Wayne and Shuster were a Canadian
comedy duo
A double act (also known as a comedy duo) is a form of comedy originating in the British music hall tradition, and American vaudeville, in which two comedians perform together as a single act. Pairings are typically long-term, in some cases fo ...
formed by
Johnny Wayne
Johnny Wayne (born Louis Weingarten; May 28, 1918 – July 18, 1990) was a Canadian comedian and comedy writer best known for his work as part of the comedy duo Wayne and Shuster alongside Frank Shuster.
The son of a successful clothing manuf ...
and
Frank Shuster
Frank Shuster, (September 5, 1916 – January 13, 2002) was a Canadian comedian best known as a member of the comedy duo Wayne and Shuster, alongside Johnny Wayne.
Life and career
Shuster was born to a Jewish immigrant family in Toronto, Ont ...
. They were active professionally from the early 1940s until the late 1980s, first as a live act, then on radio, then as part of ''The Army Show'' that entertained troops in Europe during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, and then on both Canadian and American television.
Wayne (born Louis Weingarten; May 28, 1918 – July 18, 1990) and Shuster (September 5, 1916 – January 13, 2002) were well known in Canada, and were
Ed Sullivan
Edward Vincent Sullivan (September 28, 1901 – October 13, 1974) was an American television personality, impresario, sports and entertainment reporter, and syndicated columnist for the ''New York Daily News'' and the Chicago Tribune New York ...
's most frequently recurring guests, appearing a record 67 times on
his show
His or HIS may refer to:
Computing
* Hightech Information System, a Hong Kong graphics card company
* Honeywell Information Systems
* Hybrid intelligent system
* Microsoft Host Integration Server
Education
* Hangzhou International School, in ...
. Despite repeated suggestions that they should move to the United States to further their careers, the duo chose to stay in Canada.
Beginnings
Wayne and Shuster were born in the same neighbourhood in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, Canada, and met in grade school.
In 1931, while students at
Harbord Collegiate Institute
Harbord Collegiate Institute (HCI or Harbord) is a public secondary school located in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The school is located in the Palmerston-Little Italy-Annex neighbourhood, situated on the north side of Harbord Street, betw ...
, they performed their first skit together for their
Boy Scout troop
A Scout troop is a term adopted into use with Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and the Scout Movement to describe their basic units. The term troop echoes a group of mounted scouts in the military or an expedition and follows the terms cavalry, mounted inf ...
,
and, as part of the school drama club, continued to entertain fellow students. They both studied at the
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...
, where they wrote and performed as "Shuster and Wayne".
Radio
In 1941, they made their radio debut on
CFRB
CFRB (1010 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is owned by Bell Media and carries a News/Talk radio format. Its studios and offices are in the Entertainment District at 250 Richmond Street West.
CFRB is a clea ...
in their own show, ''The Javex Wife Preservers'',
for which they were each paid $12.50 per week to dispense household hints in a humorous fashion.
Their popularity on CFRB, at the time a top-rated Toronto radio station, soon landed the pair on the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...
's (CBC)
Trans-Canada Network
The Trans-Canada Network was the name assigned to the main English-language radio network of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to distinguish it from the CBC's second network, the Dominion Network. Today, it is known as CBC Radio One. The Tr ...
as part of the
Buckingham Cigarette "Blended Rhythm Show".
![W and S on the radio 1947](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/W_and_S_on_the_radio_1947.png)
They enlisted in the
Canadian Army
The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also respo ...
in 1942, and were immediately assigned to ''The Canadian Army Radio Show'', which was produced in Montreal.
Shuster and Wayne wrote most of the music, lyrics and skits, and were part of a cast that featured the singers
Jimmie Shields and Raymonde Maranda. The radio show was a success, resulting in ''The Army Show'', a touring stage version that opened in Toronto in April 1943 to popular acclaim. ''
Time Magazine
''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Mar ...
'' called it ''"a high-spirited, always likeable, often lavish soldier show... Two Toronto sergeants, 26-year-old Frank Shuster and 24-year-old Johnny Wayne, had authored a peppy book, some perky tunes and lyrics."'' The revue travelled across Canada in 1943 to entertain troops and help with the sale of
Victory Bonds, and included a stop at the
Quebec Conference.
