Frank Shuster

Frank Shuster, OC (5 September 1916 – 13 January 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, Ontario, and spent part of his childhood in Niagara Falls. His family returned to Toronto in time for Shuster to attend high school at Toronto's Harbord Collegiate Institute, where he met Johnny Wayne in 1930. The two would soon be performing sketches and routines at school talent shows, continuing to do the same when they both attended the University of Toronto.

By the early 1940s Wayne and Shuster began appearing on local radio station CFRB, and during World War II they joined the Canadian Army as performers, entertaining Canadian troops, and performed on the CBC Radio series The Army Show. After the war, the duo appeared on CBC radio and television, becoming a network fixture with regular appearances from the 1940s through the 1980s. They appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show over 66 times. The duo would remain a comedy team for 60 years, until Wayne's death in 1990.

In 1996, Shuster was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Personal life

Shuster was married to Ruth Shuster and had two children: Rosie and Steve. Rosie Shuster was a comedy writer for Saturday Night Live and other television programs, and former wife of Lorne Michaels. Steve Shuster is also in the entertainment industry.

He was also the cousin of Joe Shuster, co-creator of Superman.

Death

Frank Shuster died on January 13, 2002 in Toronto, Ontario Canada.