Edgar Bergen Net Worth

What is Edgar Bergen's Net Worth?

Edgar Bergen was an American ventriloquist, comedian, and actor who had a net worth of $2 million at the time of his death in 1978. That's the same as around $10 million in today's dollars after adjusting for inflation.

A pioneer of modern ventriloquism, Edgar Bergen was best known for his dummy characters Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd. He made many radio, film, and television appearances both with and without his dummies, with credits including the motion pictures "Letter of Introduction," "Look Who's Laughing," "I Remember Mama," "Don't Make Waves," and "Rogue's Gallery."

Edgar is also notable for being the father of actress Candice Bergen and therefore the grandfather of magazine editor Chloe Malle (though she was born seven years after he died).

Early Life and Education

Edgar Bergen was born Edgar Berggren on February 16, 1903 in Chicago, Illinois as one of five children of Swedish immigrants Nilla and Johan. He was raised with his siblings on a farm in Michigan until he was four, and then grew up in Sweden. After returning to Chicago, Bergen attended Lake View High School. To support his family following the death of his father, he took odd jobs as an apprentice accountant, film projectionist, furnace stoker, and player-piano operator. For his higher education, Bergen attended Northwestern University, but did not graduate.

Career Beginnings

Having taught himself ventriloquism as a child, Bergen drew the attention of famed ventriloquist Harry Lester, who gave him lessons for three months. In 1919, Bergen paid Chicago woodcarver Theodore Mack to sculpt him a model head based on a red-headed Irish newspaper boy Bergen knew. This became the head of Bergen's signature dummy sidekick Charlie McCarthy, a precocious child with a monocle, top hat, and cape. Bergen gave his first public performance at Waveland Avenue Congregational Church, from which he lived across the street. In 1922, he began performing on the Chautauqua circuit during the summers and also at the Lyceum theater in Chicago.

The Chase and Sanborn Hour

At a swanky New York party, Bergen and his dummy, Charlie, were noticed by high-society fixtures Elsa Maxwell and Noël Coward, who then secured Bergen an engagement at the renowned Rainbow Room. From there, Bergen was able to land a guest spot on Rudy Vallée's radio show. In 1937, he had his career breakout as a regular cast member on the comedy variety radio program "The Chase and Sanborn Hour." Despite listeners not being able to see Bergen performing his ventriloquism with Charlie, the act was a huge hit. Bergen created other characters for the program, as well, including the dimwitted Mortimer Snerd and the lusty Effie Klinker. However, the star of the show was always the acerbic Charlie, who often got into spats with entertainer W. C. Fields during recurring segments. Bergen appeared on his final broadcast of "The Chase and Sanborn Hour" at the end of 1948.

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The Charlie McCarthy Show

In October of 1949, Bergen joined CBS with his own weekly radio program, "The Charlie McCarthy Show." The program was sponsored by Coca-Cola until mid-1952 and then by Warner-Hudnut through 1954. After that, it was renamed "The Edgar Bergen Hour" and was sponsored by Kraft Foods. The show ended in the summer of 1956 amid the declining popularity of radio.

Film Career

Due to his success on radio as a ventriloquist, Bergen appeared with his dummy Charlie McCarthy in a number of Hollywood films. In the late 1930s, the pair starred in "The Goldwyn Follies," "Letter of Introduction," "You Can't Cheat an Honest Man," and "Charlie McCarthy, Detective." The next decade, Bergen and McCarthy were in such films as "Look Who's Laughing," "Here We Go Again," "Stage Door Canteen," and the Disney animated musical "Fun and Fancy Free." Bergen's other most famous character, Mortimer Snerd, also appeared in several of these films. In 1948, Bergen had his first major acting role without his dummies in George Stevens's drama "I Remember Mama." He continued making solo appearances over the ensuing years, with credits including the adventure film "Captain China" (1950), the comedies "One Way Wahine" (1965) and "Don't Make Waves" (1967), and the mystery film "Rogue's Gallery" (1968). Bergen's final film appearances were cameos in "Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood" (1976) and "The Muppet Movie" (1979).

Television Career

Bergen made his first television appearance with Charlie on the pioneering variety show "Hour Glass" in late 1946. In the early 1950s, the duo appeared in Disney's inaugural television production, "One Hour in Wonderland." Later that decade, Bergen co-hosted "General Foods 25th Anniversary Show: A Salute to Rodgers and Hammerstein" and hosted the CBS game show "Do You Trust Your Wife?" His other credits in the 1950s included episodes of "The Gisele MacKenzie Show," "You Bet Your Life," "Five Fingers," and "The Ford Show." Bergen continued appearing regularly on television in the 1960s and 1970s, both with and without Charlie. In 1964, he appeared in Don Siegel's NBC television film "The Hanged Man," and in 1971 he played Grandpa Zeb Walton in the original "Waltons" television film, "The Homecoming: A Christmas Story."

Personal Life and Death

In 1945, Bergen married fashion model Frances Westerman, whom he had started dating after spotting her in the audience of his radio show in 1941. Together, they had two children: Candice, who became an acclaimed actress, and Kris, who became a film and television editor.

On September 30, 1978, three days after performing in Andy Williams's "Farewell to Show Business" engagement in Las Vegas, Bergen passed away from kidney disease. According to his daughter Candice, she was given nothing in his will, while Charlie was given $10,000.

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