“Ventriloquism is a comedy thing. If you’re not funny and don’t think funny, it’s not going to come together.”
Ed Thomas
By Jim Dorman
When Ed Thomas was a child growing up in Maine, he probably didn’t think learning to throw his voice and operate a puppet would change his life forever, but that is exactly what happened.
Thomas grew up in Orrington, Maine near Bangor. When he was still in grade school, he bought a simple Jerry Mahoney puppet or “ventriloquist’s dummy,” the type made famous by Paul Winchell who had his own show (with Jerry of course) and appeared frequently on television. “I just picked it up and got started. I never had any lessons. I grew up in foster homes, and I think it was an outlet for me,” said Thomas during a telephone interview from his home in Altamonte Springs, Florida.
From there Thomas’s ventriloquism steadily progressed. “(After a while) I got a better dummy, another Jerry Mahoney model, where you could move his head and everything. I thought, ‘Boy this is great!’ And, eventually I had one specially made by a guy from California (well known American carver Revello Petee) that could smoke cigarettes, spit, and roll his eyes.” He named him Hugo, and Elwin (Ed’s given name) Thomas and Hugo began performing shows for friends, neighbors or anyone who might be interested.
When Thomas was in the fourth grade, and still performing with his Jerry Mahoney puppet, a man who had seen him perform at a school event was quite impressed. The next day the man was having lunch with the president of HP Hood and Company, and he told him about the young ventriloquist. The president wanted to know if Thomas was available to perform at a corporate function.
“They called and wanted to know how much I charged. I asked my foster mother and she said, ‘Five dollars, but they need to pick you up and bring you back,’” said Thomas. “I was so small, they had to put me on a table with a chair so the people in the restaurant could see me.” And with that, his entertainment career was off and running.
Thomas’s sense of humor and timing with Hugo, helped him become a local celebrity. “Ventriloquism is a comedy thing. If you’re not funny and don’t think funny, it’s not going to come together,” said Thomas. He was often featured in news stories and television programs, and that led to other opportunities. “There was a column in the Bangor Daily News about my ventriloquism, and then I did a weekly TV show at WABI-TV in Bangor called the Sunnydale Farm Show where I did commercials for the Maine Dairy Council with a milkman. I would talk to him about the milk products, and make it funny. So I got to be pretty well known in the Maine and New Hampshire areas,” said Thomas.
Even though his entertainment career was doing well, young Thomas decided it would be a good idea to further his education and attend college. “(In high school) I got kicked out of class for horsing around. I was (still) in the corridor when they announced that a (recruiter) from Nasson was at the school giving interviews. I went down and they accepted me,” said Thomas.
When Thomas arrived at Nasson in 1958 he brought Hugo, but didn’t want to be known for his ventriloquism. “I didn’t want people thinking that was why I was accepted to the college,” said Thomas. But one night, he returned to his dorm (Glidden Hall) to find Hugo propped up next to the fireplace. “My roommate had gotten Hugo out of his trunk, and placed him (there). Everyone was expecting me to do a show. So I did. (At one point) the dean came by (to see what was going on), so Hugo started talking to the dean. ‘What are you doing out? Did your wife kick you out?’ said Hugo.The students loved it and Thomas says he “never got any flak from it.”
In fact, Thomas has many good memories of the great support he received from Nasson. “One of my professors, William Steinhardt (who handled public relations for the school), loved (my act) and he would help me get all kinds of shows in places that I wouldn’t have gotten otherwise. Years later Thomas was able to thank Mr. Steinhardt before he passed away in 2010. “I think we can all think of somebody who did something for us. He really helped me. So, I called him and thanked him. I was glad I was able to do that,” said Thomas.
After graduating and realizing he and his wife Sandy (They were married during his junior year and are celebrating their 65th wedding anniversary this year) would need some more conventional income and benefits for their growing family, Thomas took a job in management with Jordan Marsh Department stores, an unexpected happenstance. He only met with the recruiter as a favor to a Nasson administrator, but after their second child was born, Thomas began his Jordan Marsh career, eventually becoming vice president in charge of Florida Operations.
Although Thomas had to adjust to corporate life, he never stopped performing whenever he could, and he felt like his experiences gave him an edge. “(My) show business background helped me my entire life. If Jordan Marsh was hosting a celebrity, it would be my job to meet and escort him,” said Thomas.
And he really enjoyed meeting celebrities. “Between Jordan Marsh, my ventriloquism and doing shows, I got to meet almost any big star that you can think of at the time, like Liberace, Lawrence Welk, Joan Crawford…. I spent time with them,” said Thomas. One of his favorite memories is spending about 20 minutes with Sammy Davis, Jr. “He was just the nicest guy.”
Thomas, who is now 87, continued to perform until about two years ago. Along the way, he added a non-ventriloquism character named Doc Goodfellow. He was inspired by the downeast Maine humor created in the late 1950s by Yale students Marshall Dodge and Robert Bryan, expressing the funny folklore of Maine fishermen, woodsmen, and eccentric locals. Doc Goodfellow shows became a popular booking for Thomas which he says was “a very nice diversion for me.”
And, even though he also did quite a bit of acting in later years, (he was in about 15 movies, some commercials and performed, sometimes in serious roles, in local theater) he will always have a special place in his heart for ventriloquism. “It gave me an identity and it made me special,” said Thomas.
Thomas is happy with his legacy and appreciates the recognition he has earned, especially in Maine and at Nasson. “I just loved everything about (Nasson),” said Thomas. He will always be grateful for his experiences, and has enjoyed helping out whenever he could. He supported the restoration of the Little Theatre and the establishment of the Nasson Community Center, and he performed two benefit shows with Hugo at the Little Theatre. In 2006 Thomas was inducted into the Nasson Hall of Fame.
In 2022, the Orrington Historical Society gave Thomas a parade, and permanently accepted his two original dummies into their possessions. Many of Thomas’s friends and family were able to attend the ceremony. “I have four kids, nine grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. My kids all flew up to Maine to be with me that night. It was quite an honor.” And it all started with a puppet he bought in grade school.
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