When our ventriloquist was talk of the town

Next month will be 50 years since Astor’s death. During his prime he appeared in a Royal Variety Performance and gave private shows for the king and queen. He also owned Her Majesty’s Theatre in Carlisle for more than 20 years, helping to bring some of the biggest names in the world there.

Like Astor, the theatre is long gone. Those were different days.

Astor’s act was of its time. He was the straight man to a variety of dysfunctional dummies. The dazed and defeated boxer. The deserting sailor charged with being drunk and disorderly.

And the jilted chauffeur: his best known character, known as ‘Sentimental Mac’.

According to the three 1930s’ clips of Astor’s act on YouTube, his dummies spent much of their time sobbing.

Was Astor expressing his own heartache through them?

More likely he was expressing his ability to cry without moving his lips.

Much about him remains a mystery. John Ferguson has attempted to solve it.

Astor is remembered in a new book by John. Astor was his great uncle.

The older man is fondly remembered by John, who recalls: “When he was in Carlisle I would see him from time to time.

“He was a big personality. A big man. He spent his time smoking cigars. He had a great sense of humour, full of verve.”

The future performer was born in Carlisle on July 14, 1890, as Thomas Ferguson.

Arthur Charles Astor, or AC Astor, was to become his stage name.

“No one in the family seems to know why he chose it,” says John.

Astor was the son of William Ferguson and Jane Farmer. His first home was at Norfolk Street in Denton Holme.

At seven he made his first visit to Her Majesty’s Theatre on Lowther Street to see a pantomime. Perhaps the seeds were sown here.

The family moved around north Cumbria, settling in Silloth when Astor was 13. His father was a plumber and contractor there.

Astor travelled by train to Carlisle Grammar School. One day he found a copy of The Stage newspaper which had been left behind by a performer visiting Silloth.

He later wrote that this was “just at that unsettled point when young men don’t know exactly what they want and it revealed a new world that seemed as novel and interesting as it has since turned out to be.”

Astor enjoyed the shows performed on Silloth Green, on the “little open-air platform backed by fir trees beside the gleaming Solway”. There he began to develop his talent for ventriloquism.

By 1906 he was training as a pharmacist in Carlisle. But his heart was elsewhere.

One day he packed his bags, left work for the last time and, without telling anyone, left home.

He joined a troupe of variety entertainers travelling from town to town. At this point he adopted his stage name.

Back home, his departure led to tragedy. John Ferguson writes: ‘This naturally caused tremendous anxiety for his family as it was not known what had become of him... his mother Jane committed suicide and it was believed that her depression was at least partly due to the despondency arising from her only son leaving home in such trying circumstances.

‘She had been found hanging in the kitchen by a daughter who had returned from school.’

We do not know what effect this had on Astor. He struggled professionally, forming a small company of performers who often found themselves in remote towns with little money.

In September 1913 he returned briefly to Carlisle, performing at the Palace Theatre on Botchergate.

A local newspaper reviewer wrote: ‘His ‘turn’ was so well received that he has been engaged to appear each night this week. He has an easy, amusing style, with some good ‘patter.’ His manipulation of the ‘doll’ was ingenious.’

Soon after, Astor married singer Ivy Eldridge. She was 18 and he was 23.

Astor served three years in World War I as a ‘soldier artiste’ on the Western Front.

Ivy had their first child, Kathleen, in January 1919. Towards the end of that year her husband sailed to America for the first time.

He visited on-spec, later recalling that in the early part of this trip he was so broke that he ate ketchup mixed with hot water.

But Astor honed his act and toured vaudeville, or variety, theatres. In January 1920 The New York Clipper reported: ‘AC Astor is a ventriloquist of ability, for he throws his voice very distinctly and knows how to get the most out of it. He is an Englishman, but, contrary to public opinion, has a good sense of humour.’

He returned to England in May 1920 with a contract for a 30-week American tour. This was spent with his wife who was billed as ‘Ivy Lee, the well-known vocalist and cellist.’

There were several tours of the US and Canada as well as trips to South Africa, Australia, Egypt, France and Germany.

Astor became known as ‘the Globe Trotting Ventriloquist.’

Perhaps the highlight of his career was being part of the 1928 Royal Variety Performance at the London Coliseum, for King George V and Queen Mary.

The dozen acts included comedians Will Hay and Gracie Fields, as well as ‘comedy cyclist’ Larry Kemble.

One reviewer wrote: ‘Mr Astor scored a personal hit with his smartly presented act that contained so many good lines.’

Following this performance he was invited to give the royal couple private performances at Windsor Castle.

Even though he and Ivy were living in Sussex and Astor was the ‘globetrotting ventriloquist’, Carlisle still drew him.

He said it was “chock-a-block with memories, many associated with the figures of those who entertained in the old city when it seemed much brighter than it does now.”

After 21 years of marriage, Astor became attracted to a singer 19 years his junior. Phyllis Kermode was professionally known as Miss Phyllis Robins.

She too was married. But from 1936 they lived together in a central London flat.

In August that year Astor bought Her Majesty’s Theatre, partly out of a sentimental attachment.

The theatre had been struggling but his many contacts helped it to thrive. Stars including Laurel and Hardy and Charlie Chaplin played there.

Astor and Ivy divorced, as did Phyllis and her husband.

In February 1941 Astor bought Townhead Farm at Curthwaite, near Thursby. Phyllis had expressed an interest in farming and said that she wanted to settle down. They married in December 1941. But Phyllis grew restless, began working on stage again and admitted that she was having an affair.

Although they separated, Astor arranged medical care for his wife when she became ill. They divorced in 1951.

Astor’s touring days were over but he was still a theatrical agent and owner of Her Majesty’s.

In later years when his health was poor Astor spent winters in Tenerife.

Back in Britain he would visit Carlisle, staying at the house he owned on Chapel Street, around the corner from Her Majesty’s.

By the mid-1950s provincial theatre was badly hit by television. Astor handed the theatre to his children Kathleen and Arthur. It was later leased to Carlisle City Council.

The final performance there was in January 1963. Two years later Astor visited Carlisle for the final time. Her Majesty’s was now a bingo hall.

Astor died in his sleep in Tenerife on March 17, 1966, aged 75. His ashes were interred at St Paul’s churchyard, Causewayhead, Silloth, in his parents’ grave.

John Ferguson’s book has helped to bring another part of the family together.

“Astor has two grandchildren who are still alive,” says John. “They had lost contact. When I was writing the book I managed to trace them and now they’re back in touch, which is fantastic.”

The Globe Trotting Ventriloquist by John Ferguson is available at Bookends, Castle Street, Carlisle, and Winters, Esk Street, Silloth. Price £8.