Dinsdale, Shirley (c. 1928–1999)

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Dinsdale, Shirley (c. 1928–1999)

American ventriloquist. Name variations: Shirley Dinsdale Layburn. Born Oct 31, 1926, in San Francisco, California; died of cancer, May 9, 1999, in Stony Brook, NY; married.

Trained with ventriloquist Edgar Bergen; had own radio show (by 1945); starred with her puppet, Judy Splinters, on "Judy Splinters," on KTLA, Los Angeles (1949–50); won Emmy for "most outstanding television personality" the 1st year the awards were presented (1949); served as the head of the Respiratory Therapy Department of the John T. Mather Memorial Hospital in Port Jefferson, NY (1973–85).