Saveen

Albert Saveen (born Albert Edward Langford; 27 May 1914 – 14 April 1994), usually credited mononymously as Saveen, was a British ventriloquist who, with his puppet character Daisy May, was the first to have a national radio series on the BBC Light Programme.

Biography Born in Southwark, London, he worked for a printing company before being injured in a bomb explosion in the Second World War. While recuperating, and exercising using only one lung at a time, he developed a ventriloquism technique that produced a girlish voice, with which he entertained his fellow troops. He made a tiny wooden schoolgirl dummy, Daisy May, and was discovered by impresario Val Parnell. At the end of the act, the puppets would be packed into a suitcase, and appeared to be heard arguing with each other as Saveen left the stage.

The act was often billed as "Daisy May assisted by Saveen". Daisy May had her own bank account and telephone number. Roy Hudd wrote that, on one occasion, he rang to speak to Saveen; "Daisy May" answered the phone and insisted that Hudd could not speak to Saveen, but that she would pass a message on for him to ring Hudd back.

Saveen later became a theatrical agent. He died in Worcester Park, Surrey, in 1994, aged 79.