Carl Ballantine

Carl Ballantine was an American actor, comedian, and magician whose comedy magic act used tricks that seemed transparent or incompetent and often failed. Born Meyer Kessler in Chicago, he did straight magic in the 1930s before switching to comedy magic and billing himself as The Great Ballantine. During World War II he entertained troops, and in 1956 he became the first magician to play Las Vegas. On television he played Lester Gruber in McHale's Navy from 1962 to 1966. His screen work included The Shakiest Gun in the West (1968) and Speedway (1968), with Penelope (1966) and The Girl Most Likely to... (1973), plus The World's Greatest Lover (1977) and Just You and Me, Kid (1979). He played Lycus in a 1972 Broadway revival of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and later voiced Al J. Swindler on Garfield and Friends. He received Academy of Magical Arts honors, including a Lifetime Achievement Fellowship in 2007.