Johnny Wayne (born Louis Weingarten, also given as John 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 Wayne and Shuster were a Canadian comedy duo formed by Johnny Wayne and Frank Shuster. 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 ente ...

alongside Frank Shuster (1916–2002).

Personal life

The son of a successful clothing manufacturer who spoke several languages, Charles Bryon Weingarten and mother Sarah, and the eldest of seven children, Johnny Wayne was born in downtown

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, in the College/Spadina area, and attended

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, bet ...

, where he met his future comedy partner, and later attended the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

, majoring in English literature. Starting with entertaining

scouts Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...

, he and Shuster wrote some original scores and performed at the university's ''Hart House Follies''.

Professional life

Wayne and Shuster began working together in the 1930s and continued their successful collaboration on stage, radio, and television until Wayne's death. Wayne played to Shuster's

straight man The straight man (or straight woman in the case of female characters), also known as a "comedic foil", is a stock character in a comedy performance, especially a double act, sketch comedy, or farce. When a comedy partner behaves eccentrically ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Wayne enlisted with the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army () is the command (military formation), 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 re ...

with Shuster, assigned to The Army Show (1942–1945), a troop entertainment unit like

ENSA The Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA) was an organisation established in 1939 by Basil Dean and Leslie Henson to provide entertainment for British armed forces personnel during World War II. ENSA operated as part of the Navy, ...

, including stage-performing soon after the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...

of June 1944. Following the war, they produced material for the Department of Veteran Affairs, before rejoining CBC Radio in 1946, producing 39 half-hour episodes a year, until 1953. Wayne with Shuster went to the new medium of television in the mid-1950s. The duo appeared in ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American 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 September 1971 by the ''CB ...

'' in May 1958, and were considered as Canada's comedy ambassadors, later going on to produce for the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

until 1989. He had musical talents and was a successful songwriter in the 1950s, including co-writing Bobby Gimby's 1958 hit "Jimbo". In 1964 he recorded the song "Charlottetown", which he wrote and sang for the

Canadian Confederation Canadian Confederation () was the process by which three British North American provinces—the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick—were united into one federation, called the Name of Canada#Adoption of Dominion, Dominion of Ca ...

Centennial. In 1999 the pair were given a star on

Canada's Walk of Fame Canada's Walk of Fame () in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is a walk of fame that acknowledges the achievements and accomplishments of Canadians who have excelled in their respective fields. It is a series of maple leaf-like stars embedded in 13 de ...

Later life

Wayne was a

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide #Curling stone, stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area that is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take t ...

enthusiast and was a commentator alongside

Alex Trebek George Alexander Trebek (; July 22, 1940 – November 8, 2020) was a Canadian and American game show host and television personality. He was best known for hosting the syndicated general knowledge quiz game show ''Jeopardy!'' for 37 seasons ...

and

Doug Maxwell Douglas Dean Maxwell (c. 1927 – August 31, 2007) was a noted Canadians, Canadian journalist and broadcaster, noted for his coverage in the sport of curling. Among his accomplishments, Maxwell served as director of the World Curling Championship ...

during the 1968 CBC Curling Championship. He married Beatrice Lokash, in 1946. They were married until her death from cancer in 1980. They were parents to three children, one of whom is notable historian

Michael Wayne Michael Anthony Morrison (November 23, 1934 – April 2, 2003), known professionally as Michael Wayne, was an American actor and film producer. He was best known as the eldest son of the actor John Wayne. Early life Michael Anthony Morrison w ...

. Wayne died from

brain cancer A brain tumor (sometimes referred to as brain cancer) occurs when a group of cells within the brain turn cancerous and grow out of control, creating a mass. There are two main types of tumors: malignant (cancerous) tumors and benign (non-cance ...

in 1990. He is buried at Holy Blossom Cemetery, in his home town of Toronto.

Notes

References

External links