Another funny man has left us. Carl Ballantine, AKA "The Amazing Ballantine," passed away in his sleep this morning. Sources on the Internet will tell you he was born in 1922 but that's a lie. He was 92 years old.
They'll also tell you his fabled magic act was one of the most hilarious routines ever performed on a stage and they're right about that. Born Meyer Kessler in Chicago, Illinois, Carl started out as a real magician but soon discovered he was better at making audiences laugh than at dazzling them with trickery. So the tricks got deliberately lousier and he got more and more successful. He is said to have been the first performer ever to play Las Vegas with anything resembling a magic act.
It brought him fame, fortune and much acting work. He was one of those guys who worked, if not all the time, then as often as liked. He was best known for his role as Gruber on the TV series, McHale's Navy, and he logged hundreds of guest shots on television, in the movies and on stage. The first time I saw him perform live was in the 1971 revival (in Los Angeles, Chicago and on Broadway) of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum in which he played Marcus Lycus opposite the star, Phil Silvers. I can't recall ever seeing two funnier men on a stage together.
Carl did hundreds of commercials, including a memorable one for California Raisins in which he supplied the voice for a Claymation™ character that looked like…Carl Ballantine. He also did cartoon shows, one of which was Garfield & Friends, where he had a recurring role on as a con-artist character named Mr. Swindler.
Funny story how I cast him in that. I wanted to have a Bilko-type villain who'd pop up from time to time and I cast another veteran comic actor to do the voice in what would have been the first episode to feature the guy. As it turned out, the actor was — to put it as nicely as I can — too old. He just didn't "have it" anymore and while the recording session turned out okay, it was obvious I couldn't keep bringing that actor back as that character. Right after he left the studio, I decided to create another con-man character and find the right performer to supply his voice. I was wondering who to get when I walked out into the waiting room at the recording studio…
…and there, waiting to record a McDonald's radio spot for someone else, was Carl "The Amazing" Ballantine.
I hired him on the spot, then ran home and wrote the episode that introduced Mr. Swindler. It was a joy because I knew Carl could and would make any silly thing I wrote sound good. Even better, I got to hang out with him, have lunch, join his table up at the Magic Castle and just enjoy the ongoing show that was Carl. He'd worked with everyone. He knew everyone. And everything he said was funny…everything. I'll probably post more about him over the next few days.
I wish I could link to a good video of Carl's magic act but the best one online isn't all that good. Still, maybe this will give you a tiny idea of the wonders of The Amazing Ballantine. All of us who knew the man are already missing him. Our condolences to his lovely daughter Sara, and our thanks for letting us play with him…