Nice obit in the Los Angeles Times for Carl Ballantine, complete with quotes from Steve Martin, Tim Conway and David Copperfield.
The thing about Carl I should emphasize is that he was an entertainer 24/7. He performed on stage and he performed off stage and there really wasn't a lot of difference except as to whether or not props were involved or he was getting paid. Getting paid mattered a lot to Carl but not getting paid never stopped him from being funny.
I wrote here that the first time I saw him perform live was in that production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum with Phil Silvers. Thinking back, it may not have been. The first time may have been one day when I was walking down Hollywood Boulevard — this would have been between 1969 and about 1973 — and he was standing outside the Hollywood Magic Company (a great store up there), heckling passers-by. He was just saying silly things to everyone who walked past him, commenting on their wardrobe or companion or whatever, to amuse a friend he was standing with. The friend was Orson Welles.
Now, you have to understand that Hollywood Boulevard is — and for as long as I've been going there, always has been — a boring, disappointing place. People from Nebraska go there expecting to see movie stars and there are no movie stars, there or anywhere; not in the Clark Gable sense. There are names of movie stars embedded in the sidewalk but they're just there so you can walk over Lana Turner and say, "Hey, there's Lana Turner." Apart from that, not much happens on Hollywood Boulevard that couldn't happen on Main Street in Anytown, U.S.A. Except, every so often, something like that.
I saw them, stopped and just watched the show for about ten minutes. Can't recall a thing Carl said but I recall laughing, partly at the lines and partly at the sight of Orson Welles (not an easy man to overlook) all dressed in black, convulsed in laughter. Everything the Amazing Ballantine said made Mr. Welles laugh…and during the few seconds he wasn't talking, just his attitude was funny. The performance ended when a convertible pulled up in front, Welles hugged Carl goodbye and got into the car. I remember applauding and Carl took a little bow, then walked off. It was the only time in my life that Hollywood Boulevard was ever as magical as you wish a street called Hollywood Boulevard would be.
For the life of me, I can't recall why I didn't follow him in and talk to the man that day…but I was glad I got to know him in later years. I'd see him at the Magic Castle or run into him and his wonderful daughter Sara at Andre's, a great little Italian cafeteria I've been known to frequent. A couple times, I picked Carl up (he wasn't driving) and took him to Musso-Frank's Grill on, yes, Hollywood Boulevard…more or less across the street from Hollywood Magic. I've been known to spin anecdotes over a lunch but, geez, I'm a rank amateur compared to this guy. You'd say "Ed Sullivan" and get five stories. You'd say "Tim Conway" and get ten. If you wanted to be there all day, mention "Milton Berle." The tales were great but the delivery was even better.
My favorite thing Carl ever said to me requires a bit of explanation. We had an actor friend who was trying to impress his father. At a social event, he introduced the father to Carl…and the father was suitably impressed that his kid knew someone like the great Carl Ballantine. Then I wandered up and, well aware of what was going on, began telling the father how proud he must be of his son, the successful actor. I'm sure I laid it on way too thick, telling the father how "in demand" his son was and how well-respected he was in the Hollywood community…but the father bought every word of it. Others did the same thing and when the actor and his father left, Dad was beaming with pride at his offspring.
Right after they'd departed, Carl came up to me, laid his hand on my shoulder and said the words that will live with me forever. He said, "Young man, I have to compliment you. That was the finest example of show business bullshit I've ever heard in my life."