Arthur Prince (ventriloquist)

Arthur Prince (17 November 1881 – 14 April 1948) was a music hall entertainer and ventriloquist.

Biography

He was born 17 November 1881 in London.

He made his first appearance in a beach concert in Llandrindod Wells, where he performed for four seasons.

Prince and his ventriloquist doll ‘Jim’ made their London debut in 1902 at the South London Palace. They went on to appear at all the leading music halls in the United Kingdom, including the first Royal Command Performance at the Palace Theatre in 1912. A world tour followed with their comedy act ‘Naval Occasions’.

Prince was notable for having 'Jim' sing while Prince drank a glass of water or smoked a cigar.[1] A singer off stage made this trick 'possible'.[2] This was made more believable by Prince's more lifelike dummy. He developed the more human looking dummy that became the standard. Many audience members thought 'Sailor Jim' was actually a human.[3]

Prince died on 14 July 1946.[1] He was buried at Hampstead Cemetery.[4] His doll 'Jim' was buried with him.. However, the date of death seems to be 14 April 1948 [5]. A picture of his gravestone is on this page bearing the 1948 date.

References

  1. 1 2 George Schindler and Ed Tricomi (2011). Ventriloquism: Magic with Your Voice. p. 10.
  2. ↑ "Ventriloquism". qi.com. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  3. ↑ Prince, Arthur (1921). "Introduction". The Whole Book of Ventriloquism. ISBN 9781447492498. Retrieved 12 August 2016.
  4. ↑ Arthur Prince at Find a Grave
  5. ↑ Vox, Valentine (1993). I Can See Your Lips Moving (Revised and Enlarged ed.). California: Plato Publishing. p. 154. ISBN 0887346227.
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