Señor Wences

Early life

Wenceslao Moreno was born in Peñaranda de Bracamonte, Salamanca, Spain. His father was Antonio Moreno Ross, and his mother was Josefa Centeno Lavera. Both parents were born in the province of Salamanca, his father in Peñaranda de Bracamonte and his mother in Cordovilla. Señor Wences's family on both sides are Roman Catholic. Señor Wences was one of the benefactors of the Convent of Saint Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) in Alba de Tormes, Salamanca, where he had a house. He attended mass there every Sunday when on vacation during the Summer. The street that leads to the convent received the name of Señor Wences while he was alive. There are several other places in Salamanca and in Castille that have streets named after him.

Career

Performing under the stage name "Señor Wences", Moreno was known for his speed, skill, and grace as a ventriloquist. His stable of characters included Johnny, a childlike face drawn on his hand, placed atop an otherwise headless doll, with whom the ventrilloquist conversed while switching voices between Johnny's falsetto and his own voice with great speed. He opened his act by drawing Johnny's face on his hand, on stage. He would first place his thumb next to, and in front of, his bent first finger; the first finger would be the upper lip, and the thumb the lower lip. He used lipstick to draw the lips onto the respective fingers and then drew eyes onto the upper part of the first finger, finishing the effect with a tiny long-haired wig on top of his hand. Flexing the thumb would move the "lips."

Another popular Señor Wences character was the gruff-voiced Pedro, a disembodied head in a box. Wences was forced to suddenly invent the character when his regular, full-sized dummy was destroyed during a 1936 train accident en route to Chicago. Pedro would either "speak" from within the closed box, or speak with moving lips – simply growling, "s'awright" ("it's all right") – when the performer opened the box's front panel with his free hand. A large part of the entertainer's comedy lay in the well-timed, high-speed exchange of words between himself and his creations, and in the difference in their voice pitches.

Part of his act involved throwing his voice while his mouth was otherwise engaged (i.e. smoking or drinking.) Another favorite prop was a telephone, with the ventriloquist playing both sides of a telephone conversation. For the "caller" he simulated a "filtered" voice, as it would sound over a telephone wire. This voice always began a conversation with a shouted "Moreno?" – using Señor Wences' true surname. He would respond "No, Moreno is not here."

He usually built to a big finish that combined ventriloquism with juggling and plate-spinning. As he performed his routines, Pedro and Johnny heckled him.

Although he was an international favorite for decades, his main career was made in the United States, where he arrived in 1934 or 1935. In addition to live performances at nightclubs, he appeared regularly on TV variety shows, including frequent appearances on CBS's The Ed Sullivan Show, where he was a guest 48 times, on Broadway, in Las Vegas casino theaters and in feature films. Much later in his career he was introduced to a new generation of fans on The Muppet Show. His last TV appearance was on The Very Best of the Ed Sullivan Show, #2, a retrospective in which the nonagenarian talked about "Suliban" and performed a brief spot of ventriloquism.

He pronounced his name the traditional Castilian way, which in English sounds like "WEN-thess". After Sullivan would announce him saying his name as "Señor Wen-sess", the ventriloquist would subtly correct Sullivan's pronunciation by announcing himself to the audience: "Hello, I am Señor Wen-thess".

In the early 1980s, a Tri-State Honda dealer's commercial featured Señor Wences with Johnny. Pedro's "s'awright" was a voice from the elaborate glovebox. Señor Wences would point out all of the car's features to which Johnny would reply, "Nice!" This may have been Wences final commercial appearance. It was shot in Puerto Rico because its star declined to travel to New York. In 1986 he made a guest appearance on The Garry Shandling Show.

In 2009 Señor Wences was featured in the ventriloquist comedy documentary I'm No Dummy, directed by Bryan W. Simon.

Catch phrases

One of Wences's trademark bits of shtick (referenced several times below) involves his dialogue with a low voice emanating from inside a box. At the opening of the dialogue he would shout, "Hello in the box!" At the conclusion of the dialogue, he would open the lid of the box and ask "S'aright?" ("It's all right?") and the box voice would answer "S'ariiight!"

Another involved explaining to his hand puppet Johnny that something was easy (or difficult) to do, to which the puppet would reply the contrary, such as, "Easy for you, for me ees very deefeecult!" in his Spanish accent.

These catchphrases were incorporated into a record Wences released in 1959 by Joy Records (New York), featuring the songs "S-All Right? S-All Right" and "Deefeecult For You – Easy For Me".

Death and legacy

Wences received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the US National Comedy Hall of Fame in 1996.

Despite his retirement by age 100, Wences' famous puppets Johnny and Pedro "continued working". Ventriloquists Jay Johnson, Rickie Layne and Michele LaFong performed at Wences' 100th birthday celebration at the New York Friars' Club (where he was made a lifetime member), and he was so impressed with LaFong that he befriended her. Not only did he give her his puppets, but also taught her how to perform his classic routines. Las Vegas headliner LaFong is the only ventriloquist authorized by the Wences Estate to perform Johnny and Pedro, plus Wences' routines. Another famous ventriloquist who was present at Wences' birthday party, and who met him there for the first time was Paul Winchell.

Wences died just after his 103rd birthday. He had been residing in New York City's Upper West Side on 54th Street, just around the corner from the Ed Sullivan Theater. That section of 54th Street has been named Señor Wences Way. His portrait can be seen at the Players Club in New York.

Personal life

Wences was married to Esperanza Martin (1902–1983) from 1922 to 1944. His "Johnny Martin" dummy bears her surname. They had two children, now deceased: a son who lived in Chile and a daughter who died young. In 1949, he married his manager, Natalie Cover, née Eisler (1918–2005). She was born in Kharkov (present-day Ukraine). They met in California, and were married in Beirut, Lebanon, in the US Consulate. They had no children.

Of Wences's several descendants, only one granddaughter, Marcela Moreno, and her children are US citizens. She is an artist and genealogist, and has written books. He stayed at his granddaughter's house in the US many times and traveled with her to Spain almost every year.

Wences's nephew (José Luis Moreno) and brother (Felipe Moreno) were also ventriloquists.