TORONTO -- Johnny Wayne, the zany half of the Wayne and Shuster comedy team that became a fixture on 'The Ed Sullivan Show,' died at home Wednesday morning after a long battle with cancer. He was 72.
Wayne and his partner, Frank Shuster, 74, were the kings of the Canadian comedy scene for over four decades and achieved international success with a record 67 appearances on Sullivan's popular CBS Sunday night show.
The pair, who met while students at a Toronto high school, are still seen worldwide on 'Wayne and Shuster International,' a collection of sketches from television appearances on the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. since the network began telecasting in the late 1950s.
The pair remained in Canada despite the lure of greater wealth and fame in the United States.
The comedy of Wayne and Shuster was considered lowbrow by some critics for its blend of slapstick and corny humor. But among their famous sketches were parodies of classic Shakespeare and opera works.
Their most memorable works on the Sullivan show were 'Rinse the Blood Off My Toga', a comic send-up of Shakespeare's 'Julius Caesar,' and a baseball game done up Shakespearean style.
After high school, Wayne and Shuster continued to team up at the University of Toronto, where they earned their bachelor of arts degrees. Their studies toward master of arts degrees were interrupted by World War II. They enlisted and teamed up again to entertain Canadian troops, and put on the first show in Normandy, France, after the June 1944 Allied invasion.
They returned to Canada, and by 1947 had their own show on CBC radio, beginning a long association with the network. They began appearing on American television in 1950.
Wayne's survivors include three sons and several grandchildren.
