Nostalgia: Senor Wences

Senor Wences: Loved as ventriloquist on TV:

April 21, 1999

FREE PRESS NEWS SERVICES

NEW YORK -- Senor Wences, the master ventriloquist who delighted 'Ed Sullivan Show' audiences with his puppet-head-in-a-box, Pedro, and his falsetto-voiced hand-puppet, Johnny, died Tuesday at 103.

The Spanish-born ventriloquist, whose real name was Wenceslao Moreno, died at home in New York City.

During the 1950s, Mr. Moreno bickered and bantered with his puppets while he drank, smoked and juggled.

He conversed with Pedro, a head in a box ('S'OK?' 'S'AWRIGHT'). And he was defeated by Johnny, who boasted, 'Deefeecult for you; easy for me.'

Mr. Moreno created Johnny by scrunching up his fist, drawing a mouth where thumb and index finger met, and draping a blond wig over the top. [...]