Carl Ballantine Comedian, Magician | McHale's Navy | Dies

by Sudha Krishna | November 11, 2009 at 02:01 pm

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Comedian, Magician, Actor, Carl Ballantine died in is home in Los Angeles. He was 92. Ballantine had a long and illustrious career with his popular role in the 1960s hit show Mchale's Navy.
Mchale's Navy an ensemble sitcom followed the hijinks of a War World Two PT Boat Crew - Carl Ballantine was cast member Lester Gruber. The show featured other Hollywood stars including Tim Conway and Ernest Borgnine. McHale's Navy ran from 1962-66.

Ballantine's magic also had a comedic twist earning him a coveted spot on the Ed Sullivan show.

In 2007 a contemporay comic great, Steve Martin, presented Ballantine with a Lifetime Achievement Fellowship from the Magic Castle in Hollywood.

"Carl Ballantine influenced not only myself but a generation of magicians and comedians," Martin said Wednesday in a statement to The Times. "His was also the most copied act by a host of amateurs and professionals."

Magician David Copperfield is another longtime fan.

"Basically, Carl Ballantine created comedy magic," he said. "The combination of magic and comedy had perhaps been done before, but he truly defined it and made it his own."

Ballantine got his starting working the nightclubs of his hometown Chicago in the 1940s and soon devleped that signature mix of comedy and magic.

Carl Ballantine died peacefully of age related cuases. He was 92.

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