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Larry Golian still enjoys dolls.
Don’t laugh.
Some of the plastic and wooden creations in his collection could pay your mortgage.
The 51-year-old Hannibal ventriloquist has taken a childhood interest and turned it into a way of making everyone from tourists to hometown friends happy.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Golian said. “I love it. I shake hands with kids. I shake hands with grown ups. People like that.”
On most nice days, Golian can be found in downtown Hannibal with his pride and joy – a Charlie McCarthy puppet he bought years ago for $50. A similar model today goes for seven times that.
Two of his favorite spots are near the Mark Twain Clopper and the Hannibal Trolley on North Main Street. Charlie welcomes tourists to town and engages them in conversation.
“I don’t charge them nothing,” said Golian, who once worked in local restaurants but now is on disability. “The main thing is enjoying themselves.”
No two encounters with the experienced voice-thrower are exactly the same.
“I can do all kinds of sounds,” Golian said. “I learned them a long time ago when I was a kid.”
Golian had a typical Hannibal childhood. But, unlike most of his friends, he took an interest in marionettes and puppets. He still has Barbie dolls from the 1950s, and doesn’t really care if people think it’s weird.
“You can’t pay attention to people like that,” he said.
Golian also has collected comic books, baseball cards and other sports memorabilia, and has soda pop bottles that date to the 1940s.
“I love the old stuff,” he said. “Sooner or later, it’s going to be worth a lot of money.”
Some of it already is. And, for security reasons, Golian doesn’t reveal where he keeps it all, but he is slowing down a bit.
“I don’t collect like I used to,” he admitted. “I’ve got stuff all over. I’m out of room.”
But there’s always space for Charlie.
The original, inspired by a rascally Irish newspaper boy, rests in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., after spending more than 50 years cracking wise with creator Edgar Bergen.
The comedian and his sidekick sometimes are given credit for helping to reduce the panic that ensued after Orson Welles’ live radio broadcast of “War of the Worlds” on Oct. 30, 1938.
Bergen and McCarthy were getting laughs on another station while the “aliens” were attacking Earth.
If you catch Golian on the streets and see him moving his lips, don’t think the act is unprofessional. McCarthy used to razz Bergen for doing the same thing.
Golian has several different costumes for his Charlie and sits him on a special couch when not in use. Other special care is given.
“I don’t take him out in the rain,” Golian said. “I don’t want him to get wet. I want to take care of him.”
People sometimes mistake Charlie for that other popular marionette, Howdy Doody. Golian is quick to correct the misinformed.
“Howdy Doody has red hair,” he said with an air of indignation.
Golian has sold some of his baseball cards and other parts of his collections over the years, but vows never to part with Charlie.
“He ain’t no dummy,” he said. “He’s a doll. He’s my buddy. I’m going to keep him until I die.”
Larry Golian still enjoys dolls.
Don’t laugh.
Some of the plastic and wooden creations in his collection could pay your mortgage.
The 51-year-old Hannibal ventriloquist has taken a childhood interest and turned it into a way of making everyone from tourists to hometown friends happy.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Golian said. “I love it. I shake hands with kids. I shake hands with grown ups. People like that.”
On most nice days, Golian can be found in downtown Hannibal with his pride and joy – a Charlie McCarthy puppet he bought years ago for $50. A similar model today goes for seven times that.
Two of his favorite spots are near the Mark Twain Clopper and the Hannibal Trolley on North Main Street. Charlie welcomes tourists to town and engages them in conversation.
“I don’t charge them nothing,” said Golian, who once worked in local restaurants but now is on disability. “The main thing is enjoying themselves.”
No two encounters with the experienced voice-thrower are exactly the same.
“I can do all kinds of sounds,” Golian said. “I learned them a long time ago when I was a kid.”
Golian had a typical Hannibal childhood. But, unlike most of his friends, he took an interest in marionettes and puppets. He still has Barbie dolls from the 1950s, and doesn’t really care if people think it’s weird.
“You can’t pay attention to people like that,” he said.
Golian also has collected comic books, baseball cards and other sports memorabilia, and has soda pop bottles that date to the 1940s.
“I love the old stuff,” he said. “Sooner or later, it’s going to be worth a lot of money.”
Some of it already is. And, for security reasons, Golian doesn’t reveal where he keeps it all, but he is slowing down a bit.
“I don’t collect like I used to,” he admitted. “I’ve got stuff all over. I’m out of room.”
But there’s always space for Charlie.
The original, inspired by a rascally Irish newspaper boy, rests in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., after spending more than 50 years cracking wise with creator Edgar Bergen.
The comedian and his sidekick sometimes are given credit for helping to reduce the panic that ensued after Orson Welles’ live radio broadcast of “War of the Worlds” on Oct. 30, 1938.
Bergen and McCarthy were getting laughs on another station while the “aliens” were attacking Earth.
If you catch Golian on the streets and see him moving his lips, don’t think the act is unprofessional. McCarthy used to razz Bergen for doing the same thing.
Golian has several different costumes for his Charlie and sits him on a special couch when not in use. Other special care is given.
“I don’t take him out in the rain,” Golian said. “I don’t want him to get wet. I want to take care of him.”
People sometimes mistake Charlie for that other popular marionette, Howdy Doody. Golian is quick to correct the misinformed.
“Howdy Doody has red hair,” he said with an air of indignation.
Golian has sold some of his baseball cards and other parts of his collections over the years, but vows never to part with Charlie.
“He ain’t no dummy,” he said. “He’s a doll. He’s my buddy. I’m going to keep him until I die.”