In addition to Shuster and Wayne, the cast included the singer
Roger Doucet, Brian and
Dennis Farnon
Dennis Farnon (13 August 1923 – 21 May 2019) was a Canadian musical arranger, composer and orchestra conductor.
Dennis Farnon was born in 1923 in Toronto, Canada as John Denis Farnon to Robert and Elsie Farnon (née Menzies). He grew up in a m ...
,
Denny Vaughan, and
Lois Hooker (who later, as Lois Maxwell, starred as
Miss Moneypenny
Miss Moneypenny, later assigned the first names of Eve or Jane, is a fictional character in the James Bond novels and films. She is secretary to M (James Bond), M, who is Bond's superior officer and head of the British Secret Intelligence Serv ...
in fourteen
James Bond
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
films).
In late 1943, the revue was split up into five units and sent to England to entertain troops. Shuster and Wayne again prepared most of the material for all the units, and were assigned to a unit that followed Canadian troops into France following
D-Day
The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...
. The duo often performed close enough to the front lines that they had to contend with snipers, strafing and even a relatively close encounter with an exploding
V-1 "buzz bomb".
After
demobilization
Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and militar ...
, Shuster and Wayne returned to Toronto and started ''The RCA Victor Show'' on CBC Radio.
An advertising executive suggested that "Wayne & Shuster" sounded better than "Shuster & Wayne". Since the order of their names wasn't important to the two, they agreed to the change.
(
Alex Barris later recalled that they had a CBC office with two doors — one read "Wayne & Shuster", the other was "Shuster & Wayne".)
Their popularity rapidly grew and CBC changed the name of their radio programme to ''The Wayne & Shuster Show.''
By 1950, their Canadian weekly audience numbered 3 million.
They also began to make a name for themselves in the U.S. when they were hired to make a radio network series to replace
William Bendix
William Bendix (January 14, 1906 – December 14, 1964) was an American film, radio, and television actor, who typically played rough, blue-collar characters. He is best remembered for his role in ''Wake Island'', which earned him an Academy ...
's ''The Life of Riley'' while it was on summer hiatus in 1947.
Television
Wayne & Shuster first appeared on television in 1950, but not in Canada, which did not have network TV until 1952. Their radio sponsor, Toni Home Permanent, also sponsored an American television show, ''Toni Twin Time'', hosted by
Jack Lemmon
John Uhler Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 – June 27, 2001) was an American actor. Considered equally proficient in both dramatic and comic roles, Lemmon was known for his anxious, middle-class everyman screen persona in dramedy pictures, leadin ...
.
The sponsor asked the duo to make regular appearances on the TV program, which was not doing well. After two shows, a sponsor executive asked them to take over the hosting duties from Lemmon, who was young, inexperienced, and obviously nervous. However, they were unsure about this new medium of television, and turned down the offer.
In 1952, CBC producer
Mavor Moore
James Mavor Moore (March 8, 1919 – December 18, 2006) was a Canadian writer, producer, actor, public servant, critic, and educator. He notably appeared as Nero Wolfe in the CBC radio production in 1982.
Life and work
Moore was born in Tor ...
approached them about doing a regular live comedy show on the new CBC Television network, but after watching
Milton Berle
Milton Berle (born Mendel Berlinger; ; July 12, 1908 – March 27, 2002) was an American actor and comedian. His career as an entertainer spanned over 80 years, first in silent films and on stage as a child actor, then in radio, movies and tel ...
dealing with all of the details of lighting, sound, music and audience while broadcasting live from New York City, the two were even more concerned about the demands of live television. They agreed to make an appearance in one CBC television show in 1952 in Montreal, but turned down the opportunity to produce a regular show in Toronto. Wayne said, "You guys don't know anything about television. We don't either. Why don't we wait until we both know something about it?"
Two years later, in 1954, they finally agreed to host a regular comedy show on CBC.
In 1955, on one of their shows, they presented a Shakespearean spoof called "
Rinse the Blood Off My Toga
"Rinse the Blood Off My Toga" is a comedy sketch by the Canadian comedy duo Wayne and Shuster. First broadcast on ''The Wayne and Shuster Hour'' on CBC Radio in 1954, it was reenacted for their British television debut in 1957 and their first ...
