Vince Dantona (April 2, 1949 – February 27, 2012) was an American

ventriloquist Ventriloquism, or ventriloquy, is a performance act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) creates the illusion that their voice is coming from elsewhere, usually a puppeteered prop known as a "dummy". The act of ventriloquism is v ...

. Vince Dantona was born in Brooklyn New York. To Parents Vincent Dantona and Dolores Dantona, Siblings to Linda Dantona, Maureen Dantona, Joseph Dantona, Debra Dantona, Richard J Dantona, and Laura Dantona.

Career

Dantona began his comedy career in

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

during his time in the

Marine Corps Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

, learning ventriloquism through a correspondence course by practicing in front of a mirror. Before long, Vince purchased a wooden dummy and dubbed him "George." Vince began working on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

with other performers, including

Eddie Murphy Edward Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and singer. He rose to fame on the sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'', for which he was a regular cast member from 1980 to 1984. Murphy has als ...

Rob Bartlett Robert James Bartlett (born May 18, 1957) is an American comedian, actor, impressionist, and writer, and Owner/Director of RAFCO Theatrical, who gained widespread fame on the radio show ''Imus in the Morning''. ''Imus in the Morning'' Bartlett ...

, and Bob Nelson at Richard Dixon's White House Inn in

North Massapequa, New York North Massapequa is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located on Long Island within the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. It is considered part of the Greater Massapequa area, which is an ...

.Vince Dantona at Uncle Vinny's Comedian Booking
/ref> At first, Vince had wanted to do

stand-up Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, ...

, but found he did better with a ventriloquist act; Vince has called George his "safety net", saying, "He gets away with everything. Nobody ever gets mad at him."Vince Dantona
in the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

Before finishing the course, he (along with George) hosted a two-hour children's program on

Armed Forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

television and radio. Vince was also the first $10,000 winner on ABC-TV's ''

America's Funniest People ''America's Funniest People'' is an American reality show on ABC that debuted on May 13, 1990 as a 30 minute television special ''America's Funniest... Part II'', aired after the popular ''America's Funniest Home Videos''. The green-lit series ...

'' in 1991.Vince and George website
/ref> Vince toured with the

USO The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

, entertaining

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

troops. Vince and George appeared on numerous television shows, including ''

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming ...

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...

The Joan Rivers Show ''The Joan Rivers Show'' is an American talk show hosted by comedian Joan Rivers that premiered on September 5, 1989, in broadcast syndication. The show aired for five seasons, and ended in December 1993. The show was nominated for numerous Emmy A ...

The Joe Franklin Show Joe Franklin (March 9, 1926 – January 24, 2015), born Joseph Fortgang, was an American radio and television host personality, author and actor from New York City. Franklin is noted for having the first talk show and inventing the format. His te ...

,'' and '' Comedy Tonight.'' On occasion they opened for

Soupy Sales Milton Supman (January 8, 1926 – October 22, 2009), known professionally as Soupy Sales, was an American comedian, actor, radio-television personality, and jazz aficionado. He was best known for his local and network children's television serie ...

Henny Youngman Henry "Henny" Youngman (16 March 1906 – 24 February 1998) was a British-born American comedian and musician famous for his mastery of the " one-liner", his best known being "Take my wife... please". In a time when many comedians told ela ...

Robert Klein Robert Klein (born February 8, 1942) is an American stand-up comedian, singer, and actor. He is known for his appearances on stage and screen. He has released four standup comedy specials: ''A Child of the 50s'' (1973), ''Mind Over Matter'' (197 ...

, Tiny Tim,

Jay and the Americans Jay and the Americans are an American rock group who formed in the late 1950s. Their initial line-up consisted of John "Jay" Traynor, Howard Kane (born Howard Kirschenbaum), Kenny Vance (born Kenneth Rosenberg) and Sandy Deanne (born Sandy Ya ...

Martina McBride Martina Mariea McBride (née Schiff, born July 29, 1966) is an American country music singer-songwriter and record producer. She is known for her soprano singing range and her country pop material. McBride was born in Sharon, Kansas, and relocat ...

Judy Collins Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning seven decades. An Academy Award-nominated documentary director and a Grammy Award-winning recording artist, she is known for her ec ...

Bobby Rydell Robert Louis Ridarelli (April 26, 1942 – April 5, 2022), known by the stage name Bobby Rydell, was an American singer and actor who mainly performed rock and roll and traditional pop music. In the early 1960s he was considered a teen idol. His ...

Bobby Vinton Stanley Robert "Bobby" Vinton (born April 16, 1935) is a American former singer and occasional actor, who also hosted his own self-titled TV show in the late 1970s. As a teen idol, he became known as "The Polish Prince", as his music paid trib ...

Little Anthony and the Imperials Little Anthony and the Imperials is an American rhythm and blues/soul vocal group from New York City founded by Clarence Collins in the 1950s and named in part for its lead singer, Jerome Anthony "Little Anthony" Gourdine, who was noted for his h ...

, and

Boyz II Men Boyz II Men (pronounced ''boys to men''), also known as B2M, is an American vocal harmony group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are currently a trio composed of baritone Nathan M ...

. Vince regularly performed at such places as Pocono Palace in the Pocono mountains, Caesar's Resorts, and The Tropicana in Atlantic City. Dantona died on February 27, 2012, at the age of 62.https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1011903&l=719f8d4031&id=238053796238304

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dantona, Vince American stand-up comedians Ventriloquists 1949 births 2012 deaths