The world of magic
loses 'Amazing' man

Steve Dacri sends word that Carl Ballantine, 92, died on Nov. 3, 2009.

Ballantine, who is perhaps best known as Lester Gruber, one of the PT boat sailors in the TV series "McHale's Navy," was born Sept. 27, 1917, in Chicago, Ill., as Meyer Kessler. He was known by magicians as "Ballantine the Great" or "The Amazing Ballantine."

The Magic Web Channel site states Ballantine was "the only magician who never did a trick. Actually, in his early career, he did a manipulation act, but, as Carl says, 'when I saw Dick Cardini do his act, I threw away my show. I knew I could never be as good as Dick, so I stopped with the real magic.'"
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The Web site further explains, "... while on the phone with his agent, he spotted a bottle of Ballantine Whiskey and said, 'The name is Ballantine. The world's greatest magician.' And so, a legend was born."

Ballantine had a vaudeville-style comedy routine. His act became so successful that he was the first magician to ever headline in Las Vegas, according to Wikipedia.

As a 12-year-old, he was inspired to perform magic by his barber. The barber performed some sleight of hand with thimbles while cutting the young Kessler's hair. He performed straight magic in Chicago in the 1930s. He performed under the names of Count Marakoff and Carl Sharp. In the early 1940s, he transformed into Carl Ballantine and switched to comedy magic. He was billed as "The Amazing Mr. Ballantine" when he played the New York Capitol in 1950, the Ed Sullivan TV show in 1953 and the Las Vegas El Rancho Vegas in 1956, according to Wikipedia. He won Tannen's "Louie" Award and the 1985 AMA Performing Fellowship. Ring 257, the Fantasma Ring of Las Vegas, honored Ballantine as Magician of the Year in 2005. He was also inducted in the Magic Web Channel's Magician's Hall of Fame.

In 2002, Ballantine and Dacri presented their first historic lecture focusing on comedy and magic during the International Brotherhood of Magician's Convention in San Diego, Calif. The event drew a standing room only crowd of more than 1,000 people, which was wellreceived. Ballantine and Dacri presented "Part Two" of the lecture in Reno, Nev., at the I.B.M. Convention in July 2005.

Ballantine was the husband of actress Ceil Cabot, who died in January 2000, and he was the father of actress Sara Ballantine.

For more about who Ballantine was, read what Dacri had to say here.

Read The Los Angeles Times obituary here.

Read Entertainment Weekly's obituary here.

Here is a classic video clip of Ballantine during an appearance on "Cosby."

This is the Great Ballantine as you have never seen him before: