# Ventriloquist Dummies in Horror Movies and TV Shows **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 13, 2005, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquist-dummies-in-horror-movies-and-tv-shows/312408 "2005-07-13T20:43:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquist-dummies-in-horror-movies-and-tv-shows/312408/1 "2005-07-13T20:43:18Z")
What horror movies (and TV shows) have featured ventriloquist dummies? I know there have been a few, but I am currently drawing a blank on any specific titles. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquist-dummies-in-horror-movies-and-tv-shows/312408/2 "2005-07-13T20:55:45Z")
The Doctor Who story _Talons of Weng Chiang_ (one of the best ever.) I’m not sure if The Ventriloquist & Scarface appeared in any of the Batman TV shows. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquist-dummies-in-horror-movies-and-tv-shows/312408/3 "2005-07-13T20:57:21Z")
“\*\*Magic \*\* is fun… When you’re dead.” My friends and I used to use “when you’re dead” as catch phrase for a couple years after those commercials ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquist-dummies-in-horror-movies-and-tv-shows/312408/4 "2005-07-13T20:57:56Z")
**Magic** , an Anthony Hopkins flick from the late '70s. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquist-dummies-in-horror-movies-and-tv-shows/312408/5 "2005-07-13T20:58:43Z")
**Magic** with Anthony Hopkins (screenplay by William, Goldman, based on his book) **The Devil Doll** (spoofed on MST3K **Dead of Night** , 1940s Brit horror anthology film At least one, and probably more, episodes of the original **Twilight Zone** These are all stories in which the dummy (at least apparently) comes to life, usually switching places with the ventriloquist. There’s also a sub-genre in which the apparent dummy is really a midget ventriloquist. This was done at least twice on live TV shows in the 1950s, but the best version was an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents that starred a pre-Star Trek William Shatner. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquist-dummies-in-horror-movies-and-tv-shows/312408/6 "2005-07-13T20:59:21Z")
There’s some interesting info [here](http://www.horror-wood.com/dummies.htm). ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquist-dummies-in-horror-movies-and-tv-shows/312408/7 "2005-07-13T21:05:49Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > At least one, and probably more, episodes of the original **Twilight Zone** Including TV episodes? _Fantasy Island_ Had an episode in which Annette Funicello played a ventriloquist whose dummy became her evil twin. Whatever one felt, the other felt as well. I was traumatized as a child by the scene in which the good Annette is sitting at home while the evil one is, um, knowing the charms of men for the first time. That was some look on her face… ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquist-dummies-in-horror-movies-and-tv-shows/312408/8 "2005-07-13T21:23:07Z")
One of the first-season episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer features a Dummy who hunts demons (See, he was a demon-hunter when he was human, but got his soul stuck in a wooden dummy as a curse). As an added bonus, he was a total horndog and spent the last third of the episode hitting on the female characters when he wasn’t actually trying to fight the demon in the episode. ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquist-dummies-in-horror-movies-and-tv-shows/312408/9 "2005-07-13T21:23:11Z")
If I remember correctly, there were two Twilight Zone episodes, one with Cliff Robertson and one with Jackie Cooper. I’m not so sure about the second, though. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquist-dummies-in-horror-movies-and-tv-shows/312408/10 "2005-07-13T21:47:33Z")
The sitcom **Soap** featured [Jay Johnson and Bob](http://www.inquista.com/jay.jpg) as a schizo son and his dummy. They also guest starred on an episode of **Mrs. Columbo** in an episode inspired by **Magic** (and damn but that “when you’re dead…” line used to scare the hell out of me). **Howdy Doody** probably remains the most famous, of course (along with his sister Heidi Doody, Princess Winterspring Summerfall and other guests). ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquist-dummies-in-horror-movies-and-tv-shows/312408/11 "2005-07-13T21:53:39Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > **Howdy Doody** probably remains the most famous, of course Does Howdy Doody have a [USPS postage stamp](http://www.unicover.com/EA4OC7DZ.HTM)? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquist-dummies-in-horror-movies-and-tv-shows/312408/12 "2005-07-13T22:14:20Z")
While he was a popular figure on radio, Edgar Bergen’s one television program, _Do You Trust Your Wife?_, lasted only one season. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquist-dummies-in-horror-movies-and-tv-shows/312408/13 "2005-07-13T22:21:59Z")
There was also an episode of “Twilight Zone” with Telly Savalas, who’s (step?)daughter had a talking doll that would say evil things to him when nobody else was around. But it wasn’t a ventriloquist doll, just a regular girl’s doll. The guy on “Soap” was the first thing that sprang to mind. Also Willie Tyler and Lester, although I remember them more as a stand-up act on the Tonight Show. There was also an episode of “Everybody Loves Raymond” where Robert was using a ventriloquist doll for Traffic School or something… ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquist-dummies-in-horror-movies-and-tv-shows/312408/14 "2005-07-13T22:25:51Z")
Bull had a lookalike ventriloquist dummy on at least two episodes of _Night Court_. _ALF_ and _the Muppets_ and _Sesame Street_ all seem too obvious of course. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquist-dummies-in-horror-movies-and-tv-shows/312408/15 "2005-07-13T22:51:45Z")
> [@Governor Quinn](#): > > While he was a popular figure on radio, Edgar Bergen’s one television program, _Do You Trust Your Wife?_, lasted only one season. Yeah, but he did make some movies, too. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquist-dummies-in-horror-movies-and-tv-shows/312408/16 "2005-07-13T22:52:55Z")
Didn’t Sam Malone and Woody, at different time, use ventriloquist dummies on **Cheers**? ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquist-dummies-in-horror-movies-and-tv-shows/312408/17 "2005-07-13T23:00:16Z")
> [@ArchiveGuy](#): > > Yeah, but he did make some movies, too. True, but none of them are horror movies, and the OP asked specifically for horror movies. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquist-dummies-in-horror-movies-and-tv-shows/312408/18 "2005-07-13T23:25:36Z")
No one mentioned Mr. Hat yet? There’s a certain amount of horror in that. 🙂 There’s also the early talkie, \*\*[The Great Gabbo](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0019946/) \*\*. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2005, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquist-dummies-in-horror-movies-and-tv-shows/312408/19 "2005-07-13T23:58:59Z")
> [@Governor Quinn](#): > > True, but none of them are horror movies, and the OP asked specifically for horror movies. Well, I wasn’t responding to the OP but to the general assertion that Howdy Doody (not conventionally seen as horrific, though YMMV) “probably remains the most famous, of course”. And Sampiro began the non-horror dummy references anyway. I’m innocent, I tells ya–Innocent!!! ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2005, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquist-dummies-in-horror-movies-and-tv-shows/312408/20 "2005-07-14T00:01:28Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > There’s also the early talkie, \*\*[The Great Gabbo](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0019946/) \*\*. And of course, the [other Gabbo](http://uloc.nerdtank.org/screenshots/9/9f19_gabbo.jpg). And few things were more horrific than Krusty’s fist shattering the skull of his own, competing dummy, before throwing it into the audience of kids. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ventriloquist-dummies-in-horror-movies-and-tv-shows/312408.md?page=2)