Terri Rogers

Who was Terri Rogers?

Terri Rogers, born Ivan Southgate was a transsexual English ventriloquist and magician.

Rogers was born in Ipswich and was a somewhat isolated youth but determined to build a career in variety. Rogers developed a technically highly proficient ventriloquism act with her ventriloquist figure Shorty Harris, first of all appearing as a supporting act in music hall in the 1950s. Like her contemporary fellow ventriloquist Bobbie Kimber, she began life as a man but underwent gender reassignment surgery on the National Health Service in the early 1960s. This brought her some short-lived notoriety but did not hamper her career. Rogers won acclaim for her appearance in the 1968 review Boys Will be Girls at the Theatre Royal Stratford East and went on to become a highly regarded performer on the UK cabaret circuit. She was the only variety act ever to appear at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club. From 1974 onwards she was a regular, though somewhat incongruous, guest on TV on the The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club. Her cabaret career eventually extended internationally including appearances at Las Vegas and The Magic Castle in Hollywood, and on United States TV.