Carl Ballantine
Carl Ballantine | |
---|---|
Hollywood Hills, California , U.S. | |
Occupations |
|
Years active | 1936–2009 |
Spouse |
Ceil Cabot
(m. 1955; died 2000) |
Children | 2 |
Carl Ballantine (September 27, 1917 – November 3, 2009) was an American
Early life and career
Ballantine was born Meyer Kessler in
Nicknamed the "Jipper," he was inspired at age 9 by his barber who would do magic tricks with thimbles while cutting his hair. His first job was working as a printer.In the 1930s, Kessler was doing professional straight magic as "Count Marakoff", "Carlton Sharpe", and "Carl Sharp" in Chicago, helping support his family, and later moved to New York City, where he performed in nightclubs and on television variety shows. In the early 1940s, he gave up "real magic" when he realized he could not be as good as some of his peers. According to his daughter, "one night, one of his tricks got screwed up, he said something to cover, and the audience laughed. So he started adding more."[6]
He switched to comedy magic and changed his name to "Carl Ballantine", after he noticed a bottle of Ballantine whisky in an advertisement and decided it sounded "show-businessy and classy", and called the magic act "Ballantine, the World's Greatest Magician". He entertained troops during World War II. He was billed as "The Amazing Mr. Ballantine" when he played the New York Capitol in 1950, and "The Great Ballantine" in The Ed Sullivan Show and The Steve Allen Show on television in the 1950s and 1960s.[7]
He was the first magician to play Las Vegas, appearing on a bill with Harry James, Betty Grable and Sammy Davis Jr. at El Rancho Vegas in 1956.[8]
Ballantine was cast in several films, including
An early television role cast him as magician Al Henderson, working the 53rd precinct Christmas party for brother-in-law Officer Toody in episode 15 of the first season of
Ballantine made his only appearance on Broadway as Lycus the slave merchant in the 1972 revival of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum starring Phil Silvers.[9] He was also a frequent panelist/judge on The Gong Show, even appearing on the series finale of the NBC daytime version.
In later years, he was a recurring voice artist on Garfield and Friends, primarily as Al J. Swindler, a purveyor of shoddy merchandise.[10][7]
Personal life
Ballantine's first marriage ended in divorce. In 1955, he married actress Ceil Cabot (born Celia Cabrera; March 8, 1927 – January 24, 2000),[11] to whom he remained married until her death. Their two daughters, Saratoga, an actress,[12] and Molly, an advertising sales executive, are both named after racetracks.[13]
Death
Ballantine died on November 3, 2009, at age 92 at his home in
Awards and honors
He won the
Filmography
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1964 | McHale's Navy | Torpedoman Lester Gruber | |
1966 | Penelope | Boom Boom | |
1967 | The Monkees | Hubble Bensen | Episode: "Find the Monkees" |
1968 | Speedway | Birdie Kebner | |
1968 | The Shakiest Gun in the West | Swanson | |
1976 | Revenge of the Cheerleaders | Dr. Ivory | |
1977 | The World's Greatest Lover | Uncle Harry | |
1978 | CHiPs - S1E14 - Rustling | Marvello The Great | |
1979 | The North Avenue Irregulars | Sam | |
1979 | Just You and Me, Kid | Reinhoff the Remarkable | |
1980 | One in a Million | Max Kellerman | |
1986 | Night Court | Philip Falcone | |
1986 | The Best of Times | Arturo | |
1992 | Mr. Saturday Night | Freddie | |
1995 | Freakazoid! | Huska | Voice, episode: "Lawn Gnomes: Chapter IV – Fun in the Sun"[18] |
1996 | I Crave Rock & Roll | Dewey Rose | |
1996 | Spider-Man | Lenny Luntz | Voice, episode: "Goblin War!"[18] |
1998 | My Giant | Rabbi | |
1998 | Susan's Plan | Harold Beyers | |
2000 | The Million Dollar Kid | Lieutenant | |
2002 | Farewell to Harry | Hickey | |
2006 | Aimee Semple McPherson | Realtor in China |
References
- ^ a b Dennis McLellan (November 5, 2009). "Carl Ballantine dies at 92; comedy magician was in 'McHale's Navy' cast". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved May 6, 2011.
- ^ "Borszczow PSA AGAD Births 1872-98,1901-03 Marriages 1846,55-58,61,62,64,66-1905 Deaths 1877-1902". jri-poland.org. Archived from the original on 2014-02-05. Retrieved 2016-12-18.
- ^ "Israel Kessler and Rose Kessler (Cohen), United States Census, 1930". archives.gov. Retrieved 2016-12-18.
- ^ "Israel Kessler, Illinois, Cook County Deaths". ilsos.gov. Retrieved 2016-12-18.
- ^ "Rose Kessler, Illinois, Cook County Deaths". ilsos.gov. Retrieved 2016-12-18.
- ^ Edmon J. Rodman (April 25, 2011). "Jewish masters of magic materialize at Skirball". Jewish Journal. Retrieved May 6, 2011.
- ^ a b "Carl Ballantine, R.I.P." news from me blog. Archived from the original on March 17, 2010. Retrieved May 6, 2011.
- ^ "Obit: Actor Carl Ballantine Dies at 92". The Wrap news. November 4, 2009. Retrieved May 6, 2011.
- ^ Bruce Weber (November 10, 2009). "Carl Ballantine, Comedian Who Played a Magician, Dies at 92". The New York Times. Retrieved May 6, 2011.
- ^ Merritt, Pamela (2016-02-17). "Carl Ballantine, comedy magic". saranaclake.com. Archived from the original on 2020-08-10. Retrieved 2021-11-08.
- IMDb
- IMDb
- ^ "Carl Ballantine dies at 92", hollywoodreporter.com; accessed June 28, 2015.
- ^ Dennis McLellan (November 4, 2009). "Comedian-magician Carl Ballantine's final exit". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 6, 2011.
- ^ "Awards won by Carl Ballantine". The Magic Castle. Archived from the original on September 17, 2010. Retrieved May 6, 2011.
- ^ Steve Dacri (November 2009). "Steve Dacri's Tribute to Carl Ballantine". Inside Magic. Retrieved May 6, 2011.
- ISBN 978-1-4165-5364-9.
- ^ a b "Carl Ballantine (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved October 26, 2023. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.
External links
- Carl Ballantine at IMDb
- Carl Ballantine at AllMovie17
- Frank Cullen; Florence Hackman; Donald McNeilly (2007). Vaudeville, Old & New: An Encyclopedia of Variety Performers in America. Vol. 1. New York: Routledge. pp. 65–66. ISBN 978-0-415-93853-2.
- The Great Ballantine! on YouTube
- Carl Ballantine. Magician's Hall of Fame. MagicWebChannel
- " Masters of Illusion: Jewish Magicians of the Golden Age". Exhibition at Skirball Cultural Center April 28–September 4, 2011, Press release