interviewQuote
Were you performing with the Jerry Mahoney doll at the time you were working 12 shows a day at the 42nd street flea circus in New York?
No. The Jerry Mahoney doll had been set aside when I first met Professor Heckler at Hubert’s Museum... A fella named Eddie Marino, a ventriloquist and ticket taker at Hubert’s, had placed a professional figure on consignment in Al Flosso’s magic shop on 34th Street. [Martinka and Co.] They told me if I had a professional looking puppet they would give me a job. I went down to the magic shop and there was the puppet on consignment in the display case. Mr. Flosso gave it to me on time payments. I really got lucky with that.
Is this the puppet that eventually became Brooklyn Birch?
Yes. Eventually I ended up in Los Angeles. Went to work doing club dates, worked for the USO, came back to the States and a Mortgage Company saw me at a night club that was on the west coast in Santa Barbara and wanted me to do a television show. (The Russ Lewis Show KTTV) Well, I had come up through burlesque and strip houses as well as circus and sideshows. I knew I was going to have to set aside all of the material that I was doing at that point. So along with a change of material, I had to remake Brooklyn Birch. Rene’ Zendejas (1927-2014) a wonderful puppeteer and puppet maker in California was going to do the puppets on the Television show. He remade the features of the doll. Gave him a pointy nose, large eyes, brand new skin and hair. And so, that is how Brooklyn Birch came about.
To be clear, who originally made Brooklyn Birch?
Here is the best answer I can give you. Eddie Marino (Hubert’s Museum) came from England with the puppet. I think it was made somewhere in Great Britain. It had been in use about 70 years before I got it in my hands.
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(See HERE)
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MisterDDDD
Fantastic!!
Great work... this thread gets better and better.