12 Facts About Arthur Worsley

Arthur Wilkinson Worsley was a British ventriloquist who appeared regularly on British television from the 1950s to the 1970s.

Arthur Worsley's act with dummy Charlie Brown had Charlie do all the talking, while Worsley himself remained "silent".

Arthur Worsley was playing at principal theatres around the country and later around the world.

Arthur Worsley became well known in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the US.

Arthur Worsley appeared on most of the variety shows on British TV and was one of the few British acts who achieved success in the US, appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show in the United States returning to perform a variation of his act for ten years in a row.

Arthur Worsley was called "the greatest ventriloquist in the world" by Ed Sullivan, who hired him to appear in what turned out to be the third and last appearance by singer Elvis Presley on his show, on 6 January 1957, a program which was broadcast live from the old CBS Studio 50 in New York City and drawing some 50 million TV viewers, as revealed by Trendex figures the week after.

Ed Sullivan admired Arthur Worsley's ventriloquism act because, in addition to being funny, Arthur Worsley's technique was so perfect that he could appear in tight close-up exhibiting no discernible lip movements while his "figure" appeared to be speaking.

For most of Arthur Worsley's act, Charlie would abuse him, growing ever more exasperated by the ventriloquist's silence.

Arthur Worsley would accept Charlie's tirades with a Buster Keaton-like implacability, on rare occasions a barely detectable rise of the eyebrow, on still rarer ones a slight smirk.

Not only was this funny, it allowed Arthur Worsley to show off his skills.

Arthur Worsley retired from the stage at the age of 63 in 1983 and never performed with Charlie again.

Arthur Worsley died in 2001 in Blackpool, Lancashire, aged 80 and is buried at Carleton Cemetery, Blackpool, in plot E794.