You may have known that this Decatur, Michigan native was famous, but did you know he was this famous?

Radio Hall of Fame

Many people know Edgar Bergen as the father of famous actress Candice Bergen.  An older generation may know him from the Charlie McCarthy Show.  In Decatur, Michigan, he's the guy that a school building is named after.  While I was in Chicago last weekend I learned something new about Edgar Bergen.  At the very beginning of my tour of the Radio Hall of Fame, I saw plagues of Mr. Bergen along with a case that housed 3 of his actual dummies. A man that works at the Hall of Fame tried to tell me that there is a "rumor" that he's from Decatur, Michigan.  I informed him that Edgar Bergen was born in Decatur and lived there until he moved to Chicago at the age of 16.  According to the Radio Hall of Fame, Bergen passed in 1978 and was inducted into the hall of fame 12 years later,

The Edgar Bergen/Charlie McCarthy Show was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1990.

Dana Marshall
Dana Marshall
loading...
WKMI logo
Get our free mobile app

Ventriloquist Hall of Fame

After learning that Edgar Bergen has a home at the Radio Hall of Fame I did a little digging and found that he is also in the Ventriloquist Hall of Fame.  Even though ventriloquism is what Bergen was known the most for, he wasn't inducted into this hall of fame until 2018 according to the Ventriloquist Society,

The Bergen family maintains all rights to Charlie. They allowed a non-working replica to be crafted for the Vent Haven Ventriloquist Museum in Ft. Mitchell, KY.


Hollywood Walk of Fame

It's not that Edgar Bergen was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  It's that he was honored with 3 stars in 1960 under the categories below.

  • Radio
  • Television
  • Motion Pictures

You can find the exact location of each star by clicking here.

5 Famous People With Ties to Kalamazoo

10 Biggest Southwest Michigan TikTok Creators

These are the TikTok creators in Southwest Michigan ranked by followers. Updated 5/24/2022

 

More From WKMI