385: Saratoga Ballantine - My Father

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Scott Wells
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385: Saratoga Ballantine - My Father

Postby Scott Wells » September 21st, 2017, 2:17 pm

Do you like magic history and hearing stories of famous magicians from our rich heritage?

This week on The Magic Word Podcast, Saratoga "Sara" Ballantine talks about her late father, the legendary actor, comedian and magician: Carl Ballantine. Not only famous within our small community (MAGIC Magazine listed him as one of the "Top Ten Funniest Magicians"), The Great Ballantine "The World's Greatest Magician" was better know to the rest of the world in his many television and movie roles. His best known role was as "Lester Gruber" on the long-running TV show, "McHale's Navy". Born as Meyer Kessler, Carl Ballantine took his stage name from the name of a whiskey which he thought had more panache. In his later years, Carl was a frequent visitor at The Magic Castle. Though I never got a chance to meet him there, I did get a brief chat with him at a magic convention about a year before he passed.

You can hear some of all the old stories about Carl Ballantine, view a couple videos (including a full length documentary co-produced by Sara), see some photos, read the blog, listen to the podcast online, and download the MP3 file at: https://www.themagicwordpodcast.com/sco ... -my-father

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Chas Nigh
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Re: 385: Saratoga Ballantine - My Father

Postby Chas Nigh » September 21st, 2017, 7:34 pm

Scott, thanks for the interview. Really enjoyed it. BTW anybody on this forum with professional aspirations should watch this movie. One of the best docs I've seen in a long time. Keep up the good work.

performer
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Re: 385: Saratoga Ballantine - My Father

Postby performer » September 21st, 2017, 7:45 pm

Does he confirm the story that his father was devastated when Tommy Cooper allegedly stole his act? Just curious.


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