",
which they also presented on British television the same year.
A literary mashup of
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
and
Mickey Spillane
Frank Morrison Spillane (; March 9, 1918July 17, 2006), better known as Mickey Spillane, was an American crime novelist, whose stories often feature his signature detective character, Mike Hammer (character), Mike Hammer. More than 225 million c ...
, the sketch features a hard-boiled Roman
private eye
''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satire, satirical and current affairs (news format), current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely r ...
hired by
Brutus
Marcus Junius Brutus (; ; 85 BC – 23 October 42 BC), often referred to simply as Brutus, was a Roman politician, orator, and the most famous of the assassins of Julius Caesar. After being adopted by a relative, he used the name Quintus Serv ...
to investigate the murder of
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
on the
Ides of March
The Ides of March (; la, Idus Martiae, Late Latin: ) is the 74th day in the Roman calendar, corresponding to 15 March. It was marked by several religious observances and was notable in Rome as a deadline for settling debts. In 44 BC, it became ...
. As with many of their scripts, "Rinse the Blood Off My Toga" assumed the audience had a working knowledge of history, Shakespeare, and sometimes even Latin. In 1958, in response to the opening of the
Stratford Festival
The Stratford Festival is a theatre festival which runs from April to October in the city of Stratford, Ontario, Canada. Founded by local journalist Tom Patterson in 1952, the festival was formerly known as the Stratford Shakespearean Festival ...
in
Stratford, Ontario
Stratford is a city on the Avon River within Perth County in southwestern Ontario, Canada, with a 2016 population of 31,465 in a land area of . Stratford is the seat of Perth County, which was settled by English, Irish, Scottish and German im ...
, they created "
A Shakespearean Baseball Game", written in iambic pentameter and rhyming couplets, and featuring lines lifted from ''
Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
'' and ''
Macbeth
''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...
''. (''"O, what a rogue and bush league slob am I!... O, curséd fate, that I, who led the league, should bat .208."'') In later years, they considered this their favourite script.
Lorraine Thomson, who often appeared on their live broadcasts in the 1950s, called their writing "a kind of cross between a more erudite British sense of humour and the more American vaudevillian sense of humour. They treated their audiences with respect."
![Wayne and Shuster Ed Sullivan 1963](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Wayne_and_Shuster_Ed_Sullivan_1963.JPG)
In 1958, they signed a one-year contract with
Ed Sullivan
Edward Vincent Sullivan (September 28, 1901 – October 13, 1974) was an American television personality, impresario, sports and entertainment reporter, and syndicated columnist for the ''New York Daily News'' and the Chicago Tribune New York ...
to appear regularly on ''
The Ed Sullivan Show
''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television program, television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in Septembe ...
'' for $7,500 a show;
that included a handshake agreement that Sullivan would not cut or edit their sketches, which tended to run 12 minutes or longer;
their first sketch was a 14-minute re-run of the sketch they had done for CBC and British television, "Rinse the Blood Off My Toga".
(Singer
Eartha Kitt
Eartha Kitt (born Eartha Mae Keith; January 17, 1927 – December 25, 2008) was an American singer and actress known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 recordings of "C'est si bon" and the Christmas novelty song "Santa Ba ...
once asked Frank Shuster, "What have you got on Ed Sullivan?" after Sullivan cut one of her songs from a program, but left Wayne & Shuster's 12-minute sketch intact.)
The only time Sullivan asked for an edit was in order to remove a joke about Southern lynchings; he was worried about offending network stations in the Southern U.S.
Sullivan loved the Canadian duo and renewed their contract repeatedly; they appeared on ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' a record 67 times over the next 11 years.
Frank Shuster later disputed this, telling TV critic Jim Bawden that "We were on Ed 58 times. The record books say 67, but that's wrong."
Ed Sullivan advised the two, despite their success in the U.S., to remain in Toronto.
They took his advice and turned down many offers to move to the United States permanently. In later years, Shuster often told the story of one agent who tried to get them to move to Hollywood, insisting, "You know, Frank, there's more to life than happiness."
