Magician-Comedian Carl Ballantine dies at 92

[Dennis Donovan]

http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2009_11_03.html#017999



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 1972 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.

Rest in peace, Carl and thanks for the laughs!

[AndyA]

1. I didn't recognize the name at first, but I immediately recognized the face.

Funny guy, and he was very good at playing whatever role was assigned to him.

RIP.

[Rhiannon12866]

4. Me, too. But the show that immediately came to mind was McHale's Navy.

That was a classic, as was Carl Ballantine. :-)

[Dennis Donovan]

6. No rec?

:shrug:

[Rhiannon12866]

8. I tried...

Of course. But "you can't recommend threads from this forum." :shrug: :-(

on edit: :thumbsup: :shrug:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4137295&mesg_id=4137295

[Dennis Donovan]

9. Error: you can only recommend threads which were started in the past 24 hours

I tried, too.;)

[Rhiannon12866]

10. Thanks...

DU time waits for no recommendation. :-( :hi:

[Rhiannon12866]

11. No

:kick::shrug:




on edit: :hide:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4137295&mesg_id=4138310

[Dennis Donovan]

12. Yikes - don't you hate it when a thread, as innocuous as it was...

...turns into an unintended shitstorm?;)

[Rhiannon12866]

13. I just thought that this new ship was pretty cool, that it was a story worth posting.

Instead, my thread's become a MIHOP magnet... :tinfoilhat:

[rurallib]

2. I remember his magic act. Very funny

Sad to lose him and Soupy Sales.
The Amazing Jonathan kind of reminds me of the Amazing Ballantine.

[Dennis Donovan]

3. A clip of Ballantine the Great from the old Donny and Marie Show:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfurTYemJ6Y&feature=related

[niyad]

5. RIP, carl-- you brought many a smile to my world.

[Dennis Donovan]

7. I though he was hilarious as a kid...

After watching the Donny & Marie clip, I know why...:D