Regardless of their home address, in 1962, and again in 1963, they were ranked as the best comedy routine in America by Motion Picture Daily and Television Today,
and co-starred in a
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
-TV sitcom, ''
Holiday Lodge'', which aired as a summer replacement for
nd was produced byJack Benny
Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky, February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974) was an American entertainer who evolved from a modest success playing violin on the vaudeville circuit to one of the leading entertainers of the twentieth century with ...
in 1961.
In 1964, Wayne & Shuster created a series of six short documentaries for
CBC Television
CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...
(later presented on
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
during the 1966 summer season) about comedians such as
W. C. Fields
William Claude Dukenfield (January 29, 1880 – December 25, 1946), better known as W. C. Fields, was an American comedian, actor, juggler, and writer. Fields's comic persona was a misanthropic and hard-drinking egotist who remained a sympathe ...
and the
Marx Brothers
The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) ...
, with music scored by
John Williams
John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who wa ...
, titled ''Wayne & Shuster Take an Affectionate Look at...''. They made another six episodes the following year.
In 1965 ''The Wayne & Shuster Hour'' won the Silver Rose at the
Rose d'Or
The Rose d'Or ('Golden Rose') is an international awards festival in entertainment broadcasting and programming. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) first acquired the Rose d’Or in 1961, when it was created by Swiss Television in the lakesi ...
Television Festival.
In 1962 and again in 1965, the pair went to Britain and produced Wayne & Shuster specials for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
.
In the 1960s, they moved from a weekly television show to monthly ''Wayne & Shuster'' comedy specials on
. By the 1970s, they were producing three to four comedy specials per year, which often drew Canadian television ratings of more than two million viewers.
Wayne and Shuster's skits often employed large casts of characters, and supporting players included Canadian actors
. For many years, their music director was Canadian jazz artist
.
Wayne and Shuster were infamous for their vociferous arguments during scriptwriting sessions, television production and editing sessions.
Wayne especially was particularly exacting during production and often took the studio crew to task for perceived faults.
The technicians often responded by refusing to work overtime at the end of the day.
During one sketch, some crew members were instructed to throw fruit and vegetables at both of the comedians from off-camera. Instead, the crew only hurled fruit at Wayne.
One floor director remembered Wayne as "two people. On the
floor he was a son of a bitch, but outside he was one of the nicest guys you could meet."
Despite their temperamental reputation in the studio, both were friendly, thoughtful and welcoming outside of work.
Because of their combative natures in the studio, the two agreed early on to not mix socially. Shortly after their CBC radio show became popular, Wayne told Shuster that he was organizing a party, but that he wasn't going to invite his partner "because we're always together and we'll start in about the business. So, to hell with that."
Shuster agreed, and from that point on, they led completely separate lives away from work, with different interests and hobbies.
By the late 1970s, critics were calling their comedy irrelevant and out of date, but their Canadian TV ratings remained strong. In 1980, CBC re-packaged their material into 80 half-hour specials that were syndicated worldwide.
The pair continued to produce comedy specials until Wayne's death from cancer in 1990. After Wayne's death, Shuster went back into the editing suite and from almost 40 years of their television shows, produced a retrospective series of twenty-two shows, which he also hosted.
In 1999, three years before his death, he hosted a one-hour compendium of their work, "Wayne & Shuster: The First Hundred Years".
for their outstanding contribution to Canadian television.
*In 1996, Shuster accepted the
.
*In 2012, the duo were recognized with a Heritage Toronto plaque at their old high school, Harbord Collegiate Institute.
*In 2019, a lane in the Bathurst/Harbord area where they grew up was named Wayne and Shuster Lane.
", which was built on various samples of previously recorded material, most noticeably the Wayne & Shuster sketch "Frontier Psychiatrist".
(Audio clips of two other Wayne and Shuster sketches were also used in creating the track, along with samples of dozens of pieces of music.)
"Frontier Psychiatrist" was released as a single, and became a hit in the UK, reaching No. 18 on the charts.
Johnny Wayne vocalizes the song's repeated refrain "that boy needs therapy"; both Wayne and Frank Shuster are the featured voices throughout verses one and two.
Text and Video.
including the sketches "Shakespearean Baseball", "I Was a T.V. Addict", "Rinse the Blood Off My Toga", and "Frontier Psychiatrist".